植物赤霉素生物合成和信号传导的分子生物学

赤霉素(GAs)在植物的种子萌发、茎的伸长和花的发育等许多方面起着非常重要的作用。最近几年,对GA生物合成及其信号传导途径相关基因的研究取得了惊人的进展。这些进展促进了对其生物合成及其信号传导途径的认识。GA生物合成相关基因的表达受到多种内源和外源因子的调控, 其中研究较多的是发育阶段、激素水平和光信号等内源及环境因子的调控。GA信号传导通常处于抑制状态, GA信号通过去抑制作用激活该传导途径而促进GA刺激植物生长和发育。     

乙烯生物合成及信号转导途径中介导花衰老相关基因的研究进展

乙烯为植物重要内源激素,参与植物多项生命活动,在花发育及衰老进程中起重要调节作用。在花卉中,研究者可通过调控其乙烯生物合成及信号转导途径相关基因影响内源乙烯生成,继而影响其发育与衰老进程。目前,通过调控内源乙烯延长花期的研究主要应用于观赏花卉,对于药用等其他花类应用尚少。对乙烯生物合成和信号转导途径模型及其相关基因的互作模式、近年来乙烯反应中介导花发育与衰老相关基因克隆及调控的相关研究进行综述,以期将通过调控内源乙烯途径相关基因来延缓植物花期的研究应用于其他花期短的观赏切花、花类药材等,为从基因水平调控内源乙烯以获得花期延长的观赏、药用花类等优良育种提供参考。     

植物赤霉素矮化突变体研究进展

赤霉素(GAs)在植物种子萌发、茎的伸长和花的发育等方面起着非常重要的作用。近年来,随着研究手段和技术不断进步,对赤霉素(GA)生物合成和信号传导过程中相关基因的研究取得了惊人的进展。与GA有关的矮化突变体主要有GA缺陷型和不敏感型两类,本文对与GA生物合成和信号传导过程中有关的这两类矮突变体的研究进展进行综述。对这些这些突变体的研究促进了对赤霉素生物合成和信号传导途径的认识,同时为赤霉素更好地利用提供了科学依据。     

生长素调控种子的休眠与萌发

植物种子的休眠与萌发,是植物生长发育过程中的关键阶段,也是生命科学领域的研究热点。种子从休眠向萌发的转换是极为复杂的生物学过程,由外界环境因子、体内激素含量及信号传导和若干关键基因协同调控。大量研究表明,植物激素脱落酸(Abscisic acid, ABA)和赤霉素(Gibberellin acid, GA)是调控种子休眠水平,决定种子从休眠转向萌发的主要内源因子。ABA与GA在含量和信号传导两个层次上的精确平衡,确保了植物种子能以休眠状态在逆境中存活,并在适宜的时间启动萌发程序。生长素(Auxin)是经典植物激素之一,其对向性生长和组织分化等生物学过程的调控已有大量研究。但最近有研究证实,生长素对种子休眠有正向调控作用,这表明生长素是继ABA之后的第二个促进种子休眠的植物激素。本文在回顾生长素的发现历程、阐释生长素体内合成途径及信号传导通路的基础上,重点综述了生长素通过与ABA的协同作用调控种子休眠的分子机制,并对未来的研究热点进行了讨论和展望。     

赤霉素作用机理的分子基础与调控模式研究进展

赤霉素(gibberellins或gibberellic acid, GA)作为植物生长的必需激素之一, 调控植物生长发育的各个方面, 如: 种子萌发, 下胚轴的伸长, 叶片的生长和植物开花时间等。近年来随着植物功能基因组学的进一步发展, 有关赤霉素生物合成及其调控, 赤霉素信号转导途径, 以及赤霉素与其他激素和环境因子的互作等领域的研究取得了较大的进展。本文综述了赤霉素生物合成的生物学途径及其调控研究; GA信号转导通道的研究进展, 特别是DELLA蛋白阻遏植物生长发育的分子机理和GA解除阻遏作用(derepress)的分子模型; GA受体研究的新进展; 探讨GA与其它激素之间的相互作用, 以及植物在应答环境过程中的作用。     

赤霉素作用机理的分子基础与调控模式研究进展

赤霉素（gibberellins或gibberellic acid,GA）作为植物生长的必需激素之一,调控植物生长发育的各个方面,如：种子萌发,下胚轴的伸长,叶片的生长和植物开花时间等。近年来随着植物功能基因组学的进一步发展,有关赤霉素生物合成及其调控,赤霉素信号转导途径,以及赤霉素与其他激素和环境因子的互作等领域的研究取得了较大的进展。本文综述了赤霉素生物合成的生物学途径及其调控研究;GA信号转导通道的研究进展,特别是DELLA蛋白阻遏植物生长发育的分子机理和GA解除阻遏作用（derepress）的分子模型;GA受体研究的新进展;探讨GA与其它激素之间的相互作用,以及植物在应答环境过程中的作用。     

赤霉素在小麦发育及胁迫响应中的作用研究进展

作为调控植物生长发育的5种重要激素之一,赤霉素参与调节小麦的种子萌发、株高建成、幼穗发育及胁迫响应等生理过程,赤霉素信号途径的合理利用对提升小麦的产量做出了十分积极的贡献。主要综述了近五年来赤霉素生物合成关键基因的克隆、对重要农艺性状的调控以及赤霉素信号传导途径中重要基因的功能等方面在小麦中的研究进展,以期为更好的利用赤霉素及其信号途径进一步提升小麦的产量及抗性提供参考。     

高等植物GA 20-氧化酶研究进展

GA20-氧化酶（GA 20-oxidase）是高等植物体内GA生物合成途径中最重要的限速酶,它能够催化从GA12到GA9及GA53到GA20-系列的氧化反应。作者对近年来有关GA20一氧化酶的特征,GA20一氧化酶基因及编码蛋白、GA20一氧化酶基因表达调控进行了综合评述,并对GA20一氧化酶基因转化在农业、林业、;园艺业方面的应用前景进行了展望。     

葡萄VvRGL基因应答GA调控无核果实发育的研究

DELLA蛋白是GA信号传导途径的核心作用元件,属于GRAS核转录调节因子家族。该研究以‘魏可’葡萄品种为试材,通过基因克隆、启动子分析、染色体定位、基因蛋白结构及系统进化分析,鉴定VvRGL1和VvRGL2精确序列,预测其潜在功能,并采用qRT-PCR技术检测VvRGL基因应答GA在果皮、果肉及种子(区)的时空表达特征。结果表明:(1)VvRGL1及VvRGL2的染色体定位为Chr14和Chr7,开放阅读框(ORF)为2 007bp和1 815bp,编码氨基酸数量为668和604个;二者均含有GRAS保守结构域,但却不具备DELLA结构域,属于GRAS转录因子大家族成员,而不属于DELLA亚家族;基因结构分析表明,VvRGL1的DNA序列有1个内含子,2个外显子,而VvRGL2的DNA序列无内含子,有1个外显子,基因结构高度保守;进化分析表明,VvRGL1与拟南芥和柑桔的亲缘关系较近,而VvRGL2与草莓和杨树的亲缘关系较近。(2)2个基因的启动子均含有响应赤霉素和胚乳发育相关的作用元件,表明它们可能参与响应GA信号传导和种子胚乳发育过程。(3)qRT-PCR结果显示,外源GA处理均不同程度降低了2个基因在葡萄果皮和种子区的表达,但却上调了其在幼果期果肉中的表达,表明在果皮与种子(区)中,GA可能通过抑制葡萄VvRGL1/RGL2基因的表达参与调控葡萄无核果实的发育。本研究结果为进一步阐明VvRGL在赤霉素信号传导及葡萄无核果实发育机理中的作用机制提供重要依据。     

不定根发生分子调控机制的研究进展

不定根发生问题,既是植物无性繁殖和工厂化育苗实践的核心问题,又是植物发育和形态建成等方面的重要理论问题。由于不定根发生过程的复杂性,到目前为止对其调控机制的了解还十分有限。大量研究证实,不定根发生与植物生长素类物质密切相关,因此现有的研究不仅围绕生长素及其信号传导途径展开,而且还涉及到基因表观遗传学调控水平。目前已经鉴定出一些与不定根发生相关的生长素信号传导因子,如NO、cGMP、microRNAs等。同时,还克隆到一些与不定根发生相关的基因,如OsPIN1、OsCKI1、NPK1、ARL1等。此外,发现DNA甲基化可以抑制DNA与蛋白(MeCP2) 的结合,从而抑制基因转录;microRNA可以使基因沉默来调控不定根的发生状况。本文围绕不定根发生的激素调控、不定根发生的基因调控、不定根发生的生长素信号传导机制、表观遗传调控等几个方面综述了近年来的研究进展。     

赤霉素信号转导与植物的矮化

论述近年来在拟南芥、水稻等模式植物中赤霉素信号转导的研究进展。通过对赤霉素相关突变体的生理研究 ,鉴定出几个介入赤霉素信号转导过程的重要基因 ,并对这些基因的产物进行分析 ,根据相应的蛋白特征结构域 ,推导了它们可能具有的功能。利用双突变体 ,分析了这些基因的上下游关系 ,确定了在植物中 ,GA信号转导的几个途径。在此基础上提出了赤霉素信号转导的基本模式 :阻遏是GA信号转导过程中最基本的方式 ,GA信号通过去除阻遏作用来激活转导途径 ,从而调节GA相关的生长与发育。     

Gibberellin biosynthesis: its regulation by endogenous and environmental signals

The hormone gibberellin (GA) plays an essential role in many aspects of plant growth and development, such as seed germination, stem elongation and flower development. In recent years, exciting progress has been made in understanding how the biosynthesis of this hormone is regulated by endogenous and environmental factors. This has resulted from isolation of genes encoding enzymes involved in GA biosynthesis and metabolism, which also enabled us to manipulate the pathway by modifying the expression of these genes in transgenic plants. In addition, new GA response mutants provided information about how signaling components are involved in feedback regulation of the GA biosynthetic pathway.     

Gibberellin homeostasis in tobacco is regulated by gibberellin metabolism genes with different gibberellin sensitivity

Gibberellins are phytohormones that regulate growth and development of plants. Gibberellin homeostasis is maintained by feedback regulation of gibberellin metabolism genes. To understand this regulation, we manipulated the gibberellin pathway in tobacco and studied its effects on the morphological phenotype, gibberellin levels and the expression of endogenous gibberellin metabolism genes. The overexpression of a gibberellin 3-oxidase (biosynthesis gene) in tobacco (3ox-OE) induced slight variations in phenotype and active GA(1) levels, but we also found an increase in GA(8) levels (GA(1) inactivation product) and a conspicuous induction of gibberellin 2-oxidases (catabolism genes; NtGA2ox3 and -5), suggesting an important role for these particular genes in the control of gibberellin homeostasis. The effect of simultaneous overexpression of two biosynthesis genes, a gibberellin 3-oxidase and a gibberellin 20-oxidase (20ox/3ox-OE), on phenotype and gibberellin content suggests that gibberellin 3-oxidases are non-limiting enzymes in tobacco, even in a 20ox-OE background. Moreover, the expression analysis of gibberellin metabolism genes in transgenic plants (3ox-OE, 20ox-OE and hybrid 3ox/20ox-OE), and in response to application of different GA(1) concentrations, showed genes with different gibberellin sensitivity. Gibberellin biosynthesis genes (NtGA20ox1 and NtGA3ox1) are negatively feedback regulated mainly by high gibberellin levels. In contrast, gibberellin catabolism genes which are subject to positive feedback regulation are sensitive to high (NtGA2ox1) or to low (NtGA2ox3 and -5) gibberellin concentrations. These two last GA2ox genes seem to play a predominant role in gibberellin homeostasis under mild gibberellin variations, but not under large gibberellin changes, where the biosynthesis genes GA20ox and GA3ox may be more important.     

Immunomodulation of gibberellin biosynthesis using an anti-precursor gibberellin antibody confers gibberellin-deficient phenotypes

Immunomodulation is a means to modulate an organism's function by antibody production to capture either endogenous or exogenous antigens. We have recently succeeded in obtaining gibberellin (GA)-deficient phenotypes in Arabidopsis thaliana by using anti-bioactive GA antibodies. In this study, a single-chain antibody (scFv) against GA(24), a precursor GA, was utilized to repress the biosynthesis of bioactive gibberellins. Stable accumulation of the scFv in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was achieved by being produced as a fusion with GFP as well as KDEL ER-retention signal. The transgenic plants showed GFP fluorescence in the reticulate cortical ER network in epidermal cells. The GFP-scFv fusion produced in plants maintained its binding activity. The transgenic plants showed GA-deficient phenotypes, including reduced rosette leaf development, delayed flower induction and reduced stem elongation of the main culm, especially in the early stage of inflorescence growth. Contrarily, stem elongation of the main culm at a later stage, or that of lateral shoots was much less affected by scFv production. These phenotypes were different from anti-bioactive GA scFv-producing lines, whose stem elongation was continuously repressed throughout the inflorescence development. The GA-deficient phenotypes were recovered by treatment with GA(24) and bioactive GA(4), the latter being more effective. The transgenic lines contained conspicuously higher endogenous GA(24) and clearly less GA(4) than wild-type plants. The expression of GA 20-oxidase and GA 3-oxidase genes, which are feedback-regulated by GA signaling, were up-regulated in those plants. These results demonstrate that the scFv trapped GA(24) in ER and inhibited metabolism of GA(24) to bioactive GA(4).     

Overexpression of AtCPS and AtKS in Arabidopsis confers increased ent-kaurene production but no increase in bioactive gibberellins

The plant growth hormone gibberellin (GA) is important for many aspects of plant growth and development. Although most genes encoding enzymes at each step of the GA biosynthetic pathway have been cloned, their regulation is less well understood. To assess how up-regulation of early steps affects the biosynthetic pathway overall, we have examined transgenic Arabidopsis plants that overexpress either AtCPS or AtKS or both. These genes encode the enzymes ent-copalyl diphosphate synthase (CPS) and ent-kaurene synthase, which catalyze the first two committed steps in GA biosynthesis. We find that both CPS and CPS/ent-kaurene synthase overexpressors have greatly increased levels of the early intermediates ent-kaurene and ent-kaurenoic acid, but a lesser increase of later metabolites. These overexpression lines do not exhibit any GA overdose morphology and have wild-type levels of bioactive GAs. Our data show that CPS is limiting for ent-kaurene production and suggest that conversion of ent-kaurenoic acid to GA12 by ent-kaurenoic acid oxidase may be an important rate-limiting step for production of bioactive GA. These results demonstrate the ability of plants to maintain GA homeostasis despite large changes in accumulation of early intermediates in the biosynthetic pathway.