Project description:Comparative transcriptomics reveals cryptic physiological differences between two accessions in Rorippa aquatica (Brassicaceae), North American Lake cress
Project description:In this study, we characterized the fatty acid production in Neochloris aquatica at transcriptomics and biochemical levels under limiting, normal, and excess nitrate concentrations in different growth phases. At the stationary phase, N. aquatica mainly produced saturated fatty acids such as stearic acid under the limiting nitrate concentration, which is suitable for biodiesel production. However, it produced polyunsaturated fatty acids such as α-linolenic acid under the excess nitrate concentration, which has nutritional values as food supplements. In addition, RNA-seq was employed to identify genes and pathways that were being affected in N. aquatica for three growth phases in the presence of the different nitrate amounts. Genes that are responsible for the production of saturated fatty acids were upregulated in the cells grown under a limiting nitrogen amount while genes that are responsible for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acid were upregulated in the cells grown under excess nitrogen amount. Further analysis showed more genes differentially expressed (DEGs) at the loga- rithmic phase in all conditions while a relatively steady trend was observed during the transition from the logarithmic phase to the stationary phase under limiting and excess nitrogen. Our results provide a foundation for identifying developmentally important genes and understanding the biological processes in the different growth phases of the N. aquatica in terms of biomass and lipid production.
Project description:Complete submergence represses photosynthesis and aerobic respiration causing rapid mortality in most terrestrial plants, but some species have evolved traits allowing them to survive prolonged flooding. Here, we studied the response to submergence of two species and their F1 hybrid in the genus Rorippa, which is related to the model Arabidopsis. We showed that these species have high tolerance to complete, deep submergence, but R. sylvestris survived longer than R. amphibia and the F1 hybrid. While the former restricted growth upon submergence, the latter two genotypes showed induced stem and petiole elongation and had higher aerenchyma contents, indicative of a low oxygen escape strategy. Arabidopsis GeneChip microarrays were used for whole-genome transcript profiling of roots of young plants exposed to air or a 24-h submergence treatment, using a probe mask based on hybridisation of genomic DNA of both species to the arrays. The induction by the submergence treatment of genes involved in glycolysis and fermentation and repression of many energy consuming pathways was similar to the response to low oxygen of Arabidopsis and rice. Notably, sucrose synthases, glycolysis and fermentation genes were more strongly induced in the less tolerant R. amphibia than in R. sylvestris, which might indicate faster carbohydrate consumption of the former, while some genes involved in hydrogen peroxide scavenging were strongly and specifically induced in the latter. F1 hybrids showed a generally weaker response to submergence and an additive mode of gene action, which did not change by the submergence treatment. Experiment Overall Design: We used replicated clones of Rorippa amphibia, Rorippa sylvestris and their F1 hybrid. Plants were grown on sand in pots for three weeks, completely submerged in rain water for 24 h, or kept in air as a control. Three biological controls were collected per genotype, each consisting of a pool of three individuals. Roots were separated from the shoots, quickly rinsed and immediately frozen and used for RNA extraction and hybridization to Arabidopsis Ath1 GeneChips. Genomic DNA of Rorippa amphibia and Rorippa sylvestris was also hybridized to the GeneChips in order to filter out badly performing probes due to sequence divergences from Arabidopsis.