Differential expression of four genes encoding 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase in Lupinus albus during germination, and in response to indole-3-acetic acid and wounding

1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase (ACS; EC 4.4.1.14) is the key regulatory enzyme of the ethylene biosynthetic pathway and is encoded by a multigene family in Arabidopsis thaliana, tomato, mung bean and other plants. Southern blot analysis revealed the existence of at least five ACS genes in white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) genome. Four complete and one partial sequences representing different ACS genes were cloned from the lupin genomic library. The levels of expression of two of the genes, LA-ACS1 and LA-ACS3, were found to increase after hypocotyl wounding. Apparently, these two genes were up-regulated by exogenous IAA treatment of seedlings. The LA-ACS3 mRNA levels were also elevated in the apical part of hypocotyl, which is reported to contain a high endogenous auxin concentration. This gene may be involved in the auxin- and ethylene-controlled apical hook formation. The expression of the LA-ACS4 gene was found to be almost undetectable. This gene may represent a “silent” twin of LA-ACS5 as these two genes share a considerable level of homology in coding and non-coding regions. The LA-ACS5 mRNA is strongly up-regulated in the embryonic axis of germinating seeds at the time of radicle emergence, and was also found in roots and hypocotyls of lupin seedlings. Received: 19 July 1999 / Accepted: 3 March 2000     

The rice cold-responsive calcium-dependent protein kinase OsCPK17 is regulated by alternative splicing and post-translational modifications

Plant calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are key proteins implicated in calcium-mediated signaling pathways of a wide range of biological events in the organism. The action of each particular CDPK is strictly regulated by many mechanisms in order to ensure an accurate signal translation and the activation of the adequate response processes. In this work, we investigated the regulation of a CDPK involved in rice cold stress response, OsCPK17, to better understand its mode of action. We identified two new alternative splicing (AS) mRNA forms of OsCPK17 encoding truncated versions of the protein, missing the CDPK activation domain. We analyzed the expression patterns of all AS variants in rice tissues and examined their subcellular localization in onion epidermal cells. The results indicate that the AS of OsCPK17 putatively originates truncated forms of the protein with distinct functions, and different subcellular and tissue distributions. Additionally, we addressed the regulation of OsCPK17 by post-translational modifications in several in vitro experiments. Our analysis indicated that OsCPK17 activity depends on its structural rearrangement induced by calcium binding, and that the protein can be autophosphorylated. The identified phosphorylation sites mostly populate the OsCPK17 N-terminal domain. Exceptions are phosphosites T107 and S136 in the kinase domain and S558 in the C-terminal domain. These phosphosites seem conserved in CDPKs and may reflect a common regulatory mechanism for this protein family.     

温室白粉虱触角miRNA转录组分析及调控嗅觉相关基因miRNA的鉴定

microRNA(miRNA)是一类真核生物中内源性的非编码小RNA,在基因转录后水平调控靶基因的小分子.温室白粉虱(Trialeurodes vaporariorum)是一种危害多种蔬菜、花卉及农作物等的世界性害虫,可以导致植物细菌性病害的传播和流行,其触角对温室白粉虱的取食、行为和生长发育等起到了重要作用.本研究以...     

In vitro culture may be the major contributing factor for transgenic versus nontransgenic proteomic plant differences

Identification of differences between genetically modified plants and their original counterparts plays a central role in risk assessment strategy. Our main goal was to better understand the relevance of transgene presence, genetic, and epigenetic changes induced by transgene insertion, and in vitro culture in putative unintended differences between a transgenic and its comparator. Thus, we have used multiplex fluorescence 2DE coupled with MS to characterize the proteome of three different rice lines (Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica cv. Nipponbare): a control conventional line (C), an Agrobacterium‐transformed transgenic line (T_a) and a negative segregant (NS_b). We observed that T_a and NS_b appeared identical (with only one spot differentially abundant—fold difference ≥ 1.5), contrasting with the control (49 spots with fold difference ≥1.5, in both T_a and NS_b vs. control). Given that in vitro culture was the only event in common between T_a and NS_b, we hypothesize that in vitro culture stress was the most relevant condition contributing for the observed proteomic differences. MS protein identification support our hypothesis, indicating that T_a and NS_b lines adjusted their metabolic pathways and altered the abundance of several stress related proteins in order to cope with in vitro culture.     

1990年来中国城镇建设用地占用耕地的效率和驱动机理时空分析

定量揭示城镇建设用地与耕地的时空变化关系和相互作用机理,是如何实现城镇建设用地需求与耕地资源保护二者间动态平衡的关键问题之一。基于1990—2015年全国城镇建设用地及耕地的空间数据,在对比分析中国31个省份近25年来的城镇建设用地及耕地时空格局变化的基础上,定量求算因城镇建设用地扩张导致耕地减少的速率,并引入数据包络分析法和地理探测器,实现自1990年以来中国城镇建设用地占用耕地的驱动效用机理。结果表明:1)在时间维度上,1990—2015年间,中国城镇建设用地增长2.6×10⁴ km²,增速107%,而扩张速率以2.4%/5 a逐渐降低。1990—2000年耕地呈增加趋势(增加2.96×10⁴ km²),2000年后呈减少趋势,总体减少速率为0.29%/5 a。全国新增城镇建设用地占用2.12×10⁴ km²耕地,占城镇新增总量的72.5%;2)在空间分布上,全国城镇建设用地扩张面积由东向西逐渐减小,但2010后的西部区域扩张速度呈上升趋势。耕地面积在西北和东北地区有所增加,东部和中部呈减少趋势,城镇建设用地占用耕地比例由东部向西部逐渐减弱,但中东部耕地被建设用地占用形式仍然严重;3)在城镇建设用地占用耕地的效用上,1990—2015年,全国城镇建设用地占用耕地的产出效益呈现降低趋势,其中产出效益超过0.8的省份主要分布在沿海地区,西北地区产出效益普遍较低。分析结果显示,经济发展因素是新增城镇建设用地占用耕地的主要驱动因素,其次为空间位置因素和政策措施,自2010年后政策因素的驱动作用强度呈增加趋势。     

9种蕨类植物丛枝菌根真菌侵染的结构观察

蕨类植物普遍能与丛枝菌根真菌(arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi,AMF)形成稳定的共生关系,并显著增强其获取养分和抵抗环境胁迫的能力,为了明晰AMF在不同蕨类植物体内的侵染特征,该研究对广东封开黑石顶自然保护区内的蕨类植物进行野外调查取样,并利用光镜和透射电镜对蕨类植物—AMF共生体的显微和亚显微结构进行观察分析,以明确不同蕨类植物与AMF的共生特征,从而进一步保护和开发利用华南地区蕨类植物资源。结果表明:(1)研究区的AMF对不同蕨类植物的侵染形式均以菌丝为主,而丛枝侵染率最低;不同蕨类植物之间的AMF总侵染率存在显著差异,其中团叶鳞始蕨(56.03%)均显著高于其他物种(P<0.05)。(2)显微观察显示,菌丝是AMF定殖于各种蕨类植物根系中最常见的形式,在9种蕨类植物根皮层细胞中均有发现,但不存在于中柱细胞。(3)观察发现,AMF菌丝主要由2~3层厚薄不一的薄壁细胞组成,多呈椭圆形和扁平形状。(4)AMF菌丝及泡囊中包含许多小液泡和脂质类物质,这可能是菌根结构储存能量的重要方式。研究认为,陆地生态系统中AMF对蕨类植物普遍具有侵染的能力,但其在不同蕨类植物根系中的赋存形式具有显著差异,这可能归因于植物自身生理特征以及生境条件的相互作用。