Project description:Chromatin, DNA and RNA were extracted from young A. alpina Pajares primary stem leaves. Chromatin and DNA methylation immunoprecipitation experiments were performed using commercially available antibodies and analyzed by Illumina sequencing (ChIP-seq and MeDIP-seq). Transcriptome data were generated by RNA-seq. ChIP-seq analysis of H3K4me3, H3K27me3 and H3K27me1 enrichment profiles and MeDIP-seq analysis of 5mC enrichment profiles in 2 biological replicates. RNA-seq analysis of mRNA levels in 1 biological replicate.
Project description:Alchemilla alpina extract (aerial). Plant material obtained from Cruickshank Botanical Gardens - University of Aberdeen. Material was freeze-dried then followed with subsequent methanol extract (3x).
Project description:Perennial plants maintain their life span through several growth seasons. Arabis alpina serves as model Brassicaceae species to study perennial traits. A. alpina lateral stems have a proximal vegetative zone with a dormant bud zone, and a distal senescing seed-producing inflorescence zone. We addressed the questions of how this zonation is distinguished at the anatomical level, whether it is related to nutrient storage, and which signals affect the zonation. We found that the vegetative zone ehxibits secondary growth, which we termed the perennial growth zone (PZ). High-molecular weight carbon compounds accumulate there in cambium and cambium derivatives. Neither vernalization nor flowering were requirements for secondary growth and sequestration of storage compounds. The inflorescence zone with only primary growth, termed annual growth zone (AZ), or roots exhibited different storage characteristics. Following cytokinin application, cambium activity was enhanced and secondary phloem parenchyma was formed in the PZ and also in the AZ. In transcriptome analysis cytokinin-related genes represented enriched gene ontology terms and were expressed at higher level in PZ than AZ. Thus, A. alpina uses primarily the vegetative PZ for nutrient storage, coupled to cytokinin-promoted secondary growth. This finding lays a foundation for future studies addressing signals for perennial growth.
