Project description:Transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) expressing Caenorhabditis elegans cell death genes, Ced4 and Ced3, show evidence suggesting such expressions protect the plants from infestation by the plant parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita. Although positive results have been correlated with the gene expressions (data in preparation for publication; a draft of the publication can be provided upon request), the mechanism by which the nematode protection is manifested is not clearly understood. One possibility is that the C. elegans cell death proteins produced by the transgenic plants are being ingested and incorporated into the nematode’s own cell death pathway, leading to their demise. Alternatively, it is also possible that expression of the C. elegans cell death genes promotes the endogenous resistance genes of the plant, leading to nematode resistance. We want to test the later hypothesis by conducting a reference design microarray experiment to establish the expression profile of Ced3, and Ced4 homozygous plants and Ced3xCed4 double heterozygous plants in comparison with wild-type tobacco plants. If the hypothesis is correct, we expect to detect increased expression of pathogenicity-related genes in the transgenic plants. Furthermore, characterization of the expression profiles in these transgenic plants will provide us directionality for our future research on the elucidation of this resistance mechanism. Keywords: Reference design
Project description:Transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) expressing Caenorhabditis elegans cell death genes, Ced4 and Ced3, show evidence suggesting such expressions protect the plants from infestation by the plant parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita. Although positive results have been correlated with the gene expressions (data in preparation for publication; a draft of the publication can be provided upon request), the mechanism by which the nematode protection is manifested is not clearly understood. One possibility is that the C. elegans cell death proteins produced by the transgenic plants are being ingested and incorporated into the nematode’s own cell death pathway, leading to their demise. Alternatively, it is also possible that expression of the C. elegans cell death genes promotes the endogenous resistance genes of the plant, leading to nematode resistance. We want to test the later hypothesis by conducting a reference design microarray experiment to establish the expression profile of Ced3, and Ced4 homozygous plants and Ced3xCed4 double heterozygous plants in comparison with wild-type tobacco plants. If the hypothesis is correct, we expect to detect increased expression of pathogenicity-related genes in the transgenic plants. Furthermore, characterization of the expression profiles in these transgenic plants will provide us directionality for our future research on the elucidation of this resistance mechanism. Keywords: Reference design 27 hybs total
Project description:Transgenic expression of viral proteins in natural host plants is a useful simplified system with the potential to understand the individual effect of each viral component. Transgenic expression of movement (MP) and a variant from coat protein (CPT42W) in tobacco, a TMV natural host, produces severe morphological changes, altered miRNAs accumulation and poor fertility. We used microarrays to characterize the gene expression changes caused by the co-expression of TMV capsid and movement proteins in Nicotiana tabacum comparing two isogenic lines MPxCPT42W and mpxcpT42W* (a line with both transgenes spontaneously silenced and with normal phenotype). Leaf tissues from 6-week old tobacco plants MPxCPT42W and mpxcpT42W* were collected for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. We collected pools of three plants (one biological replicate) and analyzed three independent biological replicates for each transgenic line.
Project description:Gene expression was measured in leaves from dark treated tobacco plants to investigate the changes associated with dark induced senescence.
Project description:Two tobacco transgenic lines over-expressing grapevine polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein (Vvpgip1) vs. WT tobacco under normal growth conditions
Project description:Transgenic expression of viral proteins in natural host plants is a useful simplified system with the potential to understand the individual effect of each viral component. Transgenic expression of movement (MP) and a variant from coat protein (CPT42W) in tobacco, a TMV natural host, produces severe morphological changes, altered miRNAs accumulation and poor fertility. We used microarrays to characterize the gene expression changes caused by the co-expression of TMV capsid and movement proteins in Nicotiana tabacum comparing two isogenic lines MPxCPT42W and mpxcpT42W* (a line with both transgenes spontaneously silenced and with normal phenotype).