Project description:To understand the role of GCN2 in regulating translation, we compared the polysome loading state and overall transcript level between Arabidopsis thaliana wild type (ecotype Landsberg erecta) and gcn2 (Genetrap line GT8359, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) seedlings with or without herbicide chlorosufuron treatment RNA was fractionated using sucrose gradients into polysomal and nonpolysomal RNAs. We also determined overall total transcript levels. We used Affymetrix ATH1 microarrays.
Project description:Microarray comparisons of transcript level in wild-type Arabidopsis and eif3h mutant plants. Goal:; To detect any change in transcript level between WT and eif3h mutant. BACKGROUND: The eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF3 has multiple roles during the initiation of translation of cytoplasmic mRNAs. However, the contributions of individual subunits of eIF3 to the translation of specific mRNAs remain poorly understood. RESULTS: Working with stable reporter transgenes in Arabidopsis thaliana it was demonstrated that the h subunit of; eIF3 contributes to the efficient translation initiation of mRNAs harboring upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in their 5â leader sequence. uORFs, which can function as devices for translational regulation, are present in over 30% of Arabidopsis mRNAs, and are enriched among mRNAs for transcriptional regulators and protein modifying enzymes. Microarray comparisons of polysome loading in wild-type and eif3h mutant plants revealed that eIF3h generally helps to maintain efficient polysome loading of mRNAs harboring multiple uORFs. Independently, eIF3h also boosted polysome loading of mRNAs with long coding sequences. Moreover, the lesion in eIF3h revealed a concerted upregulation of translation for specific functional subgroups of mRNAs, including ribosomal proteins and proteins involved in photosynthesis. CONCLUSIONS: The intact eIF3h protein contributes to efficient translation initiation on 5â leader sequences harboring multiple uORFs, although mRNA features independent of uORFs were also implicated. Moreover, our data suggest that regulons of translational control can be revealed by mutations in generic translation initiation factors. Experiment Overall Design: Total RNA samples were isolated from 10-day-old wild-type and eif3h mutant plants