Project description:Deprivation of mineral nutrients causes significant retardation of plant growth. This slow growth is assumed to be associated with both nutrient specific transcriptional responses and additionally with common transcription patterns. In this study we adjusted the external supply of iron, potassium and sulfur to cause a similar retardation of growth. Global transcriptome analyses were performed to investigate whether the growth limitation by the different nutrient deficiencies triggered specific or similar transcriptional responses. The global transcriptome responded specifically to sulfur, iron or potassium deprivation. Arabidopsis thaliana plants were grown hydroponically under short-day conditions (8h light / 16h dark cycles) under full nutrient supply or under the limitation of sulfur, iron or potassium. Arabidopsis root material was harvested when the plants reached the age of 7 weeks (from sowing) and used for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. Four biological replicates from each condition were analyzed.
Project description:Deprivation of mineral nutrients causes significant retardation of plant growth. This slow growth is assumed to be associated with both nutrient specific transcriptional responses and additionally with common transcription patterns. In this study we adjusted the external supply of iron, potassium and sulfur to cause a similar retardation of growth. Global transcriptome analyses were performed to investigate whether the growth limitation by the different nutrient deficiencies triggered specific or similar transcriptional responses. The global transcriptome responded specifically to sulfur, iron or potassium deprivation.
Project description:The goal of this project is to compare the primary metabolite profile in different tissue types of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Specifically, plants were grown hydroponically under the long-day (16hr light/day) condition at 21C. Tissue samples, including leaves, inflorescences, and roots were harvest 4 1/2 weeks post sowing. Untargeted primary metabolites profiling was carried out using GCTOF.
Project description:CsUBC13 was identified via proteomics from iron starvation treated Cucumber root. ubc13A is an ABRC seed stock (CS51269). CS851269 was purchased from ABRC and confirmed as homozygous Atubc13A knock-out T-DNA mutant. We generated transgenic arabidopsis with ectopic expression of CsUBC13 gene under control of the cauliflower 35S promotor. Both genotypes and Col-0 were used to investigate the transcriptional response to Iron (Fe) deficiency. Wild type Col-0, ubc13A and transgenic overexpressor OE were grown under normal and iron-deficiency conditions. Roots were collected with 3 biological replicates.
Project description:Methanogens inhabit euxinic (sulfide-rich) or ferruginous (iron-rich) environments that promote the precipitation of transition metals as metal sulfides, such as pyrite, reducing metal or sulfur availability. Such environments have been common throughout Earth’s history raising the question as to how anaerobes obtain(ed) these elements for the synthesis of enzyme cofactors. Here, we show a methanogen can synthesize molybdenum nitrogenase metallocofactors from pyrite as the source of iron and sulfur, enabling nitrogen fixation. Pyrite-grown, nitrogen-fixing cells grow faster and require 25-fold less molybdenum than cells grown under euxinic conditions. Growth yields are 3 to 8 times higher in cultures grown under ferruginous relative to euxinic conditions. Physiological, transcriptomic, and geochemical data indicate these observations are due to sulfide-promoted metal limitation, in particular molybdenum. These findings suggest that molybdenum nitrogenase may have originated in a ferruginous environment that titrated sulfide to form pyrite, facilitating the availability of sufficient iron, sulfur, and molybdenum for cofactor biosynthesis.
Project description:Copper and iron are essential micronutrients for most living organisms because they participate as cofactors in biological processes including respiration, photosynthesis and oxidative stress protection. In many eukaryotic organisms, including yeast and mammals, copper and iron homeostases are highly interconnected; however such interdependence is not well established in higher plants. Here we propose that COPT2, a high-affinity copper transport protein, functions under copper and iron deficiencies in Arabidopsis thaliana. COPT2 is a plasma membrane protein that functions in copper acquisition and distribution. Characterization of the COPT2 expression pattern indicates a synergic response to copper and iron limitation in roots. We have characterized a knockout of COPT2, copt2-1, that leads to increased resistance to simultaneous copper and iron deficiencies, measured as reduced leaf chlorosis and improved maintenance of the photosynthetic apparatus. We propose that COPT2 expression could play a dual role under Fe deficiency. First, COPT2 participates in the attenuation of copper deficiency responses driven by iron limitation maybe aimed to minimize further iron consume. On the other hand, global expression analyses of copt2-1 mutants versus wild type Arabidopsis plants indicate that low phosphate responses are increased in copt2-1 plants. In this sense, COPT2 function under Fe deficiency counteracts low phosphate responses. These results open up new biotechnological approaches to fight iron deficiency in crops.
Project description:To optimize access to nitrogen under limiting conditions, root systems must continuously sense and respond to local or temporal fluctuations in nitrogen availability. In Arabidopsis thaliana and several other species, external N levels that induce only mild deficiency stimulate the emergence of lateral roots and especially the elongation of primary and lateral roots. However, the identity of the genes involved in this coordination remains still largely elusive. In order to identify novel genes and mechanisms underlying nitrogen-dependent root morphological changes, we investigated time-dependent changes in the root transcriptome of Arabidopsis thaliana plants grown under sufficient nitrogen or under conditions that induced mild nitrogen deficiency.