Project description:Transcriptomic response changes following infection in shoots of the parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum. We performed RNAseq on shoots of Phtheirospermum japonicum infecting and not infecting at 10 days after addition of the host Arabidopsis thaliana. We investigated the systemic transcriptomic changes in the shoot following the establishment of haustoria in the roots of P.japonicum.
Project description:Transcriptomic changes during haustoria formation in the parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum. We performed RNAseq on Phtheirospermum japonicum seedling infecting and not infecting over 5 time points during haustoria formation for the control treatment and over 3 time points for the ammonium nitrate and 6-Benzylaminipurine. We investigated the transcriptomic changes during haustoria formation and how this is affected in the transcritpome level by nitrate and cytokinin treatment.
Project description:Cuscuta campestris is an obligate parasitic plant that requires a host to complete its lifecycle. Parasite-host connections occur via an haustorium, a unique organ that acts as a bridge for the uptake of water, nutrients and macromolecules. Research on Cuscuta is often complicated by host influences, but comparable systems for growing the parasite in the absence of a host do not exist. We developed an axenic method to grow C. campestris on an Artificial Host System (AHS). We evaluated the effects of nutrients and phytohormones on parasite haustoria development and growth. Haustorium morphology and gene expression were characterized. The AHS consists of an inert, fibrous stick that mimics a host stem, wicking water and nutrients to the parasite. It enables C. campestris to exhibit a parasitic habit and develop through all stages of its lifecycle, including production of new shoots and viable seeds. Phytohormones NAA and BA affect haustoria morphology, and increase parasite fresh weight and biomass. Gene expression in AHS haustoria reflect process similar to those in haustoria on actual host plants. The AHS is a methodological improvement for studying Cuscuta biology by avoiding specific host effects on parasite and giving researchers full control of the parasite environment.
Project description:Here we show that regions of the honeybee brain involved in visual processing and learning and memory show a genomic response to distance information. Using a method that separates effects of perceived distance from effects of actual distance flown, we found that individuals forced to shift from a short to a perceived long distance to reach a feeding site showed differences in gene expression in the optic lobes and mushroom bodies relative to individuals that continued to perceive flying a short distance.
Project description:The parasitic plant Cuscuta campestris produces specialized microRNAs that are specifically expressed at the haustorial interface. Some of these "Interface-Induced MicroRNAs" function to target host mRNAs. C. campestris haustoria can be induced in the absence of any host tissues using a combination of light and physical pressure. This experiment tested with such in vitro, host-free haustoria produced interface-induced microRNAs. Small RNA-seq was performed from three different treatments: Shoot tips of C. campestris without any haustoria formation, in vitro haustoria formed in the presence of host tissue (detached leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana) and in vitro haustoria formed in the absence of any host tissue.
Project description:Background: Epigenetic processes play an important role in the plant response to adverse environmental conditions. A role for DNA hypomethylation has recently been suggested in the pathogenic interaction between bacteria and plants, yet it remains unclear whether this phenomenon reflects a conserved and general plant immunity response. We therefore investigated the role of DNA methylation in the plant defence against damaging parasitic nematodes. Methods and results: Treatment of roots of rice (monocot plant) and tomato (dicot plant) by a nematode-associated molecular pattern (NAMP) from different parasitic nematodes revealed global DNA hypomethylation using ELISA based quantification, suggesting conservation among plants. Focusing on root-knot induced gall tissue in rice, the causal impact of hypomethylation on immunity was revealed by a significantly reduced plant susceptibility upon 5-Azacitidine treatment. Whole genome bisulfite sequencing revealed that hypomethylation was massively present in the CHH context, while absent for CpG or CHG nucleotide contexts. CHH hypomethylated regions were predominantly associated with gene promoter regions, which was not correlated with activated gene expression at the same time point, but rather showed a delayed effect on transcriptional gene activation. Finally, the relevance of CHH hypomethylation in plant defence was confirmed in rice mutants of the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway (RdDM) and DDM1, which are known to be steering DNA methylation in CHH context. Conclusions: We demonstrated that DNA hypomethylation confers enhanced defence in rice towards root-parasitic nematodes and is likely to be part of the basal NAMP-triggered immunity response in plants.
Project description:Parasitism is a successful life strategy that has evolved independently in several families of Higher Plants. In parasitic plants, nutrients and water are obtained from their hosts through specifically adapted haustoria. The genera Cuscuta and Orobanche represent examples for the two profoundly different groups of parasites, one parasitizing host shoots and the other infecting host roots. In this study, we sequenced and described the overall repertoire of small RNAs (sRNome) from Cuscuta campestris and compared it to an exploratory sRNome from Orobanche aegyptiaca. Because they regulate the genomic information by mechanisms like RNA interference, these sRNomes add important bricks to our understanding of the success of the parasitic lifestyle. We could show that Cuscuta campestris contains a number of novel microRNAs (miRNAs) in addition to a conspicuous retention of miRNAs that are typically lacking in other Solanales, while several typically conserved miRNAs seem to have become obsolete in the parasite. One new miRNA appears to be derived from a horizontal gene transfer event, a process never reported in plants for the acquisition of new miRNA sequences. The exploratory miRNome (exploratory due to the absence of a full genomic sequence for reference) from the root parasitic Orobanche aegyptiaca also revealed a loss of a number of miRNAs compared to established miRNomes of photosynthetic species from the same order. In summary, our study shows for both parasites partly similar evolutionary signatures in the RNA silencing machinery. Our data bear proof for the dynamism of this regulatory mechanism in parasitic plants.
Project description:In order to study the similarities and differences in embryonic development between plant-parasitic nematodes and free-living nematodes, we performed RNA-seq on embryos of three plant-parasitic nematodes at a total of 11 stages from the single-cell stage to the J1 stage
Project description:47,984 unigenes with putative coding regions with at least 50 amino acids were selected from whole transcriptome (SAMN03271814) of Phtheirospermum japonicum Microarray slides were hybridized with labeled cRNA from roots of 2-week-old Phtheirospermum japonicum plants growing axenically and treated with haustoria-inducer DMBQ (10 µM) for 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h