Nucleolar activity in the fusiform cambial cells of Abies balsamea (Pinaceae): effect of season and age

Nucleolar involvement in the regulation of the activity-rest-quiescence cycle of the vascular cambium was assessed by determining the seasonal variation in number, diameter, and volume of nucleoli in fusiform cells of Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. The cells were isolated from 1- and 19-yr-old cambia and stained with either silver nitrate or Feulgen + naphthol yellow-S. The ability of fusiform cells to incorporate [5-³H]-uridine into nuclei and nucleoli was also determined. In the 1-yr-old cambium, the activity of the nucleoli, as evidenced by their diameter, total volume per cell, and intensity of staining with silver nitrate, exhibited two maxima during the year—a large one during cambial reactivation in April-May and a small one during the rest-quiescence transition in October. Incorporation of radiolabeled uridine at 20 C was low at the end of the active period and increased during the rest–quiescence transition, suggesting that the quiescent, but not the resting, cambium can rapidly resume nucleolar activity when the temperature is permissive. The number of nucleoli per cell varied between two and eight, and was higher during the dormant than the active period. The increase in number took place during the autumnal activity–rest–quiescence transition, when cambial cells were arrested in the G₁ phase of the cell cycle. Similar seasonal changes in nucleolar morphology were observed in the 19-yr-old cambium. Nucleolar diameter and total nucleolar volume were larger in the 19-yr-old cambium than in the 1-yr-old cambium, whereas nucleolar number was lower. Th results suggest that repression of rRNA genes underlies the development of rest when the cambium will not produce new cells.     

Cambial reactivation in locally heated stems of the evergreen conifer Abies sachalinensis (Schmidt) Masters

A study was made of cambial activity, the localization of storage starch around the cambium, and the localization and occurrence of microtubules in cambial cells from dormancy to reactivation in locally heated (22–26 °C) stems of the evergreen conifer Abies sachalinensis. Heating induced localized reactivation of the cambium in the heated portions of the stem. Erect ray cambial cells resumed cell division 1 d prior to the reactivation of fusiform cambial cells and procumbent ray cambial cells. The re-initiation of the division of fusiform cambial cells occurred first on the phloem side. During the heat treatment, the amount of storage starch decreased in procumbent ray cambial cells and in the phloem parenchyma adjacent to the cambium but increased in fusiform cambial cells. Preprophase bands of microtubules, spindle microtubules and phragmoplast microtubules were observed both in erect ray cambial cells and in procumbent ray cambial cells. By contrast, no evidence of the presence of such preprophase bands of microtubules was detected in fusiform cambial cells. The results suggest that the localized heating of stems of evergreen conifers might provide a useful experimental model system for studies of the dynamics of cambial reactivation in intact trees. Received: 25 May 2000 / Accepted: 12 July 2000     

A metabolic throttle regulates the epigenetic state of rDNA

The synthesis of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is carefully tuned to match nutritional conditions. In this issue, Murayama et al. (2008) describe a mechanism that couples the energy status of the cell to heterochromatin formation and silencing of rRNA genes. They show that an altered NAD(+)/NADH ratio in response to glucose starvation regulates the silencing activity of eNoSC, a complex consisting of the NAD(+)-dependent histone deacetylase SIRT1, the histone methyltransferase SUV39H1, and a new protein called nucleomethylin (NML). These results suggest a mechanism that links cell physiology to rDNA silencing, which in turn is a prerequisite for nucleolar integrity and cell survival.     

Silenced rRNA genes are activated and substitute for partially eliminated active homeologs in the recently formed allotetraploid,Tragopogon mirus (Asteraceae)

To study the relationship between uniparental rDNA (encoding 18S, 5.8S and 26S ribosomal RNA) silencing (nucleolar dominance) and rRNA gene dosage, we studied a recently emerged (within the last 80 years) allotetraploid Tragopogon mirus (2n=24), formed from the diploid progenitors T. dubius (2n=12, D-genome donor) and T. porrifolius (2n=12, P-genome donor). Here, we used molecular, cytogenetic and genomic approaches to analyse rRNA gene activity in two sibling T. mirus plants (33A and 33B) with widely different rRNA gene dosages. Plant 33B had ~400 rRNA genes at the D-genome locus, which is typical for T. mirus, accounting for ~25% of total rDNA. We observed characteristic expression dominance of T. dubius-origin genes in all organs. Its sister plant 33A harboured a homozygous macrodeletion that reduced the number of T. dubius-origin genes to about 70 copies (~4% of total rDNA). It showed biparental rDNA expression in root, flower and callus, but not in leaf where D-genome rDNA dominance was maintained. There was upregulation of minor rDNA variants in some tissues. The RNA polymerase I promoters of reactivated T. porrifolius-origin rRNA genes showed reduced DNA methylation, mainly at symmetrical CG and CHG nucleotide motifs. We hypothesise that active, decondensed rDNA units are most likely to be deleted via recombination. The silenced homeologs could be used as a ‘first reserve'' to ameliorate mutational damage and contribute to evolutionary success of polyploids. Deletion and reactivation cycles may lead to bidirectional homogenisation of rRNA arrays in the long term.     

Nucleolar rDNA folds into condensed foci with a specific combination of epigenetic marks

Arabidopsis thaliana 45S ribosomal genes (rDNA) are located in tandem arrays called nucleolus organizing regions on the termini of chromosomes 2 and 4 (NOR2 and NOR4) and encode rRNA, a crucial structural element of the ribosome. The current model of rDNA organization suggests that inactive rRNA genes accumulate in the condensed chromocenters in the nucleus and at the nucleolar periphery, while the nucleolus delineates active genes. We challenge the perspective that all intranucleolar rDNA is active by showing that a subset of nucleolar rDNA assembles into condensed foci marked by H3.1 and H3.3 histones that also contain the repressive H3K9me2 histone mark. By using plant lines containing a low number of rDNA copies, we further found that the condensed foci relate to the folding of rDNA, which appears to be a common mechanism of rDNA regulation inside the nucleolus. The H3K9me2 histone mark found in condensed foci represents a typical modification of bulk inactive rDNA, as we show by genome-wide approaches, similar to the H2A.W histone variant. The euchromatin histone marks H3K27me3 and H3K4me3, in contrast, do not colocalize with nucleolar foci and their overall levels in the nucleolus are very low. We further demonstrate that the rDNA promoter is an important regulatory region of the rDNA, where the distribution of histone variants and histone modifications are modulated in response to rDNA activity.     

The ribosomal RNA gene cluster in aneuploid chickens: evidence for increased gene dosage and regulation of gene expression

In the chicken, the nucleolus organizer regions, or sites of the genes encoding 18S, 5.8S, and 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA), map to one pair of microchromosomes that can be identified by silver nitrate cytochemistry. This nucleolar organizer chromosome also contains the major histocompatibility complex. Chickens aneuploid for this chromosome have been identified and reproduced for over seven generations. Crossing two trisomic parents results in the production of viable disomic, trisomic, and tetrasomic progeny, showing two, three, and four nucleoli and nucleolar organizers per cell, respectively. A molecular analysis of rRNA genes was undertaken to establish the gene copy numbers in the aneuploid genotypes, and to determine if elevated numbers of rRNA genes are stably maintained and inherited over multiple generations. Gene copy numbers were determined using hybridization analysis of erythrocyte DNA obtained from individuals comprising a family which segregated disomic, trisomic, and tetrasomic genotypes. The values obtained were 290, 420, and 570 rDNA repeats per cell for disomic, trisomic, and tetrasomic animals, respectively. These results provide molecular confirmation of the two aneuploid states and show that elevated gene copy numbers have been maintained over multiple generations. Fibroblasts derived from disomic and tetrasomic embryos were found to grow at similar rates in culture, and mature rRNA levels in chicken embryo fibroblasts from disomic, trisomic and tetrasomic embryos were also found to have similar levels of mature rRNA. Therefore, despite the increase in rDNA content, the level of rRNA is regulated to diploid amounts in aneuploid fibroblasts.