Genome-wide analysis of the phospholipase D family in Oryza sativa and functional characterization of PLDβ1 in seed germination

Phospholipase D （PLD） plays a critical role in plant growth and development, as well as in hormone and stress responses. PLD encoding genes constitute a large gene family that are present in higher plants. There are 12 members of the PLD family in Arabidopsis thaliana and several of them have been functionally characterized; however, the members of the PLD family in Oryza sativa remain to be fully described. Through genome-wide analysis, 17 PLD members found in different chromosomes have been identified in rice. Protein domain structural analysis reveals a novel subfamily, besides the C2-PLDs and PXPH-PLDs, that is present in rice - the SP-PLD. SP-PLD harbors a signal peptide instead of the C2 or PXPH domains at the N-terminus. Expression pattern analysis indicates that most PLD-encoding genes are differentially expressed in various tissues, or are induced by hormones or stress conditions, suggesting the involvement of PLD in multiple developmental processes. Transgenic studies have shown that the suppressed expression office PLDβ1 results in reduced sensitivity to exogenous ABA during seed germination. Further analysis of the expression of ABA signaling-related genes has revealed that PLDβ1 stimulates ABA signaling by activating SAPK, thus repressing GAmyb exoression and inhibiting seed germination.     

Gibberellin and Jasmonate Crosstalk during Stamen Development

Gibberellin （GA） and jasmonate （JA） are two types of phytohormones that play important roles during stamen development. For example, Arabidopsis plants deficient in either of GA or JA develop short stamens. An apparent question to ask is whether GA action and JA action during stamen filament development are independent of each other or are in a hierarchy. Recent studies showed that GA modulates the expression of genes essential for JA biosynthesis to promote JA production and high levels of JA will induce the expression of three MYB genes MYB21, MYB24 and MYB57. These three MYB genes are crucial factors for the normal development of stamen filament in Arabidopsis.     

Validation of Zebrafish （Danio redo） Reference Genes for Quantitative Real-time RT-PCR Normalization

The normalization of quantitative real time RT-PCR （qRT-PCR） is important to obtain accurate gene expression data. The most common method for qRT-PCR normalization is to use reference, or housekeeping genes. However, there is emerging evidence that even reference genes can be regulated under different conditions, qRT-PCR has only recently been used in terms of zebrafish gene expression studies and there is no validated set of reference genes. This study characterizes the expression of nine possible reference genes during zebrafish embryonic development and in a zebrafish tissue panel. All nine reference genes exhibited variable expression. The fl-actin, EFlot and Rpll3ot genes comprise a validated reference gene panel for zebrafish developmental time course studies, and the EF1 or, Rpll3α and 18S rRNA genes are more suitable as a reference gene panel for zebrafish tissue analysis. Importantly, the zebrafish GAPDH gene appears unsuitable as reference gene for both types of studies.     

Targeted activation of BmCyclinE in Bombyx mori using designer TAL effectors

Dear Editor, Artificial expression systems are crucial to functional genomics studies, constructing synthetic genetic circuits, and bioengineering (Werner & Gossen, 2014). They are usually achieved by cloning the coding sequence (CDS) of a target gene into a vector containing natural or engineered regulatory elements. However, this strategy is limited when target genes are hard to clone, for example when the CDS is too long, or expression level is too low.     

Expression of Epitope-Tagged SYN3 Cohesin Proteins Can Disrupt Meiosis in Arabidopsis

a-kleisins are core components of meiotic and mitotic cohesin complexes. Arabidopsis contains genes encoding four a-kleisins. SYN1, a REC8 ortholog, is essential for meiosis, while SYN2 and SYN4 appear to be SCCI orthologs and function in mitosis. SYN3 is enriched in the nucleolus of meiotic and mitotic cells and is essential for megagametogenesis. It was recently shown that expression of SYN3-RNAi constructs in buds cause changes in meiotic gene expression that result in meiotic alterations. In this report we show that expression of SYN3 from the 35S promoter with either a c-terminal Myc or FAST tag causes a reduction in SYN1 mRNA levels that results in al- terations in sister chromatid cohesion, homologous chromosome synapsis female meiosis. and synaptonemal complex formation during both male and     

Anterograde and Retrograde Regulation of Nuclear Genes Encoding Mitochondrial Proteins during Growth,Development, and Stress

Mitochondrial biogenesis and function in plants require the expression of over 1000 nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins （NGEMPs）. The expression of these genes is regulated by tissue-specific, developmental, internal, and external stimuli that result in a dynamic organelle involved in both metabolic and a variety of signaling processes. Although the metabolic and biosynthetic machinery of mitochondria is relatively well understood, the factors that regu- late these processes and the various signaling pathways involved are only beginning to be identified at a molecular level. The molecular components of anterograde （nuclear to mitochondrial） and retrograde （mitochondrial to nuclear） signaling pathways that regulate the expression of NGEMPs interact with chloroplast-, growth-, and stress-signaling pathways in the cell at a variety of levels, with common components involved in transmission and execution of these signals. This positions mitochondria as important hubs for signaling in the cell, not only in direct signaling of mitochondrial function per se, but also in sensing and/or integrating a variety of other internal and external signals. This integrates and optimizes growth with energy metabolism and stress responses, which is required in both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic cells.     

拟南芥LEAFY基因在花发育中的网络调控及其生物学功能

重点综述了拟南芥花分生组织特征基因——LEAFY（LFY）基因及其同源基因在花发育中的网络调控及其生物学功能。LFY基因广泛表达于高等植物的营养性和生殖性组织。LFY基因需要与其他基因相互作用,並且表达量达到一定水平时才能促进成花。LFY基因处于成花调控网络的关键位置,不仅调控开花时间和花转变,而且在花序和花的发育中也起重要作用。碳源、植物激素等因子直接或间接地影响LFY基因的表达和作用。提示通过掌握LFY基因的表达调控规律进一步探讨成花机理的可行性。 Abstract:Recent research progress on regulation network and biological roles of LFY gene in Arabidopsis thaliana and its homologue genes in floral development are reviewed emphatically in the present paper.LFY gene expresses widely in both vegetative and reproductive tissues in different higher plants,therefore investigation on role of LFY gene on flowering is of general significance.LFY gene plays an important role to promote flower formation by interaction and coordination with other genes,such as TFL,EMF,AP1,AP2,CAL,FWA,FT,AP3,PI,AG,UFO,CO,LD,GA1 etc,and a critical level of LFY expression is essential.LFY gene not only controls flowering-time and floral transition,but also plays an important role in inflorescence and floral organ development.It was situated at the central site in gene network of flowering regulation,positively or negatively regulates the level or activities of flowering-related genes.Some physiological factors,such as carbon sources,phytohormones,affect directly or indirectly the expression and actions of LFY gene.This indicates that level of LFY expression can also be regulated with physiological methods.It is probable that we can explain the principal mechanism of flowering by regulation network of LFY gene.     

PRGL: A cell wall proline-rich protein containning GASA domain in Gerbera hybrida

PRPs (proline-rich proteins) are a group of cell wall proteins characterized by their proline and hy- droproline-rich repetitive peptides. The expression of PRPs in plants is stimulated by wounding and environmental stress. GASA (gibberellic acid stimulated in Arabidopsis) proteins are small peptides sharing a 60 amino acid conserved C-terminal domain containing twelve invariant cysteine residues. Most of GASAs reported are localized to apoplasm or cell wall and their expression was regulated by gibberellins (GAs). It has been reported that, in French bean, these two proteins encoding by two distinct genes formed a two-component chitin-receptor involved in plant-pathogen interactions when plant was infected. We cloned a full-length cDNA of PRGL (proline-rich GASA-like) gene which encodes a protein containing both PRP and GASA-like domains. It is demonstrated that PRGL is a new protein with characteristics of PRP and GASA by analyzing its protein structure and gene expression.