scholarly journals A Heat-Shock Inducible System for Flexible Gene Expression in Cereals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie A. Harrington ◽  
Anna E. Backhaus ◽  
Samantha Fox ◽  
Christian Rogers ◽  
Philippa Borrill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Heat Shock ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Constitutive Expression ◽  
Cereal Crops ◽  
Golden Gate ◽  
Chemical Inducers ◽  
Recombination System ◽  
Functional Characterisation ◽  
Construct Activation

AbstractBackgroundFunctional characterisation of genes using transgenic methods is increasingly common in cereal crops. Yet standard methods of gene over-expression can lead to undesirable developmental phenotypes, or even embryo lethality, due to ectopic gene expression. Inducible expression systems allow the study of such genes by preventing their expression until treatment with the specific inducer. When combined with the Cre-Lox recombination system, inducible promoters can be used to initiate constitutive expression of a gene of interest. Yet while these systems are well established in dicot model plants, like Arabidopsis thaliana, they have not yet been implemented in grasses.ResultsHere we present an irreversible heat-shock inducible system developed using Golden Gate-compatible components which utilises Cre recombinase to drive constitutive gene expression in barley and wheat. We show that a heat shock treatment of 38 °C is sufficient to activate the construct and drive expression of the gene of interest. Modulating the duration of heat shock controls the density of induced cells. Short durations of heat shock cause activation of the construct in isolated single cells, while longer durations lead to global construct activation. The system can be successfully activated in multiple tissues and at multiple developmental stages and shows no activation at standard growth temperatures (~ 20 °C).ConclusionsThis system provides an adaptable framework for use in gene functional characterisation in cereal crops. The developed vectors can be easily adapted for specific genes of interest within the Golden Gate cloning system. By using an environmental signal to induce activation of the construct, the system avoids pitfalls associated with consistent and complete application of chemical inducers. As with any inducible system, care must be taken to ensure that the expected construct activation has indeed taken place.

scholarly journals A heat-shock inducible system for flexible gene expression in cereals

Plant Methods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie A. Harrington ◽  
Anna E. Backhaus ◽  
Samantha Fox ◽  
Christian Rogers ◽  
Philippa Borrill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Heat Shock ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Constitutive Expression ◽  
Cereal Crops ◽  
Golden Gate ◽  
Chemical Inducers ◽  
Recombination System ◽  
Functional Characterisation ◽  
Construct Activation

Abstract Background Functional characterisation of genes using transgenic methods is increasingly common in cereal crops. Yet standard methods of gene over-expression can lead to undesirable developmental phenotypes, or even embryo lethality, due to ectopic gene expression. Inducible expression systems allow the study of such genes by preventing their expression until treatment with the specific inducer. When combined with the Cre-Lox recombination system, inducible promoters can be used to initiate constitutive expression of a gene of interest. Yet while these systems are well established in dicot model plants, like Arabidopsis thaliana, they have not yet been implemented in grasses. Results Here we present an irreversible heat-shock inducible system developed using Golden Gate-compatible components which utilises Cre recombinase to drive constitutive gene expression in barley and wheat. We show that a heat shock treatment of 38 °C is sufficient to activate the construct and drive expression of the gene of interest. Modulating the duration of heat shock controls the density of induced cells. Short durations of heat shock cause activation of the construct in isolated single cells, while longer durations lead to global construct activation. The system can be successfully activated in multiple tissues and at multiple developmental stages and shows no activation at standard growth temperatures (~ 20 °C). Conclusions This system provides an adaptable framework for use in gene functional characterisation in cereal crops. The developed vectors can be easily adapted for specific genes of interest within the Golden Gate cloning system. By using an environmental signal to induce activation of the construct, the system avoids pitfalls associated with consistent and complete application of chemical inducers. As with any inducible system, care must be taken to ensure that the expected construct activation has indeed taken place.

Expression of members of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae hsp70 multigene family

Genome ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 684-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Werner-Washburne ◽  
Elizabeth A. Craig
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Heat Shock ◽  
Adenylate Cyclase ◽  
Stationary Phase ◽  
Exponential Growth ◽  
Multigene Family ◽  
Constitutive Expression ◽  
The Family ◽  
Shock Proteins

The hsp70 multigene family of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a complex multigene family, composed of members exhibiting complex patterns of regulation. Expression of some members is induced after a heat shock, whereas expression of others is repressed. Some members of the family are expressed during exponential growth. One gene, SSA3, shows an unusual pattern of expression during approach to stationary phase. While most RNAs decrease in abundance, SSA3 RNA levels dramatically increase. The constitutive expression of SSA3 in cells lacking adenylate cyclase activity suggests that cAMP modulates SSA3 expression.Key words: heat shock proteins, S. cerevisiae, cAMP, gene expression, stress seventy genes.

scholarly journals Arabidopsis heat shock transcription factor HSFA7b positively mediates salt stress tolerance by binding to an E-box-like motif to regulate gene expression

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (19) ◽  
pp. 5355-5374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dandan Zang ◽  
Jingxin Wang ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Zhujun Liu ◽  
Yucheng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Heat Shock ◽  
Salt Tolerance ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Ion Homeostasis ◽  
Cellulose Synthase ◽  
Regulate Gene Expression ◽  
E Box ◽  
Regulate Gene

Abstract Plant heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) are involved in heat and other abiotic stress responses. However, their functions in salt tolerance are little known. In this study, we characterized the function of a HSF from Arabidopsis, AtHSFA7b, in salt tolerance. AtHSFA7b is a nuclear protein with transactivation activity. ChIP-seq combined with an RNA-seq assay indicated that AtHSFA7b preferentially binds to a novel cis-acting element, termed the E-box-like motif, to regulate gene expression; it also binds to the heat shock element motif. Under salt conditions, AtHSFA7b regulates its target genes to mediate serial physiological changes, including maintaining cellular ion homeostasis, reducing water loss rate, decreasing reactive oxygen species accumulation, and adjusting osmotic potential, which ultimately leads to improved salt tolerance. Additionally, most cellulose synthase-like (CSL) and cellulose synthase (CESA) family genes were inhibited by AtHSFA7b; some of them were randomly selected for salt tolerance characterization, and they were mainly found to negatively modulate salt tolerance. By contrast, some transcription factors (TFs) were induced by AtHSFA7b; among them, we randomly identified six TFs that positively regulate salt tolerance. Thus, AtHSFA7b serves as a transactivator that positively mediates salinity tolerance mainly through binding to the E-box-like motif to regulate gene expression.

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