Dataset Information

Temperature-dependent growth contributes to long-term cold sensing.

ABSTRACT: Temperature is a key factor in the growth and development of all organisms^1,2. Plants have to interpret temperature fluctuations, over hourly to monthly timescales, to align their growth and development with the seasons. Much is known about how plants respond to acute thermal stresses^3,4, but the mechanisms that integrate long-term temperature exposure remain unknown. The slow, winter-long upregulation of VERNALIZATION INSENSITIVE 3 (VIN3)^5-7, a PHD protein that functions with Polycomb repressive complex 2 to epigenetically silence FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) during vernalization, is central to plants interpreting winter progression^5,6,8-11. Here, by a forward genetic screen, we identify two dominant mutations of the transcription factor NTL8 that constitutively activate VIN3 expression and alter the slow VIN3 cold induction profile. In the wild type, the NTL8 protein accumulates slowly in the cold, and directly upregulates VIN3 transcription. Through combining computational simulation and experimental validation, we show that a major contributor to this slow accumulation is reduced NTL8 dilution due to slow growth at low temperatures. Temperature-dependent growth is thus exploited through protein dilution to provide the long-term thermosensory information for VIN3 upregulation. Indirect mechanisms involving temperature-dependent growth, in addition to direct thermosensing, may be widely relevant in long-term biological sensing of naturally fluctuating temperatures.

SUBMITTER: Zhao Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7116785 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Temperature-dependent growth contributes to long-term cold sensing.

Zhao Yusheng Y Antoniou-Kourounioti Rea L RL Calder Grant G Dean Caroline C Howard Martin M

Nature 20200715 7818

Temperature is a key factor in the growth and development of all organisms1,2. Plants have to interpret temperature fluctuations, over hourly to monthly timescales, to align their growth and development with the seasons. Much is known about how plants respond to acute thermal stresses3,4, but the mechanisms that integrate long-term temperature exposure remain unknown. The slow, winter-long upregulation of VERNALIZATION INSENSITIVE 3 (VIN3)5-7, a PHD protein that ...[more]

PMID: 32669706

Similar Datasets

Project description:To analyze the transcriptional response of Yersinia enterocolitica cells to prolonged growth at low temperature, a collection of luxCDABE transposon mutants was cultivated in parallel at optimal (30 degrees C) and suboptimal (10 degrees C) temperatures and screened for enhanced promoter activities during growth until entering stationary phase. Among 5,700 Y. enterocolitica mutants, 42 transcriptional units were identified with strongly enhanced or reduced promoter activity at 10 degrees C compared to 30 degrees C, and changes in their transcriptional levels over time were measured. Green fluorescent protein fusions to 10 promoter regions confirmed the data. The temporal order of induction of the temperature-responsive genes of Y. enterocolitica was deduced, starting with the expression of cold shock genes cspA and cspB and the elevated transcription of a glutamate-aspartate symporter. Subsequently, cold-adapted cells drastically up-regulated genes encoding environmental sensors and regulators, such as UhpABC, ArcA, and methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein I (MCPI). Among the most prominent cold-responsive elements that were transcriptionally induced during growth in early and middle exponential phase are the insecticidal toxin genes tcaA and tcaB, as well as genes involved in flagellar synthesis and chemotaxis. The expression pattern of the late-exponential- to early-stationary-growth phase is dominated by factors involved in biodegradative metabolism, namely, a histidine ammonia lyase, three enzymes responsible for uptake and utilization of glycogen, the urease complex, and a subtilisin-like protease. Double-knockout mutants and complementation studies demonstrate inhibitory effects of MCPI and UhpC on the expression of a putative hemolysin transporter. The data partially delineate the spectrum of gene expression of Y. enterocolitica at environmental temperatures, providing evidence that an as-yet-unknown insect phase is part of the life cycle of this human pathogen.

Project description:The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a high-Arctic species inhabiting areas that are experiencing increases in sea temperatures, which together with reduction in sea ice are expected to modify the niches of several Arctic marine apex predators. The Scoresby Sound fjord complex in East Greenland is the summer residence for an isolated population of narwhals. The movements of 12 whales instrumented with Fastloc-GPS transmitters were studied during summer in Scoresby Sound and at their offshore winter ground in 2017-2019. An additional four narwhals provided detailed hydrographic profiles on both summer and winter grounds. Data on diving of the whales were obtained from 20 satellite-linked time-depth recorders and 16 Acousonde™ recorders that also provided information on the temperature and depth of buzzes. In summer, the foraging whales targeted depths between 300 and 850 m where the preferred areas visited by the whales had temperatures ranging between 0.6 and 1.5°C (mean = 1.1°C, SD = 0.22). The highest probability of buzzing activity during summer was at a temperature of 0.7°C and at depths > 300 m. The whales targeted similar depths at their offshore winter ground where the temperature was slightly higher (range: 0.7-1.7°C, mean = 1.3°C, SD = 0.29). Both the probability of buzzing events and the spatial distribution of the whales in both seasons demonstrated a preferential selection of cold water. This was particularly pronounced in winter where cold coastal water was selected and warm Atlantic water farther offshore was avoided. It is unknown if the small temperature niche of whales while feeding is because prey is concentrated at these temperature gradients and is easier to capture at low temperatures, or because there are limitations in the thermoregulation of the whales. In any case, the small niche requirements together with their strong site fidelity emphasize the sensitivity of narwhals to changes in the thermal characteristics of their habitats.

Dataset Information

Temperature-dependent growth contributes to long-term cold sensing.

Publications

Temperature-dependent growth contributes to long-term cold sensing.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets