Isolation and characterization of a Brassica napus cDNA corresponding to a B-class floral development gene

B-class floral homeotic genes are required for the proper formation and identity of petals and stamens in dicot flowers. A partial cDNA clone encoding a B-class gene, BnAP3 (Brassica napus APETALA3), was isolated from a B. napus cDNA library derived from young inflorescence meristems. The 5' region of the cDNA was retrieved by RACE. The deduced amino acid sequence of the full-length clone exhibited high similarity to APETALA3 of Arabidopsis thaliana and functionally homologous proteins from other species. 5' RACE and Southern analysis suggests that BnAP3 has multiple alleles in B. napus. Expression analysis assayed by RT-PCR shows that BnAP3 is expressed in floral tissues, as well as non-floral tissues such as root and bract. Transformation of wild-type A. thaliana and B. napus plants with BnAP3 under the control of a promoter specific to reproductive organs converts carpels to stamens, while the expression of this construct in A. thaliana plants mutant for AP3 restores the development of third-whorl stamens in addition to directing a carpel to stamen conversion in the fourth whorl.     

Expression levels of meristem identity and homeotic genes are modified by nuclear-mitochondrial interactions in alloplasmic male-sterile lines of Brassica napus

Homeotic conversions of anthers were found in cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) plants of Brassica napus derived from somatic hybrids of B. napus and Arabidopsis thaliana. CMS line flowers displayed petals reduced in size and width and stamens replaced by carpelloid structures. In order to investigate when these developmental aberrations appeared, flower development was analysed histologically, ultrastructurally and molecularly. Disorganized cell divisions were detected in the floral meristems of the CMS lines at stage 4. As CMS is associated with mitochondrial aberrations, ultrastructural analysis of the mitochondria in the floral meristems was performed. Two mitochondrial populations were found in the CMS lines. One type had disrupted cristae, while the other resembled mitochondria typical of B. napus. Furthermore, expression patterns of genes expressed in particular floral whorls were determined. In spite of the aberrant development of the third whorl organs, BnAP3 was expressed as in B. napus during the first six stages of development. However, the levels of BnPI were reduced. At later developmental stages, the expression of both BnAP3 and BnPI was strongly reduced. Interestingly the expression levels of genes responsible for AP3 and PI activation such as LFY, UFO and ASK1 were higher in the CMS lines, which indicates that activation of B-genes in the CMS lines does not occur as in B. napus. Disrupted and dysfunctional mitochondria seem to be one of the first aberrations manifested in CMS which result in a retrograde influence of the expression levels of genes responsible for the second and third whorl organ differentiation.     

Flowering-Related RING Protein 1 (FRRP1) Regulates Flowering Time and Yield Potential by Affecting Histone H2B Monoubiquitination in Rice (Oryza Sativa)

Flowering time is a critical trait for crops cultivated under various temperature/photoperiod conditions around the world. To understand better the flowering time of rice, we used the vector pTCK303 to produce several lines of RNAi knockdown transgenic rice and investigated their flowering times and other agronomic traits. Among them, the heading date of FRRP1-RNAi knockdown transgenic rice was 23–26 days earlier than that of wild-type plants. FRRP1 is a novel rice gene that encodes a C3HC4-type Really Interesting Novel Gene (RING) finger domain protein. In addition to the early flowering time, FRRP1-RNAi knockdown transgenic rice caused changes on an array of agronomic traits, including plant height, panicle length and grain length. We analyzed the expression of some key genes associated with the flowering time and other agronomic traits in the FRRP1-RNAi knockdown lines and compared with that in wild-type lines. The expression of Hd3a increased significantly, which was the key factor in the early flowering time. Further experiments showed that the level of histone H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub1) was noticeably reduced in the FRRP1-RNAi knockdown transgenic rice lines compared with wild-type plants and MBP-FRRP1-F1 was capable of self-ubiquitination. The results indicate that Flowering Related RING Protein 1 (FRRP1) is involved in histone H2B monoubiquitination and suggest that FRRP1 functions as an E3 ligase in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, FRRP1 probably regulates flowering time and yield potential in rice by affecting histone H2B monoubiquitination, which leads to changes in gene expression in multiple processes.     

气象因子对油菜种子中油分积累的影响

选取2个甘蓝型油菜(Brassica napus)高油材料XZ37(含油量45.29%)和XZ366(含油量43.48%), 分别种植在南京、拉萨和西宁, 探讨种子发育过程中油分积累的差异, 并分析南京、拉萨和西宁3个地理生态环境下油菜花–角果期间的主要气象因子与种子油分之间的相关性及其对种子油分积累的影响。结果表明, 不同生态地区间种子中油分积累差异显著。在西宁种子油分快速积累始于开花后19天, 持续时长15天; 在南京种子油分快速积累始于开花后24天, 持续时长15天; 在拉萨种子油分快速积累始于开花后29天, 持续时间长达20天。研究显示, 日均温度、日均温差、日均降水量是影响甘蓝型油菜种子发育过程中油分积累的主要气候因子。不同地理生态地区, 影响油菜种子中油分积累的主要气候因子不同。日均温度是影响南京地区种子发育过程中油分积累的主要气候因子。该地区油菜开花后, 气温由低到高呈上升趋势, 成熟后期温度偏高, 不利于种子中油分积累。日均温差和日均降水量是影响拉萨和西宁两地种子油分积累的主要气候因子。两地种子发育过程中日均温差大, 种子中油分积累量大, 但由于拉萨日均降水量高于西宁, 日均温度偏低, 种子油分积累量低于西宁。因此, 在油菜种子发育过程中, 适宜的温度、较大的温差和较少的降水有利于种子积累油分, 并形成较高的含油量。     

Cloning of dehydrin coding sequences from Brassica juncea and Brassica napus and their low temperature-inducible expression in germinating seeds.

A novel subclass of dehydrin genes, homologous to the Raphanus sativus late embryogenesis-abundant (LEA) protein (RsLEA2) and the Arabidopsis thaliana dehydrin, was isolated from Brassica juncea and Brassica napus, here designated BjDHN1 and BnDHN1, respectively. The cDNA of BjDHN1 and BnDHN1 genes share 100% nucleotide identity. The encoded protein is predicted to consist of 183 amino acid residues (molecular mass of 19.2 kDa and pI of 7.0). It shares 85.3% and 65.4% amino acid sequence identity with the RsLEA2 and Arabidopsis dehydrin, respectively. This Brassica dehydrin also features a "Y(3)SK(2)" plant dehydrin structure. Expression analysis indicated that the Brassica dehydrin gene is expressed at the late stages of developing siliques, suggesting that the gene expression may be inducible by water-deficit. Analysis of gene expression also indicated that in germinating seeds the gene expression was inducible by low temperature. Seed germination under low temperature was compared between B. juncea and B. napus. The results showed that B. juncea seeds germinated faster than B. napus seeds. Expression of Brassica dehydrin gene was also examined as a function of seed germination under low temperature.     

Restoring enzyme activity in nonfunctional low erucic acid Brassica napus fatty acid elongase 1 by a single amino acid substitution.

Genomic fatty acid elongation 1 (FAE1) clones from high erucic acid (HEA) Brassica napus, Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea, and low erucic acid (LEA) B. napus cv. Westar, were amplified by PCR and expressed in yeast cells under the control of the strong galactose-inducible promoter. As expected, yeast cells expressing the FAE1 genes from HEA Brassica spp. synthesized very long chain monounsaturated fatty acids that are not normally found in yeast, while fatty acid profiles of yeast cells expressing the FAE1 gene from LEA B. napus were identical to control yeast samples. In agreement with published findings regarding different HEA and LEA B. napus cultivars, comparison of FAE1 protein sequences from HEA and LEA Brassicaceae revealed one crucial amino acid difference: the serine residue at position 282 of the HEA FAE1 sequences is substituted by phenylalanine in LEA B. napus cv. Westar. Using site directed mutagenesis, the phenylalanine 282 residue was substituted with a serine residue in the FAE1 polypeptide from B. napus cv. Westar, the mutated gene was expressed in yeast and GC analysis revealed the presence of very long chain monounsaturated fatty acids (VLCMFAs), indicating that the elongase activity was restored in the LEA FAE1 enzyme by the single amino acid substitution. Thus, for the first time, the low erucic acid trait in canola B. napus can be attributed to a single amino acid substitution which prevents the biosynthesis of the eicosenoic and erucic acids.     

应用基因芯片分析甘蓝型油菜柱头特异表达基因

以甘蓝型油菜(Brassica napus)野生型(宁油10号)及其柱头授粉功能缺失突变体FS-M1为材料,使用油菜基因表达谱芯片筛选甘蓝型油菜柱头特异表达基因。在含有16 540个基因的油菜基因表达谱芯片中(43 803探针),获得了4 410条差异表达探针,选择部分差异表达基因进行实时定量PCR,所得结果与芯片检测结果相吻合。其中,野生型较FS-M1显著上调且获得209个功能注释的探针,对应198个基因,这些特异表达的基因主要富集在水解酶、转移酶、氧化还原酶和转录因子中;涉及较大的基因家族包括:细胞色素P450基因、GDSL脂肪酶/水解酶基因、ABC转运蛋白基因、myb转录因子基因、bHLH转录因子基因、过氧化物酶家族和受体激酶基因等。推测这些基因与甘蓝型油菜柱头发育及授粉功能有关。     

油菜沪油15中AP2/ERF-B3亚族转录因子的克隆和生物信息学分析

AP2/ERF转录因子家族广泛存在于植物中,参与植物细胞周期、生长发育以及生物和非晌镄财认喙鼗虮泶锏骺?本文利用油菜UniGene数据库.以拟南芥AP2/ERF-B3亚族转录因子保守序列为信息探针,分离得到2个油菜AP2/ERF-B3亚族的转录因子BnaERFB3-1和BnaERFB3-2.通过PCR和RT-PCR方法分别从双低甘蓝型油菜沪油15的DNA和cDNA中克隆了上述基因.序列分析显示.克隆的BnaERFB3-1-Hv15和BnaERFB3-2-Hv15转录因子与电子克隆的基因序列差异很小,均只有1个氨基酸位点不同.且都没有内舍子.从氨基酸序列的相似性、组成成分、理化性质、疏水性/亲水性、序列比对、进化树、功能域、二级结构、三级结构、无序化特性等方面进行了预测和较为全面的分析.结果显示BnaERFB3-1-Hv15和BnaERFB3-2-Hv15是亲水性蛋白,在蛋白质的三级结构上与AtERF5相似,BnaERFB3-1-Hv15和BnaERFB3-2-Hv15蛋白无序化程度大于拟南芥AtERF5.通过分析EST丰度显示,BnaERFB3-1的表达集中在种子中,而BnaERFB3-2的表达则集中在根中.另外.将上述基因分别构建入酵母表达载体和植物双元表达载体,为深入研究该基因在油菜抗逆调控中的作用奠定了基础.     

Analyses of the floral organ morphogenesis and the differentially expressed genes of an apetalous flower mutant in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica napus</Emphasis>

The floral organ morphogenesis of the apetalous flower mutant Apet33-10 in Brassica napus was investigated and the result showed that all the floral organ morphogenesis was normal except that petal primordium was not observed during flower development. Eighteen genes were found to be down regulated in early floral buds (less than 200 μm in length) of Apet33-10 at the stage of floral organ initiation by means of suppressive subtraction hybridization (SSH) and RT-PCR. These genes were involved in petal identity, calcium iron signal transduction, mRNA processing, protein synthesis and degradation, construction of cytoskeleton, hydrogen transportation, nucleic acid binding, alkaloid biosynthesis and unknown function. Three overall coding region cDNAs of APETALA3 (AP3) gene, BnAP3-2, BnAP3-3 and BnAP3-4 were obtained by RT-PCR, respectively. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed that the expression ratio among BnAP3-2, BnAP3-3 and BnAP3-4 was 3.67:3.68:1 in early floral buds of wild type Pet33-10. The expression level of BnAP3-2, BnAP3-3 and BnAP3-4 in early floral buds of Apet33-10 was down-regulated to 36.6, 28.3 and 66.8% with the comparison of that of wild type, respectively, and the overall expression level of AP3 genes in apetalous mutant amounted to 45.0% of that in wild type. The difference in the expression level of each AP3 gene in stamen between apetalous and wild type lines was not significant. It is suggested that lower abundant expression of AP3 genes during the early flower development might be enough for stamen primordium initiation, but not enough for petal primordium initiation in the apetalous line Apet33-10. Y.T. Zhou and H.Y. Wang are committed as the first author.