Project description:Injured plant somatic tissues regenerate themselves by establishing the shoot or root meristems. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) a two-step culture system ensures regeneration by first promoting the acquisition of pluripotency and subsequently specifying the fate of new meristems. Although previous studies have reported the importance of phytohormones auxin and cytokinin in determining the fate of new meristems, it remains elusive whether and how the environmental factors influence this process. In this study, we investigated the impact of light signals on shoot regeneration using Arabidopsis hypocotyl as explants. We found that light signals promote shoot regeneration while inhibiting root formation. ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5), the pivotal transcriptional factor in light signaling, plays a central role in this process by mediating the expression of key genes controlling the fate of new meristems. Specifically, HY5 directly represses root development genes and activates shoot meristem genes, leading to the establishment of shoot progenitor from pluripotent callus. We further demonstrated that the early activation of photosynthesis is critical for shoot initiation, and this is transcriptionally regulated downstream of the HY5-dependent pathways. In conclusion, we uncovered the intricate molecular mechanisms by which light signals control the establishment of new meristem through the regulatory network governed by HY5, thus, highlighting the influence of light signals on plant developmental plasticity.
Project description:RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) is a small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated epigenetic modification that contributes to transposon silencing in plants. RdDM requires a complex transcriptional machinery that includes specialized RNA polymerases, named Pol IV and Pol V, as well as chromatin remodelling proteins, transcription factors, RNA binding proteins, and other plant-specific proteins whose functions are not yet clarified. In Arabidopsis thaliana, DICER-LIKE3 and members of the ARGONAUTE4 group of AROGONAUTE (AGO) proteins are involved, respectively, in generating and using 24-nt siRNAs that trigger methylation and transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) of homologous promoter sequences. AGO proteins act in silencing effector complexes by anchoring the 3â and 5â ends of the guide siRNAs at their N-terminal PAZ domain and MID domain, respectively. In addition, many AGO proteins cleave complementary target RNAs through an endonuclease (âslicerâ) activity in their C-terminal PIWI domain. AGO4 is the main AGO protein implicated in the RdDM pathway. Here we report the identification of the related AGO6 in a forward genetic screen for mutants defective in RdDM and TGS in shoot and root apical meristems in Arabidopsis thaliana. The identification of AGO6, and not AGO4, in our screen is consistent with the primary expression of AGO6 in shoot and root growing points and the preferential association of Pol V with AGO6.
Project description:RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) is a small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated epigenetic modification that contributes to transposon silencing in plants. RdDM requires a complex transcriptional machinery that includes specialized RNA polymerases, named Pol IV and Pol V, as well as chromatin remodelling proteins, transcription factors, RNA binding proteins, and other plant-specific proteins whose functions are not yet clarified. In Arabidopsis thaliana, DICER-LIKE3 and members of the ARGONAUTE4 group of AROGONAUTE (AGO) proteins are involved, respectively, in generating and using 24-nt siRNAs that trigger methylation and transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) of homologous promoter sequences. AGO proteins act in silencing effector complexes by anchoring the 3â and 5â ends of the guide siRNAs at their N-terminal PAZ domain and MID domain, respectively. In addition, many AGO proteins cleave complementary target RNAs through an endonuclease (âslicerâ) activity in their C-terminal PIWI domain. AGO4 is the main AGO protein implicated in the RdDM pathway. Here we report the identification of the related AGO6 in a forward genetic screen for mutants defective in RdDM and TGS in shoot and root apical meristems in Arabidopsis thaliana. The identification of AGO6, and not AGO4, in our screen is consistent with the primary expression of AGO6 in shoot and root growing points and the preferential association of Pol V with AGO6. Examination of siRNA abundance in the trasngenic wild type plant (contains trigger and silencer transgenes) and the ago6-4 mutant.
Project description:To gain further insights into a larger number of processes potentially altered by high nickel (Ni), we performed a transcriptional profiling of whole roots of Arabidopsis thaliana accession Columbia-0 (Col-0) exposed to 100 µM nickel, a concentration that induces slight chlorosis and intermediate inhibition of root and shoot growth.
Project description:De novo shoot organogenesis (DNSO) is a commonly used pathway for plant biotechnology, and is a hormonally regulated process, where auxin and cytokinin coordinates suites of genes encoding transcription factors, general transcription factors, and RNA metabolism machinery genes. Here we report that silencing Arabidopsis thaliana CTD phosphatase-like 4 (CPL4RNAi), which increases phosphorylation level of RNA polymerase II (pol II) CTD, altered lateral root development and DNSO efficiency of the host plants, suggesting an importance of precise control of pol II activities during DNSO. Under standard condition, roots of CPL4RNAi lines produced no or few lateral roots. When induced by high concentration of auxin, CPL4RNAi lines failed to produce focused auxin maxima at the meristem of lateral root primordia, and produced fasciated lateral roots. By contrast, root explants of CPL4RNAi lines were highly competent for DNSO. Efficient DNSO of CPL4RNAi lines were observed even under 10 times less cytokinin required for wild type explants. Transcriptome analysis showed CPL4RNAi but not wild type explants expressed high levels of shoot meristem related genes during priming by high auxin/cytokinin ratio, and subsequent shoot induction with cytokinin. These results indicate that CPL4 functions as a repressor of the early stage of DNSO, during acquisition of competency by high auxin/cytokinin ratio, perhaps via regulation of pol II activities.
Project description:Proteins from plant shoot and root tissues were extracted from wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia (Col-0). They were enriched on conditioned U(VI)-loaded and U(VI)-free Duolite C467 beads. The enriched proteins were identified and quantified by label-free shotgun proteomics.
Project description:Leaves are flat determinate organs derived from indeterminate shoot apical meristems. The presence of a specific leaf meristem is debated, as anatomical features typical of meristems are not present in leaves. Here we demonstrate that multiple NGATHA (NGA) and CINCINNATA-class-TCP (CIN-TCP) transcription factors act redundantly to suppress activity of a leaf margin meristem in Arabidopsis thaliana, and that their absence confers persistent marginal growth of leaves, cotyledons and floral organs. The marginal meristem is activated by the juxtaposition of adaxial and abaxial domains and maintained by WOX homeobox transcription factors, but other margin elaboration genes are dispensable for its maintenance. This genetic framework parallels the morphogenetic program of shoot apical meristems and may represent a relic from an ancestral shoot system from which seed plant leaves evolved.
Project description:We report differences in the transcriptional responses of the root and the shoot to either auxin or ABA in comparison to mock treatment in dark-grown Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. By examining the auxin responsiveness in the shoot or the root of a dark-growh ABA biosynthesis mutant, we found that auxin relies on intact ABA biosynthesis in order to regulate aspects of transriptional output.