Collateral gene expression changes induced by distinct plant viruses during the hypersensitive resistance reaction in Chenopodium amaranticolor

Hypersensitive reactions to plant diseases are typically mediated by R genes. Many R genes that have been cloned only confer resistance to a particular pathogen. However, Chenopodium spp. have multivirus hypersensitive resistance, thus making the understanding of this broad-spectrum resistance mechanism attractive. Using tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) tagged with green fluorescent protein to follow infection over time, cDNA-AFLP to find genes up-regulated during virus infection in C. amaranticolor and quantitative RT-PCR to accurately measure gene expression at different time points, the first dissection of this significant defense response pathway is presented. The detected disease-expressed sequences in C. amaranticolor (DESCA) are similar to those that encode p450 monooxegenases, hypersensitivity-related genes, cellulases, ABC transporters, receptor-like kinases, serine/threonine kinases, phosphoribosylanthranilate transferases and hypothetical R genes, many of which are associated with pathogen defense in other plants. The expressions of these DESCA genes are also induced by infection with the taxonomically distinct tobacco rattle virus (TRV) in C. amaranticolor. In particular, DESCA1, one of the gene fragments from C. amaranticolor that lacks similarity to any other sequence in the GenBank database, is induced at least 200 fold 4 d after infection (dai) by both TMV and TRV. The potential role of DESCA genes in a C. amaranticolor multivirus defense response with regard to their levels and time of gene expression is discussed.     

The response of Spartium junceum roots to slope: anchorage and gene factors

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Plant anchorage is governed by complex, finely regulated mechanisms that occur at a morphological, architectural and anatomical level. Spanish broom (Spartium junceum) is a woody plant frequently found on slopes--a condition that affects plant anchorage. This plant grows throughout the Mediterranean area where it plays an important role in preventing landslides. Spanish broom seedlings respond promptly to slope by altering stem and root morphology. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms whereby the root system of Spanish broom seedlings adapts to ensure anchorage to the ground. METHODS: Seedlings were grown in tilted and untilted pots under controlled conditions. The root apparatus was removed at different times of growth and subjected to morphological, biomechanical and molecular analyses. KEY RESULTS: In slope-grown seedlings, changes in root system morphology, pulling strength and chemical lignin content, all features related to plant anchorage in the soil, were related to seedling age. cDNA-AFLP analysis revealed changes in the expression of several genes in root systems of slope-grown plants. BLAST analysis showed that some differentially expressed genes are homologues of genes induced by environmental stresses in other plant species, and/or are involved in the production of strengthening materials. CONCLUSION: Plants use various mechanisms/strategies to respond to slope depending on their developmental stage.     

低温对龙井43种胚基因表达效应的初步研究

为了探讨低温对茶树种子特定基因表达的效应,以便为茶树种子长期低温储存提供分子生物学方面的参考依据,采用cDNA-AFLP方法对茶树无性系龙井43种子经超低温（-70 ℃）储存1年后种胚的基因转录活性进行了初步分析,结果显示：64对引物组合共产生了132条PCR产物.对其中的15条进行克隆测序,最终获得8条差异片段.在GenBank进行序列分析,发现有6条与已知功能基因相关,其中包括参与植物转运、转录、能量产生及老化相关的蛋白,2条在GenBank数据库中未找到相似序列.     

Molecular interactions between rosy apple aphids, Dysaphis plantaginea, and resistant and susceptible cultivars of its primary host Malus domestica

The use of crop varieties resistant or tolerant to insect pests or other stress factors is one approach in non‐chemical crop‐protection. Knowledge of the biochemical and molecular background of insect–plant interactions is a prerequisite for optimizing breeding for resistance. However, the resistance genes involved in plant–aphid interactions have so far only been identified and characterized in very few plant species. Our work aims to elucidate the molecular and biochemical mechanisms involved in resistance of apple trees, Malus domestica L. (Rosaceae), against its primary aphid pest, the rosy apple aphid, Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini) (Homoptera: Aphididae), which is considered a serious economic pest of apple. Gene expression in both resistant and susceptible apple cultivars after infestation with rosy apple aphids was investigated by employing the cDNA‐AFLP method (cDNA–Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism). From approximately 12 500 cDNA fragments detected on polyacrylamide gels, 21 bands were apparently up‐ or down‐regulated only in the resistant cultivar ‘Florina’ after aphid infestation compared to the susceptible cultivar ‘Topaz’ and/or mechanically wounded or non‐infested leaves. These fragments were cloned, sequenced, and the pattern of gene expression for six fragments was subsequently verified by virtual Northern blots. Sequence comparisons of these fragments to GenBank accessions revealed homologies to already known genes, most of them isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana L. Among them, a putative RNase‐L‐inhibitor‐like protein, a pectinacetylesterase, an inositol‐phosphatase‐like protein, a precursor of the large chain of the ribulose‐1,5‐biphosphate‐carboxylase, and defence‐related genes such as a vacuolar H(+)‐ATPase subunit‐like protein and an ADP‐ribosylating enzyme were identified. The results are discussed in relation to a putative role of these genes in conferring aphid resistance in apple trees.     

大白菜胞质雄性不育系RC7及其保持系的细胞学和蕾期基因表达差异分析

以大白菜雄性不育材料RC7及其保持系B7为材料,通过对两材料花药发育过程进行细胞学观察,并利用cDNA-AFLP技术分析两材料花蕾的基因表达差异,以明确RC7发生雄性败育的时期和方式,为大白菜CMS的分子机理研究提供依据。结果显示:(1)细胞学观察发现,大白菜雄性不育材料RC7及其保持系B7的小孢子母细胞减数分裂属同时型,小孢子在四分体中的排列属四面体型,保持系B7花药的绒毡层属于腺质型;不育材料RC7在四分体时期绒毡层细胞内出现大的液泡,呈现败育征兆,单核期绒毡层解体,中层退化,小孢子核开始解体、败育,属于单核花粉败育型。(2)对两材料蕾期基因的cDNA-AFLP差显比较分析表明,共获得了23条阳性差异片段,其中在不育系RC7花蕾中特异表达的有8条,在保持系B7花蕾中特异表达有10条,两系中共有条带5条。(3)对不育系中特异表达的8条谱带进行Blast搜索发现,H1与拟南芥光合反应蛋白基因有较高的一致性,H26与拟南芥钙调磷酸酶类磷酸酯酶家族蛋白质的部分序列存在90%的一致性,属于细胞信号转导基因;对来自保持系的10条谱带的差异片段功能以及一致性进行比对分类发现,它们包括糖代谢基因、蛋白质的合成与运输基因、乙烯诱导基因、电子传递和能量途径基因、未知或假定蛋白等。研究表明,大白菜雄性不育材料RC7可能是由于绒毡层细胞液泡化和径向肥大,小孢子受挤压后破裂降解,不能形成正常的成熟花粉粒而败育;乙烯诱导基因(H29)在保持系中特异表达,在不育系中沉默,表明不育系中缺乏乙烯相关基因。