scholarly journals Functional conservation and divergence of five AP1/FUL-like genes in Marigold (Tagetes erecta)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunling Zhang ◽  
Yalin Sun ◽  
Ludan Wei ◽  
Wenjing Wang ◽  
Hang Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Members of AP1/FUL subfamily genes play an essential role in the regulation of floral meristem transition, floral organ identity, and fruit ripping. At present, there have been insufficient studies to explain the function of the AP1/FUL-like subfamily genes in Asteraceae. Results: Here, we cloned two euAP1 clade genes TeAP1-1 and TeAP1-2, and three euFUL clade genes TeFUL1, TeFUL2, and TeFUL3 from marigold (Tagetes erecta). Expression profile analysis demonstrated that TeAP1-1 and TeAP1-2 were mainly expressed in receptacles, sepals, petals, and ovules. TeFUL1 and TeFUL3 were expressed in floral buds, stems and leaves as well as in productive tissues, while TeFUL2 was mainly expressed in floral buds and vegetative tissues. Transgenic Arabidopsis lines showed that overexpression TeAP1-2 or TeFUL2 resulted in early flowering, implying that these two genes might regulate the floral transition. Yeast two-hybrid analysis indicated that TeAP1/FUL proteins only interacted with TeSEP proteins to form heterodimers, and that TeFUL2 could also form a homodimer.Conclusion: In general, TeAP1-1 and TeAP1-2 might play a conserved role in regulating sepal and petal identity, just like the role of MADS-box class A genes, while TeFUL genes might display divergent functions. This study provides an insight into molecular mechanism of AP1/FUL-like genes in Asteraceae species.

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2011
Author(s):  
Chunling Zhang ◽  
Yalin Sun ◽  
Xiaomin Yu ◽  
Hang Li ◽  
Manzhu Bao ◽  
...  

Members of AP1/FUL subfamily genes play an essential role in the regulation of floral meristem transition, floral organ identity, and fruit ripping. At present, there have been insufficient studies to explain the function of the AP1/FUL-like subfamily genes in Asteraceae. Here, we cloned two euAP1 clade genes TeAP1-1 and TeAP1-2, and three euFUL clade genes TeFUL1, TeFUL2, and TeFUL3 from marigold (Tagetes erecta L.). Expression profile analysis demonstrated that TeAP1-1 and TeAP1-2 were mainly expressed in receptacles, sepals, petals, and ovules. TeFUL1 and TeFUL3 were expressed in flower buds, stems, and leaves, as well as reproductive tissues, while TeFUL2 was mainly expressed in flower buds and vegetative tissues. Overexpression of TeAP1-2 or TeFUL2 in Arabidopsis resulted in early flowering, implying that these two genes might regulate the floral transition. Yeast two-hybrid analysis indicated that TeAP1/FUL proteins only interacted with TeSEP proteins to form heterodimers and that TeFUL2 could also form a homodimer. In general, TeAP1-1 and TeAP1-2 might play a conserved role in regulating sepal and petal identity, similar to the functions of MADS-box class A genes, while TeFUL genes might display divergent functions. This study provides a theoretical basis for the study of AP1/FUL-like genes in Asteraceae species.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1073
Author(s):  
Xiao-Tian Tang ◽  
Cecilia Tamborindeguy

Autophagy, also known as type II programmed cell death, is a cellular mechanism of “self-eating”. Autophagy plays an important role against pathogen infection in numerous organisms. Recently, it has been demonstrated that autophagy can be activated and even manipulated by plant viruses to facilitate their transmission within insect vectors. However, little is known about the role of autophagy in the interactions of insect vectors with plant bacterial pathogens. ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ (Lso) is a phloem-limited Gram-negative bacterium that infects crops worldwide. Two Lso haplotypes, LsoA and LsoB, are transmitted by the potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli and cause damaging diseases in solanaceous plants (e.g., zebra chip in potatoes). Both LsoA and LsoB are transmitted by the potato psyllid in a persistent circulative manner: they colonize and replicate within psyllid tissues. Following acquisition, the gut is the first organ Lso encounters and could be a barrier for transmission. In this study, we annotated autophagy-related genes (ATGs) from the potato psyllid transcriptome and evaluated their expression in response to Lso infection at the gut interface. In total, 19 ATGs belonging to 17 different families were identified. The comprehensive expression profile analysis revealed that the majority of the ATGs were regulated in the psyllid gut following the exposure or infection to each Lso haplotype, LsoA and LsoB, suggesting a potential role of autophagy in response to Lso at the psyllid gut interface.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tong Zhao ◽  
Alma Piñeyro-Nelson ◽  
Qianxia Yu ◽  
Xiaoying Hu ◽  
Huanfang Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background:The flower of Hedychium coronarium possesses highly specialized floral organs: a synsepalous calyx, petaloid staminodes and a labellum. The formation of these organs is controlled by two gene categories: floral organ identity genes and organ boundary genes, which may function individually or jointly during flower development. Although the floral organogenesis of H. coronarium has been studied at the morphological level, the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in its floral development still remain poorly understood. In addition, previous works analyzing the role of MADS-box genes in controlling floral organ specification in some Zingiberaceae did not address the molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of particular organ morphologies that emerge later in flower development, such as the synsepalous calyx formed through intercalary growth of adjacent sepals. Results:Here, we used comparative transcriptomics combined with Real-time quantitative PCR and mRNA in situ hybridization to investigate gene expression patterns of ABC-class genes in H. coronarium flowers, as well as the homolog of the organ boundary gene PETAL LOSS (HcPTL). qRT-PCR detection showed that HcAP3 and HcAG were expressed in both the petaloid staminode and the fertile stamen. mRNA in situ hybridization showed that HcPTL was expressed in developing meristems, including cincinnus primordia, floral primordia, common primordia and almost all new initiating floral organ primordia.Conclusions:Our studies found that stamen/petal identity or stamen fertility in H. coronarium was not necessarily correlated with the differential expression of HcAP3 and HcAG. We also found a novel spatio-temporal expression pattern for HcPTL mRNA, suggesting it may have evolved a lineage-specific role in the morphogenesis of the Hedychium flower. Our study provides a new transcriptome reference and a functional hypothesis regarding the role of a boundary gene in organ fusion that should be further addressed through phylogenetic analyzes of this gene, as well as functional studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (37) ◽  
pp. 23148-23157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cuong Nguyen Huu ◽  
Barbara Keller ◽  
Elena Conti ◽  
Christian Kappel ◽  
Michael Lenhard

Heterostyly represents a fascinating adaptation to promote outbreeding in plants that evolved multiple times independently. While l-morph individuals form flowers with long styles, short anthers, and small pollen grains, S-morph individuals have flowers with short styles, long anthers, and large pollen grains. The difference between the morphs is controlled by an S-locus “supergene” consisting of several distinct genes that determine different traits of the syndrome and are held together, because recombination between them is suppressed. In Primula, the S locus is a roughly 300-kb hemizygous region containing five predicted genes. However, with one exception, their roles remain unclear, as does the evolutionary buildup of the S locus. Here we demonstrate that the MADS-box GLOBOSA2 (GLO2) gene at the S locus determines anther position. In Primula forbesii S-morph plants, GLO2 promotes growth by cell expansion in the fused tube of petals and stamen filaments beneath the anther insertion point; by contrast, neither pollen size nor male incompatibility is affected by GLO2 activity. The paralogue GLO1, from which GLO2 arose by duplication, has maintained the ancestral B-class function in specifying petal and stamen identity, indicating that GLO2 underwent neofunctionalization, likely at the level of the encoded protein. Genetic mapping and phylogenetic analysis indicate that the duplications giving rise to the style-length-determining gene CYP734A50 and to GLO2 occurred sequentially, with the CYP734A50 duplication likely the first. Together these results provide the most detailed insight into the assembly of a plant supergene yet and have important implications for the evolution of heterostyly.


2008 ◽  
Vol 105 (40) ◽  
pp. 15493-15498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie H. Kucherlapati ◽  
Kan Yang ◽  
Kunhua Fan ◽  
Mari Kuraguchi ◽  
Dmitriy Sonkin ◽  
...  

To examine the role of Rb1 in gastrointestinal (GI) tumors, we generated mice with an Apc1638N allele, Rbtm2brn floxed alleles, and a villin-cre transgene (RBVCA). These animals had exon 19 deleted from Rb1 throughout the GI tract. We have shown previously that Rb1 deficiency is insufficient for GI tumor initiation, with inactivation of an Apc allele capable of overcoming the insufficiency. In this study we demonstrate that RBVCA mice have reduced median survival because of an increase in tumor incidence and multiplicity in the cecum and the proximal colon. Large intestinal tumors are predominantly adenomas, whereas the tumors of the small intestine are a mixture of adenomas and adenocarcinomas. We find truncation mutations to the second Apc allele in tumors of both the large and small intestine. Expression profiles of duodenal and cecal tumors relative to each other show unique gene subsets up and down regulated. Substantial expression patterns compare to human colorectal cancer, including recapitulation of embryonic genes. Our results indicate that Rb1 has significant influence over tumor location in the GI tract, and that both cecal and duodenal tumors initiate through inactivation of Apc. Expression profile analysis indicates the two tumor types differentially regulate distinct sets of genes that are over-expressed in a majority of human colorectal carcinomas.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanxia Gao ◽  
Jiaheng Li ◽  
Zhen Zhang ◽  
Ruihan Zhang ◽  
Andrew Pollock ◽  
...  

AbstractProopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) in mammalian hypothalamus play important roles in regulating appetite, energy expenditure, and glucose and fat metabolisms. Diet-induced obesity often show sex-specific difference. But the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here we show that microRNA (miRNA) miR-7 and miR-17-92 are expressed in the mouse ARC, and mostly in POMC neurons. Knockdown of miR-7 and knockout of miR-17-92 specifically in POMC neurons aggravate diet-induced obesity only in females and males, respectively. Moreover, gene expression profile analysis identifies sex-differential genes in male and female ARCs in wildtype adult mice. Interestingly, these genes that normally show low-expression in the female and male ARCs display upregulated expression in female miR-7 knockdown and male miR-17-92 knockout mice, respectively. Our results demonstrate an important role of miRNAs in regulating sex-specific diet-induced obesity, likely through modulating expression of target genes that show sex-differential expression in the ARC of hypothalamus.


HortScience ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 973A-973
Author(s):  
Denise Duclos ◽  
Thomas Björkman

The genetic factors that control reproductive development in B. oleracea remain a mystery. Broccoli differs from cauliflower in its floral development stage at harvest. We are studying the role of meristem identity genes (MIGs) in the transition from inflorescence meristem (cauliflower) to floral buds (broccoli). The objectives are to determine stage-specific roles of MIGs during reproductive development and to check whether expression of flowering genes in heading B. oleracea is as predicted by the Arabidopsis flowering model. We tested a model of arrest in B. oleracea that incorporates FUL, a redundant gene of AP1 in controlling inflorescence architecture and floral meristem identity, the meristem gene TFL1, the flowering gene LFY, and AP1/CAL, and genes involved in flower transition. Conclusions. 1) Arrest at the inflorescence meristem stage is highly correlated with a decrease in LFY to TFL1 ratio, given by a decrease in TFL1 expression. 2) Transcription of AP1c is stimulated at the time of floral primordium initiation, suggesting a role in floral transition but not in floral organ specification. Plants recessive for AP1a, AP1c, and CAL formed normal floral buds containing all four whorls of organs, and did not necessarily form curd. We suggest that their ability to flower could be related with the ectopic expression of FUL by affecting TFL1 expression. FUL paralogs were highly expressed at all stages of development of the triple mutant plants. 3) The lack of upregulation in AP1 transcripts at the floral bud stage, and the absence of an A-function mutant phenotype imply that other genes act redundantly with AP1 in the specification of sepal identity and questions the role of AP1a and AP1c as A-function genes in B. oleracea.


2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 1583-1590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth A. Tamburini ◽  
Joshua J. Carson ◽  
Melissa W. Adkins ◽  
Jessica K. Tyler

ABSTRACT Chromatin disassembly and reassembly, mediated by histone chaperones such as anti-silencing function 1 (Asf1), are likely to accompany all nuclear processes that occur on the DNA template. In order to gain insight into the functional conservation of Asf1 across eukaryotes, we have replaced the budding yeast Asf1 protein with Drosophila Asf1 (dAsf1) or either of the two human Asf1 (hAsf1a and hAsf1b) counterparts. We found that hAsf1b is best able to rescue the growth defect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae lacking Asf1. Moreover, dAsf1 and hAsf1b but not hAsf1a can replace the role of yeast Asf1 in protecting against replicational stress and activating the PHO5 gene, while only hAsf1a can replace the role of Asf1 in protecting against double-stranded-DNA-damaging agents. Furthermore, it appears that the interaction between Asf1 and the DNA damage checkpoint protein Rad53 is not required for Asf1's role in maintaining genomic integrity. In addition to indicating the functional conservation of the Asf1 proteins across species, these studies suggest distinct roles for the two human Asf1 proteins.


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