scholarly journals Integrative Modelling of Gene Expression and Digital Phenotypes to Describe Senescence in Wheat

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 909
Author(s):  
Anyela Valentina Camargo Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Plant Morphology ◽  
Reproductive Organs ◽  
Biological Trait ◽  
Cereal Grain ◽  
Plant Level

Senescence is the final stage of leaf development and is critical for plants’ fitness as nutrient relocation from leaves to reproductive organs takes place. Although senescence is key in nutrient relocation and yield determination in cereal grain production, there is limited understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms that control it in major staple crops such as wheat. Senescence is a highly orchestrated continuum of interacting pathways throughout the lifecycle of a plant. Levels of gene expression, morphogenesis, and phenotypic development all play key roles. Yet, most studies focus on a short window immediately after anthesis. This approach clearly leaves out key components controlling the activation, development, and modulation of the senescence pathway before anthesis, as well as during the later developmental stages, during which grain development continues. Here, a computational multiscale modelling approach integrates multi-omics developmental data to attempt to simulate senescence at the molecular and plant level. To recreate the senescence process in wheat, core principles were borrowed from Arabidopsis Thaliana, a more widely researched plant model. The resulted model describes temporal gene regulatory networks and their effect on plant morphology leading to senescence. Digital phenotypes generated from images using a phenomics platform were used to capture the dynamics of plant development. This work provides the basis for the application of computational modelling to advance understanding of the complex biological trait senescence. This supports the development of a predictive framework enabling its prediction in changing or extreme environmental conditions, with a view to targeted selection for optimal lifecycle duration for improving resilience to climate change.

scholarly journals Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Regulatory Networks during the Maize Ear Shank Elongation Process

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 7029
Author(s):  
Cai-Yun Xiong ◽  
Qing-You Gong ◽  
Hu Pei ◽  
Chang-Jian Liao ◽  
Rui-Chun Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Short Branch ◽  
Transcriptional Dynamics ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Elongation Process ◽  
Temporal Expression Pattern ◽  
Maize Ear

In maize, the ear shank is a short branch that connects the ear to the stalk. The length of the ear shank mainly affects the transportation of photosynthetic products to the ear, and also influences the dehydration of the grain by adjusting the tightness of the husks. However, the molecular mechanisms of maize shank elongation have rarely been described. It has been reported that the maize ear shank length is a quantitative trait, but its genetic basis is still unclear. In this study, RNA-seq was performed to explore the transcriptional dynamics and determine the key genes involved in maize shank elongation at four different developmental stages. A total of 8145 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, including 729 transcription factors (TFs). Some important genes which participate in shank elongation were detected via function annotation and temporal expression pattern analyses, including genes related to signal transduction hormones (auxin, brassinosteroids, gibberellin, etc.), xyloglucan and xyloglucan xyloglucosyl transferase, and transcription factor families. The results provide insights into the genetic architecture of maize ear shanks and developing new varieties with ideal ear shank lengths, enabling adjustments for mechanized harvesting in the future.

scholarly journals Identification and evaluation of the novel genes for transcript normalization during female gametophyte development in sugarcane

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12298
Author(s):  
Maokai Yan ◽  
Xingyue Jin ◽  
Yanhui Liu ◽  
Huihuang Chen ◽  
Tao Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Reference Genes ◽  
Female Gametophyte ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Reproductive Organs ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Biofuel Feedstock ◽  
Gametophyte Development ◽  
Female Gametophyte Development

Background Sugarcane (Saccharum spontaneum L.), the major sugar and biofuel feedstock crop, is cultivated mainly by vegetative propagation worldwide due to the infertility of female reproductive organs resulting in the reduction of quality and output of sugar. Deciphering the gene expression profile during ovule development will improve our understanding of the complications underlying sexual reproduction in sugarcane. Optimal reference genes are essential for elucidating the expression pattern of a given gene by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Method In this study, based on transcriptome data obtained from sugarcane ovule, eighteen candidate reference genes were identified, cloned, and their expression levels were evaluated across five developmental stages ovule (AC, MMC, Meiosis, Mitosis, and Mature). Results Our results indicated that FAB2 and MOR1 were the most stably expressed genes during sugarcane female gametophyte development. Moreover, two genes, cell cycle-related genes REC8 and CDK, were selected, and their feasibility was validated. This study provides important insights into the female gametophyte development of sugarcane and reports novel reference genes for gene expression research on sugarcane sexual reproduction.

scholarly journals Convergent evolution of venom gland transcriptomes across Metazoa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Zancolli ◽  
Maarten Reijnders ◽  
Robert Waterhouse ◽  
Marc Robinson-Rechavi
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Gene Expression Profiles ◽  
Venom Gland ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Animal Kingdom ◽  
Venom Glands

Animals have repeatedly evolved specialized organs and anatomical structures to produce and deliver a cocktail of potent bioactive molecules to subdue prey or predators: venom. This makes it one of the most widespread convergent functions in the animal kingdom. Whether animals have adopted the same genetic toolkit to evolved venom systems is a fascinating question that still eludes us. Here, we performed the first comparative analysis of venom gland transcriptomes from 20 venomous species spanning the main Metazoan lineages, to test whether different animals have independently adopted similar molecular mechanisms to perform the same function. We found a strong convergence in gene expression profiles, with venom glands being more similar to each other than to any other tissue from the same species, and their differences closely mirroring the species phylogeny. Although venom glands secrete some of the fastest evolving molecules (toxins), their gene expression does not evolve faster than evolutionarily older tissues. We found 15 venom gland specific gene modules enriched in endoplasmic reticulum stress and unfolded protein response pathways, indicating that animals have independently adopted stress response mechanisms to cope with mass production of toxins. This, in turns, activates regulatory networks for epithelial development, cell turnover and maintenance which seem composed of both convergent and lineage-specific factors, possibly reflecting the different developmental origins of venom glands. This study represents the first step towards an understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the repeated evolution of one of the most successful adaptive traits in the animal kingdom.

The expanding world of metabolic enzymes moonlighting as RNA binding proteins

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole J. Curtis ◽  
Constance J. Jeffery
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Binding Proteins ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Rna Binding Proteins ◽  
Molecular Structures ◽  
Intermediary Metabolism ◽  
The Many ◽  
And Function

RNA binding proteins play key roles in many aspects of RNA metabolism and function, including splicing, transport, translation, localization, stability and degradation. Within the past few years, proteomics studies have identified dozens of enzymes in intermediary metabolism that bind to RNA. The wide occurrence and conservation of RNA binding ability across distant branches of the evolutionary tree suggest that these moonlighting enzymes are involved in connections between intermediary metabolism and gene expression that comprise far more extensive regulatory networks than previously thought. There are many outstanding questions about the molecular structures and mechanisms involved, the effects of these interactions on enzyme and RNA functions, and the factors that regulate the interactions. The effects on RNA function are likely to be wider than regulation of translation, and some enzyme–RNA interactions have been found to regulate the enzyme's catalytic activity. Several enzyme–RNA interactions have been shown to be affected by cellular factors that change under different intracellular and environmental conditions, including concentrations of substrates and cofactors. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the interactions between the enzymes and RNA, the factors involved in regulation, and the effects of the enzyme–RNA interactions on both the enzyme and RNA functions will lead to a better understanding of the role of the many newly identified enzyme–RNA interactions in connecting intermediary metabolism and gene expression.

Evaluation of Appropriate Reference Genes For Investigating Gene Expression in Chlorops oryzae (Diptera: Chloropidae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 2207-2214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Tian ◽  
Lin Qiu ◽  
Ailin Zhou ◽  
Guo Chen ◽  
Hualiang He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Ribosomal Protein ◽  
Reference Genes ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Housekeeping Genes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Physiological Processes

Abstract Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has become an invaluable technique for analyzing gene expression in many insects. However, this approach requires the use of stable reference genes to normalize the data. Chlorops oryzae causes significant economic damage to rice crops throughout Asia. The lack of suitable reference genes has hindered research on the molecular mechanisms underlying many physiological processes of this species. In this study, we used quantitative real-time PCR to evaluate the expression of eight C. oryzae housekeeping genes glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), β-actin (βACT), beta-tubulin (βTUB), Delta Elongation factor-1 (EF1δ), ribosomal protein S11 (RPS11), RPS15, C-terminal-Binding Protein (CtBP), and ribosomal protein 49 (RP49) in different developmental stages and tissues in both larvae and adults. We analyzed the data with four different software packages: geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and RefFinder and compared the results obtained with each method. The results indicate that PRS15 and RP49 can be used as stable reference genes for quantifying gene expression in different developmental stages and larval tissues. GAPDH and βACT, which have been considered stable reference genes by previous studies, were the least stable of the candidate genes with respect to larval tissues. GAPDH was, however, the most stable reference gene for adult tissues. We verified the candidate reference genes identified and found that the expression levels of Cadherins (Cads) changed when different reference genes were used to normalize gene expression. This study provides a valuable foundation for future research on gene function, and investigating the molecular basis of physiological processes, in C. oryzae.

scholarly journals Revealing the bovine embryo transcript profiles during early in vivo embryonic development

Reproduction ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maud Vallée ◽  
Isabelle Dufort ◽  
Stéphanie Desrosiers ◽  
Aurélie Labbe ◽  
Catherine Gravel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Embryonic Development ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Mrna Level ◽  
Early Embryonic Development ◽  
Bovine Embryo ◽  
Rna Content

Gene expression profiling is proving to be a powerful approach for the identification of molecular mechanisms underlying complex cellular functions such as the dynamic early embryonic development. The objective of this study was to perform a transcript abundance profiling analysis of bovine early embryonic development in vivo using a bovine developmental array. The molecular description of the first week of life at the mRNA level is particularly challenging when considering the important fluctuations in RNA content that occur between developmental stages. Accounting for the different intrinsic RNA content between developmental stages was achieved by restricting the reaction time during the global amplification steps and by using spiked controls and reference samples. Analysis based on intensity values revealed that most of the transcripts on the array were present at some point during in vivo bovine early embryonic development, while the varying number of genes detected in each developmental stage confirmed the dynamic profile of gene expression occurring during embryonic development. Pair-wise comparison of gene expression showed a marked difference between oocytes and blastocysts profiles, and principal component analysis revealed that the majority of the transcripts could be regrouped into three main clusters representing distinct RNA abundance profiles. Overall, these data provide a detailed temporal profile of the abundance of mRNAs revealing the richness of signaling processes in early mammalian development. Results presented here provide better knowledge of bovine in vivo embryonic development and contribute to the progression of our current knowledge regarding the first week of life in mammals.

scholarly journals Chip-seq and gene expression data for the identification of functional sub-pathways: a proof of concept in lung cancer

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xanthoula Atsalaki ◽  
Lefteris Koumakis ◽  
George Potamias ◽  
Manolis Tsiknakis
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Systems Biology ◽  
Gene Expression Data ◽  
Gene Regulatory Networks ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Expression Data ◽  
Gene Regulatory

AbstractHigh-throughput technologies, such as chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with massively parallel sequencing (ChIP-seq) have enabled cost and time efficient generation of immense amount of genome data. The advent of advanced sequencing techniques allowed biologists and bioinformaticians to investigate biological aspects of cell function and understand or reveal unexplored disease etiologies. Systems biology attempts to formulate the molecular mechanisms in mathematical models and one of the most important areas is the gene regulatory networks (GRNs), a collection of DNA segments that somehow interact with each other. GRNs incorporate valuable information about molecular targets that can be corellated to specific phenotype.In our study we highlight the need to develop new explorative tools and approaches for the integration of different types of -omics data such as ChIP-seq and GRNs using pathway analysis methodologies. We present an integrative approach for ChIP-seq and gene expression data on GRNs. Using public microarray expression samples for lung cancer and healthy subjects along with the KEGG human gene regulatory networks, we identified ways to disrupt functional sub-pathways on lung cancer with the aid of CTCF ChIP-seq data, as a proof of concept.We expect that such a systems biology pipeline could assist researchers to identify corellations and causality of transcription factors over functional or disrupted biological sub-pathways.

scholarly journals Recent origin of an XX/XY sex-determination system in the ancient plant lineage Ginkgo biloba

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Zhang ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Xianwei Yang ◽  
Kai-Jie Gu ◽  
Wenbin Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Determination ◽  
Ginkgo Biloba ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Living Fossil ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Biological Trait ◽  
Determination System ◽  
Recent Origin ◽  
Sex Determination System

ABSTRACTSexual dimorphism like dioecy (separate male and female individuals) have evolved in diverse multicellular eukaryotes while the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of such a key biological trait remains elusive (1). The living fossil Ginkgo biloba represents an early diverged lineage of land plants with dioecy. However, its sex-determination system and molecular basis have long been controversial or unknown. In the present research, we assembled the first and largest to date chromosome-level genome of a non-model tree species using Hi-C data. With this reference genome, we addressed both questions using genome resequencing data gathered from 97 male and 265 female trees of ginkgo, as well as transcriptome data from three developmental stages for both sexes. Our results support vertebrate-like XY chromosomes for ginkgo and five potential sex-determination genes, which may originate ~14 million years ago. This is the earliest diverged sex determination region in all reported plants as yet. The present research resolved a long-term controversy, lay a foundation for future studies on the origin and evolution of plant sexes, and provide genetic markers for sex identification of ginkgo which will be valuable for both nurseries and field ecology of ginkgo.

scholarly journals Transcriptome Changes in the Mink Uterus during Blastocyst Dormancy and Reactivation

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 2099
Author(s):  
Xinyan Cao ◽  
Jiaping Zhao ◽  
Yong Liu ◽  
Hengxing Ba ◽  
Haijun Wei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Extracellular Matrix ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Embryo Implantation ◽  
Global Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Kegg Pathways ◽  
Maternal Regulation

Embryo implantation in the mink follows the pattern of many carnivores, in that preimplantation embryo diapause occurs in every gestation. Details of the gene expression and regulatory networks that terminate embryo diapause remain poorly understood. Illumina RNA-Seq was used to analyze global gene expression changes in the mink uterus during embryo diapause and activation leading to implantation. More than 50 million high quality reads were generated, and assembled into 170,984 unigenes. A total of 1684 differential expressed genes (DEGs) in uteri with blastocysts in diapause were compared to the activated embryo group (p < 0.05). Among these transcripts, 1527 were annotated as known genes, including 963 up-regulated and 564 down-regulated genes. The gene ontology terms for the observed DEGs, included cellular communication, phosphatase activity, extracellular matrix and G-protein couple receptor activity. The KEGG pathways, including PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, focal adhesion and extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interactions were the most enriched. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed, and hub nodes such as VEGFA, EGF, AKT, IGF1, PIK3C and CCND1 with high degrees of connectivity represent gene clusters expected to play an important role in embryo activation. These results provide novel information for understanding the molecular mechanisms of maternal regulation of embryo activation in mink.

scholarly journals Integrating transcriptome and metabolome reveals molecular networks involved in genetic and environmental variation in tobacco

DNA Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pingping Liu ◽  
Jie Luo ◽  
Qingxia Zheng ◽  
Qiansi Chen ◽  
Niu Zhai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Molecular Networks ◽  
Environmental Perturbations ◽  
Carotenoid Metabolism ◽  
Gene Modules

Abstract Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) is one of the most widely cultivated commercial non-food crops with significant social and economic impacts. Here we profiled transcriptome and metabolome from 54 tobacco samples (2–3 replicates; n = 151 in total) collected from three varieties (i.e. genetic factor), three locations (i.e. environmental factor), and six developmental stages (i.e. developmental process). We identified 3,405 differentially expressed (DE) genes (DEGs) and 371 DE metabolites, respectively. We used quantitative real-time PCR to validate 20 DEGs, and confirmed 18/20 (90%) DEGs between three locations and 16/20 (80%) with the same trend across developmental stages. We then constructed nine co-expression gene modules and four co-expression metabolite modules , and defined seven de novo regulatory networks, including nicotine- and carotenoid-related regulatory networks. A novel two-way Pearson correlation approach was further proposed to integrate co-expression gene and metabolite modules to identify joint gene–metabolite relations. Finally, we further integrated DE and network results to prioritize genes by its functional importance and identified a top-ranked novel gene, LOC107773232, as a potential regulator involved in the carotenoid metabolism pathway. Thus, the results and systems-biology approaches provide a new avenue to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying complex genetic and environmental perturbations in tobacco.

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