Project description:In order to research the ginseng leaf-stem gene expression profiles of and dig out its function genes in the leaf-expansion period, the transcriptomic sequencing technology was set up the first time for five years the transcription of the Panax ginseng leaf-stem in the leaf-expansion period.
Project description:Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) has long been cultivated as an important medicinal plant. Drought results from the moderate water loss, which primarily impairs the growth of ginseng and reduction of yield loss. However, basis of biological clues to understanding the accurate mechanisms related to drought stress in proteome level are still elusive. Therefore, we carried out label-free quantitative proteomic analysis using ginseng roots subjected to drought stress which was grown at less than 10% soil moisture for two weeks, compared with normal ginseng which was grown at 25% soil moisture. The acquired proteins were carried out label-free proteomic analysis using LC-MS/MS. This approach led to the identification of total 2,471 proteins, and out of 195 proteins showed significant modulation. Functional classification revealed that proteins related to secondary metabolites, calcium signaling, and photosynthesis were enriched in control sample (cluster_1), while proteins associated with stress responsive, redox, electron transport, and protein synthesis were mainly dominated in cluster_2 (drought stress condition). Taken together, our results provided an overview of the drought-induced proteomic changes in ginseng root, and it is correlated with physiological changes, contributing to reveal potential marker at proteome level in ginseng.
Project description:Understanding the mechanisms underlying the establishment of invasive plants is critical in community ecology. According to a widely accepted theory, plant-soil-microbe interactions mediate the effects of invasive plants on native species, thereby affecting invasion success. However, the roles and molecular mechanisms associated with such microbes remain elusive. Using high throughput sequencing and a functional gene microarray, we found that soil taxonomic and functional microbial communities in plots dominated by Ageratina adenophora developed to benefit the invasive plant. There were increases in nitrogen-fixing bacteria and labile carbon degraders, as well as soil-borne pathogens in bulk soil, which potentially suppressed native plant growth. Meanwhile, there was an increase of microbial antagonism in the A. adenophora rhizosphere, which could inhibit pathogenicity against plant invader. These results suggest that the invasive plant A. adenophora establishes a self-reinforcing soil environment by changing the soil microbial community. It could be defined as a ‘bodyguard/mercenary army’ strategy for invasive plants, which has important insights for the mitigation of plant invasion.
Project description:Plants and rhizosphere microbes rely closely on each other, with plants supplying carbon to bacteria in root exudates, and bacteria mobilizing soil-bound phosphate for plant nutrition. When the phosphate supply becomes limiting for plant growth, the composition of root exudation changes, affecting rhizosphere microbial communities and microbially-mediated nutrient fluxes. To evaluate how plant phosphate deprivation affects rhizosphere bacteria, Lolium perenne seedlings were root-inoculated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa 7NR, and grown in axenic microcosms under different phosphate regimes (330 uM vs 3-6 uM phosphate). The effect of biological nutrient limitation was examined by DNA microarray studies of rhizobacterial gene expression.
Project description:Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer is one of the most popular medicinal herbs. In order to research the genes that related to the flowering period of ginseng, and find out the antifungal proteins and transcription factors that combat various biotic and abiotic stress, a cDNA sample was prepared from the flowering period ginseng root of a five-year-old plant and sequenced using the Illumina sequencing platform. In this study, we produced nearly 40 million sequencing reads. These reads were assembled into 134,045 contigs using Trinity software (mean size: 282 bp). Based on a similarity search with known proteins, we identified 79,307 sequences with a cut-off E-value of 10-5. Assembled sequences were then annotated using gene ontology (GO) terms, clusters of orthologous group (COG) classifications and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways respectively.
Project description:Advances in DNA sequencing technologies has drastically changed our perception of the structure and complexity of the plant microbiome. By comparison, our ability to accurately identify the metabolically active fraction of soil microbiota and its specific functional role in augmenting plant health is relatively limited. Here, we combined our recently developed protein extraction method and an iterative bioinformatics pipeline to enable the capture and identification of extracellular proteins (metaexoproteomics) synthesised in the rhizosphere of Brassica spp. We first validated our method in the laboratory by successfully identifying proteins related to a host plant (Brassica rapa) and its bacterial inoculant, Pseudomonas putida BIRD-1. This identified numerous rhizosphere specific proteins linked to the acquisition of plant-derived nutrients in P. putida. Next, we analysed natural field-soil microbial communities associated with Brassica napus L. (oilseed rape). By combining metagenomics with metaexoproteomics, 1882 proteins were identified across bulk and rhizosphere samples. Meta-exoproteomics identified a clear shift (p<0.001) in the metabolically active fraction of the soil microbiota responding to the presence of B. napus roots that was not apparent in the composition of the total microbial community (metagenome). This metabolic shift was associated with the stimulation of rhizosphere-specialised bacteria, such as Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria and Flavobacteriia and the upregulation of plant beneficial functions related to phosphorus and nitrogen mineralisation. Together, our metaproteomic assessment of the ‘active’ plant microbiome at the field-scale demonstrates the importance of moving past a genomic assessment of the plant microbiome in order to determine ecologically important plant-microbe interactions underpinning plant health.