Florigen goes molecular: Seventy years of the hormonal theory of flowering regulation

As early as in 1936, the comprehensive studies of flowering led M.Kh. Chailakhyan to the concept of florigen, a hormonal floral stimulus, and let him establish several characteristics of this stimulus. These studies set up for many years the main avenues for research into the processes that control plant flowering, and the notion of florigen became universally accepted by scientists worldwide. The present-day evidence of genetic control of plant flowering supports the idea that florigen participates in floral signal transduction. The recent study of arabidopsis plants led the authors to conclusion that the immediate products of the gene FLOWERING LOCUS I, its mRNA and/or protein, move from an induced leaf into the shoot apex and evoke flowering therein.     

Occurrence of the Transition of Apical Architecture and Expression Patterns of Related Genes during Conversion of Apical Meristem Identity in G2 Pea

G2 pea exhibits an apical senescence delaying phenotype under short-day （SD） conditions; however, the structural basis for its apical development is still largely unknown. In the present study, the apical meristem of SD-grown G2 pea plants underwent a transition from vegetative to indeterminate inflorescence meristem, but the apical meristem of long-day （LD）-grown G2 pea plants would be further converted to determinate floral meristem. Both SD signal and GA3 treatment enhanced expression of the putative calcium transporter PPF1, and pea homologs of TFL1 （LF and DET）, whereas LD signal suppressed their expression at 60 d post-flowering compared with those at 40 d post-flowering. Both PPF1 and LF expressed at the vegetative and reproductive phases in SD-grown apical buds, but floral initiation obviously increased the expression level of PPF1 compared with the unchanged expression level of LF from 40 to 60 d post-flowering. In addition, although the floral initiation significantly enhanced the expression levels of PPF1 and DET, DET was mainly expressed after floral initiation in SD-grown apil buds. Therefore, the main structural difference between LD- and SD-grown apical meristem in G2 pea lies in whether their apical indeterminate inflorescence meristem could be converted to the determinate structure.     

脆性X综合征的分子遗传学研究进展

脆性X综合征是常见的遗传性智力低下性疾病,其发病率高,临床表现复杂,遗传规律独特,对脆性X 综合征的发病机理和脆性X综合征筛查与诊断方法等方面的一些研究进展进行了综述.     

Problems of Growth and Development in the Studies by M.Kh. Chailakhyan

Main vistas of Academician M.Kh. Chailakhyan's inquiry into the problems of plant growth and development are reviewed with the emphasis on the input of his research in elucidating the mechanisms of flowering, tuberization, sex expression, and the integrity of plant organism. The pioneer studies conducted by Chailakhyan and his colleagues on agricultural applications of phytohormones, their synthetic analogs, and other growth regulators are considered. Highlighted is the role of theoretical papers written by Chailakhyan, his lectures, and his brave fight against pseudoscientific trends in the Russian science is stressed.     

巴西橡胶树赤霉素信号转导途径HbRGA1结构和功能分析

DELLA蛋白是赤霉素激素信号负调控因子,具有抑制植物生长发育的作用。解析其家族成员结构与功能将有助于揭示橡胶树DELLA蛋白家族成员调控橡胶树生长发育的机制。本研究从橡胶树热研73397叶片中克隆HbRGA1的cDNA全长序列。该基因长为2136 bp,含1839 bp的ORF,编码613个氨基酸。HbRGA1蛋白序列包含DELLA和GRAS保守结构域,与杨树、木薯和橡胶树DELLA基因相似性高达82.5%。qRT-PCR分析发现HbRGA1在橡胶树叶片中表达量高,在树皮和胶乳中表达量极低。叶片中HbRGA1表达量受喷施赤霉素和脱落酸等诱导显著上调。本研究表明HbRGA1与橡胶树赤霉素等激素信号密切相关,为深入研究其在橡胶树生长发育中的结构和功能打下良好基础。     

高等植物开花时程的调控与光受体Ⅰ.开花时程的基因与光受体调控

系统评述了高等植物开花时程的调控与植物光受体的联系.重点说明了控制开花时程的遗传途径以及光周期途径的有关基因的研究进展.影响高等植物开花的最重要的因子之一便是光周期,光周期对高等植物开花的调控是通过相关基因间的相互作用来实现的,这些基因包括参与花启动发育控制基因,昼夜节律时间钟调控基因及光受体信号转导基因.近5年左右的时间通过对拟南芥及其一系列突变体的研究为我们展示了这一热门领域的广阔的前景.     

橡胶树DELLA基因HbRGL1的克隆与表达分析

DELLA蛋白属于植物特异性GRAS家族,是植物生长的负调控因子。为揭示橡胶树DELLA基因在橡胶树生长发育中的分子调控机制,本研究从橡胶树热研7-33-97中克隆HbRGL1的cDNA全长序列,含1 851 bp的ORF,编码616个氨基酸。生物信息学分析表明HbRGL1属于不稳定的亲水蛋白,定位在细胞核上,含有DELLA和GRAS保守结构域。系统进化关系分析表明HbRGL1与橡胶树HbGAIL、木薯MeGAIL、蓖麻RcGAI、麻风树JcGAI聚为一类。qRT-PCR分析表明HbRGL1在橡胶树不同组织中的表达量差异显著,在花中的表达量最高。在生长素（IAA）、乙烯利（ET）和脱落酸（ABA）等不同激素处理叶片中HbRGL1表达量均呈现显著上调趋势,尤其对赤霉素（GA3）的应答具有反应快速且上调表达倍数最高。本研究为进一步阐明HbRGL1在橡胶树生长发育中的功能奠定理论基础。     

Connecting the sun to flowering in sunflower adaptation

Species living in seasonal environments often adaptively time their reproduction in response to photoperiod cues. We characterized the expression of genes in the flowering-time regulatory network across wild populations of the common sunflower, Helianthus annuus, that we found to be adaptively differentiated for photoperiod response. The observed clinal variation was associated with changes at multiple hierarchical levels in multiple pathways. Paralogue-specific changes in FT homologue expression and tissue-specific changes in SOC1 homologue expression were associated with loss and reversal of plasticity, respectively, suggesting that redundancy and modularity are gene network characteristics easily exploited by natural selection to produce evolutionary innovation. Distinct genetic mechanisms contribute to convergent evolution of photoperiod responses within sunflower, suggesting regulatory network architecture does not impose strong constraints on the evolution of phenotypic plasticity.     

RAP—PCXR技术及其应用

RAP－PCXR是以PCR为基础构建RNA指纹图谱,研究基因差异表达的有效方法,所显示的种系特异性差异可用于对基因的遗传作图,所揭示的组织特异性可用于研究特异基因的表达。该法可检测各种情形下RNA群体间的差异。本简介其基本原理及在基因差异表达研究领域的最新应用。     

Molecular approaches to the study of evolution and phylogeny of the Nemertina

Molecular biological tools currently available to us are revolutionizing the way in which we can address questions in evolutionary biology. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of molecular techniques and applications available to biologists who are interested in evolutionary studies but who have little acquaintance with molecular biology. In evolutionary biology, techniques designed to determine degree of nucleic acid similarity are in common use and will be dealt with first. Another approach, namely gene expression studies, has strong implications for evolutionary biology but generally requires substantial familiarity with molecular biological tools. Expression studies provide powerful tools for discerning processes of speciation, as in the selection of genetic variants, as well as discerning lineages, e.g., expression of specific homeobox genes during segment formation. For investigations where either nucleic acid identity or gene expression are the ultimate goal, detailed information, protocols and appropriate controls are beyond the scope of this work but, where possible, recent review articles are cited.     

Retrospective genomic analysis of sorghum adaptation to temperate-zone grain production

Background

Sorghum is a tropical C₄ cereal that recently adapted to temperate latitudes and mechanized grain harvest through selection for dwarfism and photoperiod-insensitivity. Quantitative trait loci for these traits have been introgressed from a dwarf temperate donor into hundreds of diverse sorghum landraces to yield the Sorghum Conversion lines. Here, we report the first comprehensive genomic analysis of the molecular changes underlying this adaptation.

Results

We apply genotyping-by-sequencing to 1,160 Sorghum Conversion lines and their exotic progenitors, and map donor introgressions in each Sorghum Conversion line. Many Sorghum Conversion lines carry unexpected haplotypes not found in either presumed parent. Genome-wide mapping of introgression frequencies reveals three genomic regions necessary for temperate adaptation across all Sorghum Conversion lines, containing the Dw1, Dw2, and Dw3 loci on chromosomes 9, 6, and 7 respectively. Association mapping of plant height and flowering time in Sorghum Conversion lines detects significant associations in the Dw1 but not the Dw2 or Dw3 regions. Subpopulation-specific introgression mapping suggests that chromosome 6 contains at least four loci required for temperate adaptation in different sorghum genetic backgrounds. The Dw1 region fractionates into separate quantitative trait loci for plant height and flowering time.

Conclusions

Generating Sorghum Conversion lines has been accompanied by substantial unintended gene flow. Sorghum adaptation to temperate-zone grain production involves a small number of genomic regions, each containing multiple linked loci for plant height and flowering time. Further characterization of these loci will accelerate the adaptation of sorghum and related grasses to new production systems for food and fuel.