Dataset Information

Molecular dissection of the pea shoot apical meristem.

ABSTRACT: The shoot apical meristem (SAM) is responsible for the development of all the above-ground parts of a plant. Our understanding of the SAM at the molecular level is incomplete. This study investigates the gene expression repertoire of SAMs in the garden pea (Pisum sativum). To this end, 10 346 EST sequences representing 7610 unique genes were generated from SAM cDNA libraries. These sequences, together with previously reported pea ESTs, were used to construct a 12K oligonucleotide array to identify genes with differential SAM expression, as compared to axillary meristems, root apical meristems, or non-meristematic tissues. A number of genes were identified, predominantly expressed in specific cell layers or domains of the SAM and thus are likely components of the gene networks involved in stem cell maintenance or the initiation of lateral organs. Further in situ hybridization analysis confirmed the spatial localization of some of these genes within the SAM. Our data also indicate the diversification of some gene expression patterns and hence functions in legume crop plants. A number of transcripts highly expressed in all three meristems have also been uncovered and these candidates may provide valuable insight into molecular networks that underpin the maintenance of meristematic functionality.

SUBMITTER: Liang D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2755034 | biostudies-literature | 2009

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Molecular dissection of the pea shoot apical meristem.

Liang Dacheng D Wong Chui E CE Singh Mohan B MB Beveridge Christine A CA Phipson Belinda B Smyth Gordon K GK Bhalla Prem L PL

Journal of experimental botany 20090825 14

The shoot apical meristem (SAM) is responsible for the development of all the above-ground parts of a plant. Our understanding of the SAM at the molecular level is incomplete. This study investigates the gene expression repertoire of SAMs in the garden pea (Pisum sativum). To this end, 10 346 EST sequences representing 7610 unique genes were generated from SAM cDNA libraries. These sequences, together with previously reported pea ESTs, were used to construct a 12K oligonucleotide array to identi ...[more]

PMID: 19706781

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Project description:Knowledge about an organismâs cell and tissue-specific transcriptional repertoire is essential for understanding the gene regulatory circuits that control key developmental events. The shoot apical meristem (SAM) is responsible for development of all the above ground parts of plants. Our understanding of SAM at the molecular level is far from complete. The present work investigates the global gene expression repertoire of SAMs in the garden pea (Pisum sativum). To this end, 10,346 EST sequences representing 7611 unique genes were generated from pea SAM cDNA libraries. These sequences, together with previously reported ESTs, were used to construct a 12K oligonucleotide array used to identify genes exhibiting differential SAM expression, as compared to the axillary meristem, root apical meristem, and non-meristematic tissues. We identified a number of genes that are predominantly expressed in specific cell layers or domains of the SAM, and thus are likely components of the gene networks involved in stem cell maintenance and initiation of lateral organ primordial cells. In situ hybridization confirmed the spatial localisation of some of these key genes within the SAM. Our data also indicate the diversification of some gene expression patterns and functions in legume crop plants. RNA samples were hybridized to two-colour Combimatrix arrays manufactured with a custom library of 11958 probes. The limma software package for R (Smyth, 2005) was used in subsequent statistical analysis of the data generated. On examination of the data during quality control assessment, it became evident that the Cy3 channel showed little dynamic range and background correction and normalisation could not correct for this. Therefore only the Cy5 channel was used in the subsequent analysis. This resulted in somewhat unbalanced sample sizes with six replicates of SAM and one each of RAM, AM and NM. Nevertheless, linear modelling and empirical Bayes moderated t-statistics (Smyth, 2004) used in the statistical analysis allows variance information to be borrowed across both samples and genes, resulting in reliable statistical inference even for the groups with only one sample.

Project description:BackgroundDespite the importance of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) in plant development and organ formation, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling its function is limited. Genomic tools have the potential to unravel the molecular mysteries of the SAM, and legume systems are increasingly being used in plant-development studies owing to their unique characteristics such as nitrogen fixation, secondary metabolism, and pod development. Garden pea (Pisum sativum) is a well-established classic model species for genetics studies that has been used since the Mendel era. In addition, the availability of a plethora of developmental mutants makes pea an ideal crop legume for genomics studies. This study aims to utilise genomics tools in isolating genes that play potential roles in the regulation of SAM activity.ResultsIn order to identify genes that are differentially expressed in the SAM, we generated 2735 ESTs from three cDNA libraries derived from freshly micro-dissected SAMs from 10-day-old garden peas (Pisum sativum cv Torsdag). Custom-designed oligonucleotide arrays were used to compare the transcriptional profiles of pea SAMs and non-meristematic tissues. A total of 184 and 175 transcripts were significantly up- or down-regulated in the pea SAM, respectively. As expected, close to 61% of the transcripts down-regulated in the SAM were found in the public database, whereas sequences from the same source only comprised 12% of the genes that were expressed at higher levels in the SAM. This highlights the under-representation of transcripts from the meristematic tissues in the current public pea protein database, and demonstrates the utility of our SAM EST collection as an essential genetic resource for revealing further information on the regulation of this developmental process. In addition to unknowns, many of the up-regulated transcripts are known to encode products associated with cell division and proliferation, epigenetic regulation, auxin-mediated responses and microRNA regulation.ConclusionThe presented data provide a picture of the transcriptional profile of the pea SAM, and reveal possible roles of differentially expressed transcripts in meristem function and maintenance.

Dataset Information

Molecular dissection of the pea shoot apical meristem.

Publications

Molecular dissection of the pea shoot apical meristem.

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