Wood of trees is formed from carbon assimilated in the photosynthetic tissues. Determining the temporal dynamics of carbon assimilation, subsequent transport into developing wood, and incorporation ...to cell walls would further our understanding of wood formation in particular and tree growth in general. To investigate these questions, we designed a (13)CO2 labeling system to study carbon transport and incorporation to developing wood of hybrid aspen (Populus tremula × tremuloides). Tracking of (13)C incorporation to wood over a time course using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed diurnal patterns in wood cell wall biosynthesis. The dark period had a differential effect on (13)C incorporation to lignin and cell wall carbohydrates. No (13)C was incorporated into aromatic amino acids of cell wall proteins in the dark, suggesting that cell wall protein biosynthesis ceased during the night. The results show previously unrecognized temporal patterns in wood cell wall biosynthesis, suggest diurnal cycle as a possible cue in the regulation of carbon incorporation to wood, and establish a unique (13)C labeling method for the analysis of wood formation and secondary growth in trees.
Plant vasculature transports molecules that play a crucial role in plant signaling including systemic responses and acclimation to diverse environmental conditions. Targeted controlled delivery of ...molecules to the vascular tissue can be a biomimetic way to induce long distance responses, providing a new tool for the fundamental studies and engineering of stress‐tolerant plants. Here, a flexible organic electronic ion pump, an electrophoretic delivery device, for controlled delivery of phytohormones directly in plant vascular tissue is developed. The c‐OEIP is based on polyimide‐coated glass capillaries that significantly enhance the mechanical robustness of these microscale devices while being minimally disruptive for the plant. The polyelectrolyte channel is based on low‐cost and commercially available precursors that can be photocured with blue light, establishing much cheaper and safer system than the state‐of‐the‐art. To trigger OEIP‐induced plant response, the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) in the petiole of intact Arabidopsis plants is delivered. ABA is one of the main phytohormones involved in plant stress responses and induces stomata closure under drought conditions to reduce water loss and prevent wilting. The OEIP‐mediated ABA delivery triggered fast and long‐lasting stomata closure far away from the delivery point demonstrating systemic vascular transport of the delivered ABA, verified delivering deuterium‐labeled ABA.
Flexible and robust organic electronic ion pump, an electrophoretic drug delivery device, is developed based on polyimide‐coated glass capillaries. This device is applied for controlled, fluid‐free delivery of stress hormone abscisic acid to the vascular tissue of intact Arabidopsis plant, inducing long‐distance closure of stomata. This drug‐delivery device can be used for the fundamental studies and engineering of stress‐tolerant plants.
Summary
Sucrose is the main transported form of carbon in several plant species, including Populus species. Sucrose metabolism in developing wood has therefore a central role in carbon partitioning ...to stem biomass. Half of the sucrose‐derived carbon is in the form of fructose, but metabolism of fructose has received little attention as a factor in carbon partitioning to walls of wood cells. We show that RNAi‐mediated reduction of FRK2 activity in developing wood of hybrid aspen (Populus tremula × tremuloides) led to the accumulation of soluble neutral sugars and a decrease in hexose phosphates and UDP‐glucose, indicating that carbon flux to cell‐wall polysaccharide precursors is decreased. Reduced FRK2 activity also led to thinner fiber cell walls with a reduction in the proportion of cellulose. No pleiotropic effects on stem height or diameter were observed. The results establish a central role for FRK2 activity in carbon flux to wood cellulose.
In paramutation, epigenetic information is transferred from one allele to another to create a gene expression state which is stably inherited over generations. Typically, paramutation describes a ...phenomenon where one allele of a gene down-regulates the expression of another allele. Paramutation has been described in several eukaryotes and is best understood in plants. Here we describe an unexpected paramutation-like trans SALK T-DNA interaction in Arabidopsis. Unlike most of the previously described paramutations, which led to gene silencing, the trans SALK T-DNA interaction caused an increase in the transcript levels of the endogenous gene (COBRA) where the T-DNA was inserted. This increased COBRA expression state was stably inherited for several generations and led to the partial suppression of the cobra phenotype. DNA methylation was implicated in this trans SALK T-DNA interaction since mutation of the DNA methyltransferase 1 in the suppressed cobra caused a reversal of the suppression. In addition, null mutants of the DNA demethylase ROS1 caused a similar COBRA transcript increase in the cobra SALK T-DNA mutant as the trans T-DNA interaction. Our results provide a new example of a paramutation-like trans T-DNA interaction in Arabidopsis, and establish a convenient hypocotyl elongation assay to study this phenomenon. The results also alert to the possibility of unexpected endogenous transcript increase when two T-DNAs are combined in the same genetic background.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We report that protein phosphorylation is involved in the control of starch metabolism in Arabidopsis leaves at night. sex4 (starch excess 4) mutants, which have strongly reduced rates of starch ...metabolism, lack a protein predicted to be a dual specificity protein phosphatase. We have shown that this protein is chloroplastic and can bind to glucans and have presented evidence that it acts to regulate the initial steps of starch degradation at the granule surface. Remarkably, the most closely related protein to SEX4 outside the plant kingdom is laforin, a glucan-binding protein phosphatase required for the metabolism of the mammalian storage carbohydrate glycogen and implicated in a severe form of epilepsy (Lafora disease) in humans.
Wood formation in trees requires carbon import from the photosynthetic tissues. In several tree species, including Populus species, the majority of this carbon is derived from sucrose (Suc) ...transported in the phloem. The mechanism of radial Suc transport from phloem to developing wood is not well understood. We investigated the role of active Suc transport during secondary cell wall formation in hybrid aspen (Populus tremula × Populus tremuloides). We show that RNA interference-mediated reduction of PttSUT3 (for Suc/H
+
symporter) during secondary cell wall formation in developing wood caused thinner wood fiber walls accompanied by a reduction in cellulose and an increase in lignin. Suc content in the phloem and developing wood was not significantly changed. However, after
13
CO
2
assimilation, the SUT3RNAi lines contained more
13
C than the wild type in the Suc-containing extract of developing wood. Hence, Suc was transported into developing wood, but the Suc-derived carbon was not efficiently incorporated to wood fiber walls. A yellow fluorescent protein:PttSUT3 fusion localized to plasma membrane, suggesting that reduced Suc import into developing wood fibers was the cause of the observed cell wall phenotype. The results show the importance of active Suc transport for wood formation in a symplasmically phloem-loading tree species and identify PttSUT3 as a principal transporter for carbon delivery into secondary cell wall-forming wood fibers.
Wood of trees is formed from carbon assimilated in the photosynthetic tissues. Determining the temporal dynamics of carbon assimilation, subsequent transport into developing wood, and incorporation ...to cell walls would further our understanding of wood formation in particular and tree growth in general. To investigate these questions, we designed a (CO 2 )-C-13 labeling system to study carbon transport and incorporation to developing wood of hybrid aspen (Populus tremula 3 tremuloides). Tracking of C-13 incorporation to wood over a time course using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed diurnal patterns in wood cell wall biosynthesis. The dark period had a differential effect on C-13 incorporation to lignin and cell wall carbohydrates. No C-13 was incorporated into aromatic amino acids of cell wall proteins in the dark, suggesting that cell wall protein biosynthesis ceased during the night. The results show previously unrecognized temporal patterns in wood cell wall biosynthesis, suggest diurnal cycle as a possible cue in the regulation of carbon incorporation to wood, and establish a unique C-13 labeling method for the analysis of wood formation and secondary growth in trees.
Conifers have dominated forests for more than 200 million years and are of huge ecological and economic importance. Here we present the draft assembly of the 20-gigabase genome of Norway spruce ...(Picea abies), the first available for any gymnosperm. The number of well-supported genes (28,354) is similar to the >100 times smaller genome of Arabidopsis thaliana, and there is no evidence of a recent whole-genome duplication in the gymnosperm lineage. Instead, the large genome size seems to result from the slow and steady accumulation of a diverse set of long-terminal repeat transposable elements, possibly owing to the lack of an efficient elimination mechanism. Comparative sequencing of Pinus sylvestris, Abies sibirica, Juniperus communis, Taxus baccata and Gnetum gnemon reveals that the transposable element diversity is shared among extant conifers. Expression of 24-nucleotide small RNAs, previously implicated in transposable element silencing, is tissue-specific and much lower than in other plants. We further identify numerous long (>10,000 base pairs) introns, gene-like fragments, uncharacterized long non-coding RNAs and short RNAs. This opens up new genomic avenues for conifer forestry and breeding.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Plant arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are a diverse group of cell surface– and wall–associated glycoproteins. Functionally important AGP glycans are synthesized in the Golgi apparatus, but the ...relationships among their glycosylation levels, processing, and functionalities are poorly understood. Here, we report the identification and functional characterization of two Golgi-localized exo-β-1,3-galactosidases from the glycosyl hydrolase 43 (GH43) family in Arabidopsis thaliana. GH43 loss-of-function mutants exhibited root cell expansion defects in sugar-containing growth media. This root phenotype was associated with an increase in the extent of AGP cell wall association, as demonstrated by Yariv phenylglycoside dye quantification and comprehensive microarray polymer profiling of sequentially extracted cell walls. Characterization of recombinant GH43 variants revealed that the exo-β-1,3-galactosidase activity of GH43 enzymes is hindered by β-1,6 branches on β-1,3-galactans. In line with this steric hindrance, the recombinant GH43 variants did not release galactose from cell wall–extracted glycoproteins or AGP-rich gum arabic. These results indicate that the lack of exo-β-1,3-galactosidase activity alters cell wall extensibility in roots, a phenotype that could be explained by the involvement of galactosidases in AGP glycan biosynthesis.
Today's major excitement in biology centers on signaling: How can a cell or organism measure the myriad of environmental cues, integrate it, and acclimate to the new conditions? Hormonal signals and ...second messengers are in the focus of most of these studies, e.g. regulation of glucose transporter GLUT4 cycling by insulin, or regulation of plant growth by auxin or brassinosteroids.
1-3
In comparison, we generally assume that we know almost everything about basic metabolism since it has been studied for many decades; for example we know since the early 80s that allosteric regulation by fructose-2,6-bisphophate plays an important role in regulating glycolysis in plants and animals.
4
This may be the reason why studies of metabolism appear to be a bit out of fashion. But if we look to other organisms such as E. coli or yeast, we rapidly realize that metabolism is controlled by complex interconnected signaling networks, and that we understand little of these signaling networks in humans and plants.
5,6
As it turns out, the cell registers many metabolites, and flux through the pathways is regulated using complex signaling networks that involve calcium as well as hormones.
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