Project description:Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a bacterial species found in temperate soils world wide, is the causative agent of crown gall disease on many plants. A. tumefaciens-induced tumours are feared in orchards and vineyards because of their pathological interference with nutrient and water supply which results in crop decline. Small wounds at the crown of the plant, usually induced by wind-bending, are potential entry sites for the bacterium. The tumorous growth is initiated by the integration and expression of the T-DNA of the bacterial Ti plasmid within the plant nuclear DNA. The T-DNA encodes enzymes catalysing the synthesis of increased concentrations of auxin and cytokinin, and of opines which stimulate cell division and enlargement. The fast growing tumours have been shown to be a strong nutrient sink on their host plants. As a matter of fact, sugar and K+ content were found to be up to 10- and 5-fold, respectively, higher in this tissue and transpiration was about 15 times increased compared to normal tissue. Whereas the morphological structure as well as some physiological and biochemical parameters of the tumour have been analysed in detail, little is known about the underlying gene expression pattern. Proliferation and growth of the tumour induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens is obviously due to the extraordinary high concentration of phytohormons, minerals and metabolites. Their influence on regulation of gene transcription will provide information on the mechanisms underlying fast tumour growth. In a project funded by the DFG we recently started to investigate the role of solute transporter for tumour development on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. By comparing the expression pattern of RNA preparations from Arabidopsis tumour and non-tumour tissue, we will be able to identify genes which facilitate crown gall development. For the expression analysis with an Affymetrix full genome chip we will induce tumours at the base of an injured Arabidopsis inflorescence stalk (var. Wassilewskija, WS-2). RNA will be extraxted from tumour and injured non-tumor inflorescence stalk tissue using the RNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen), followed by a DNase treatment to eliminate DNA contamination.

Project description:Aim To identify genes specifically involved in the storage reserve mobilisation programme in Arabidopsis. Background: During germination and early post-germinative growth in Arabidopsis seed storage reserves are broken down to provide energy and nutrients for the developing seedling. Genes encoding enzymes involved in the mobilisation of both storage lipid and protein are expressed strongly 1-2 days following imbibition and then fall to very low levels. The regulatory mechanisms controlling expression of these genes are poorly understood. Although germination and reserve mobilisation occur at the same time we have obtained evidence using Abscisic Acid (ABA) treated seeds that the events are regulated by two separate programmes. Arabidopsis seeds treated with 10mM ABA still express genes involved in the mobilisation of storage reserves and break down storage lipid even though germination is blocked. ABA treated seeds therefore provide a powerful system for the identification of genes involved specifically in the reserve mobilisation programme. Microarray analysis will allow us to gain a global undertanding of the processes involved in storage reserve mobilisation and should also result in the identification of regulatory genes involved in this process. Experimental Set-up All seeds are Col-4 imbibed on plates containing 1/2 MS media for 4 days in the dark. All plant material will be grown in controlled environment growth rooms under defined light and temperature regimes. There are two parts to the experimental design. 1. Time course to identify genes involved in both seed storage reserve and germination programmes Comparison of mRNAs from seeds immediately after imbibition (storage reserve and germination programme genes being induced) with 2 day (storage reserve genes maximally expressed) and 7 day old seedlings (storage reserve and germination programme genes off, photoautotrophic genes on) will allow the identification of genes exclusively presentor present at enhanced levels at the peak of reserve mobilisation (day 2). 2. ABA treatment experiment to identify genes involved in the storage reserve programme ABA treatment blocks germination but does not block reserve mobilisation. Microarray analysis will be performed on RNA isolated from 2 day old seed imbibed in the presence of ABA. Comparison of the results of this experiment with those of the time course experiment should allow us to distinguish between genes involved in the two major programmes that we have uncovered.

Project description:Background: Release of the caesium radioisotope 137Cs during weapons testing and industrial activity has contaminated thousands of hectares of agricultural land. Ingesting 137Cs has damaging and, sometimes, fatal effects. Most Cs enters the food chain through plants. The generation of _safe_ crops that exclude Cs and can be cultivated on contaminated land requires knowledge about the mechanisms for Cs uptake. Caesium is chemically similar to potassium (K) and might enter plants through K+ transporters in the plasma membrane of root cells. To determine which transporters mediate Cs entry to plants, we have compared the accumulation of Cs and K by wildtype Arabidopsis with mutants lacking specific K+ transporters. Preliminary results showed that Cs concentration in the shoots of akt1-1, cngc1 and cngc4 (obtained from the Wisconsin T-DNA knockout facility) differed significantly from the Wassilewskija wildtype (Ws-2). A cursory investigation of their transcriptome, using the Affymetrix Arabidopsis 8K GeneChip, showed that the expression of several genes encoding K+ transporters differed between mutants and wildtype plants. The aim of this GarNet project is to confirm the previous observations and to identify further genes that are differentially expressed in mutant and wildtype plants and which might impact on Cs accumulation. Methods: Arabidopsis mutants akt1-1 (N3762), cngc1 and cngc4 and their parental ecotype Wassilewskija -2 (N1601) will be sown on MS agar and transferred to hydroponics 21 days after germination. Seedlings will be grown for a further 7 days on full nutrient solution under continuous light in a Saxcil growth cabinet. RNA will be extracted from roots of mutant and parent (control) plants at the same growth stage and twelve complete-genome Affymetrix GeneChips (3 biological replicates of material from wildtype and 3 mutants) are requested to determine the differences in their transcriptome under comparable environmental conditions.

Project description:Background: Release of the caesium radioisotope 137Cs during weapons testing and industrial activity has contaminated thousands of hectares of agricultural land. Ingesting 137Cs has damaging and, sometimes, fatal effects. Most Cs enters the food chain through plants. The generation of _safe_ crops that exclude Cs and can be cultivated on contaminated land requires knowledge about the mechanisms for Cs uptake. Caesium is chemically similar to potassium (K) and might enter plants through K+ transporters in the plasma membrane of root cells. To determine which transporters mediate Cs entry to plants, we have compared the accumulation of Cs and K by wildtype Arabidopsis with mutants lacking specific K+ transporters. Preliminary results showed that Cs concentration in the shoots of akt1-1, cngc1 and cngc4 (obtained from the Wisconsin T-DNA knockout facility) differed significantly from the Wassilewskija wildtype (Ws-2). A cursory investigation of their transcriptome, using the Affymetrix Arabidopsis 8K GeneChip, showed that the expression of several genes encoding K+ transporters differed between mutants and wildtype plants. The aim of this GarNet project is to confirm the previous observations and to identify further genes that are differentially expressed in mutant and wildtype plants and which might impact on Cs accumulation. Methods: Arabidopsis mutants akt1-1 (N3762), cngc1 and cngc4 and their parental ecotype Wassilewskija -2 (N1601) will be sown on MS agar and transferred to hydroponics 21 days after germination. Seedlings will be grown for a further 7 days on full nutrient solution under continuous light in a Saxcil growth cabinet. RNA will be extracted from roots of mutant and parent (control) plants at the same growth stage and twelve complete-genome Affymetrix GeneChips (3 biological replicates of material from wildtype and 3 mutants) are requested to determine the differences in their transcriptome under comparable environmental conditions. Experiment Overall Design: Number of plants pooled:20-40

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Transcription profiling of Arabidopsis grown under phosphate deficiency conditions

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