This Arabidopsis Research Roundup has five papers that includes two from the John Innes Centre and two from the University of Edinburgh. Firstly Kristen Bomblies’s group at the JIC have investigated the relationship between temperature and meiotic recombination rates. Secondly Veronica Grieneisen and Stan Maree have developed a mathematical model to characterise cell morphologies taken from a 2D image. Andrew Miller from Edinburgh is a co-corresponding author on a study that shows how the Arabidopsis proteome changes in different photoperiods. In the fourth paper Peter Doerner is a co-author on work that looks at the phosphate starvation response. Finally researchers from Bristol and Nottingham contribute to an investigation into a novel genetic component that controls auxin-induced root hair development.
Lloyd A, Morgan C, Franklin C, Bomblies K (2018) Plasticity of Meiotic Recombination Rates in Response to Temperature in Arabidopsis. Genetics. doi: 10.1534/genetics.117.300588
Open Access
Kristen Bomblies (John Innes Centre) leads this study that investigates the influence of temperature on meiotic recombination rate. They show that in Arabidopsis the number of crossovers positively correlates with increasing temperature. However the mechanistic explanation for the increase at higher temperatures remains opaque as, in contrast to findings from other plants, synaptonemal complex length negatively correlates with temperature.
Sánchez-Corrales YE, Hartley M, van Rooij J, Marée AFM, Grieneisen VA (2018) Morphometrics of complex cell shapes: Lobe Contribution Elliptic Fourier Analysis (LOCO-EFA). Development. doi: 10.1242/dev.15677
Open Access
Veronica Grieneisen and Stan Maree (John Innes Centre) lead this study that has developed the Lobe Contribution Elliptical Fourier Analysis (LOCO-EFA) method. This generates meaningful descriptors from a 2D image of cells that can then be linked to morphological features. This tool allows for the efficient phenotyping of cell morphologies that they demonstrate by analysing images of Arabidopsis leaf pavement cells. They extend this analysis to larger populations where they used LOCO-EFA to predict how cell shapes change when they move into a more crowded space.
Seaton DD, Graf A, Baerenfaller K, Stitt M, Millar AJ, Gruissem W (2018) Photoperiodic control of the Arabidopsis proteome reveals a translational coincidence mechanism. Mol Syst Biol. doi: 10.15252/msb.20177962 Open Access
Andrew Miller (University of Edinburgh) is the corresponding author on this collaboration with German and Swiss colleagues that compares the Arabidopsis proteome across four photoperiods. They shows coordinated changes across the proteome, most notably at longer photoperiods in the abundance of proteins involved in photosynthesis and metabolism. They show higher translation rates during the day that correspond with the increased RNA abundance that is a characteristic of circadian rhythms. This ‘translational coincidence’ describes the alignment of higher translation rates with high transcript levels and they assigned a mathematical model in an attempt to explain this phenomenon.
Hanchi M, Thibaud MC, Légeret B, Kuwata K, Pochon N, Beisson F, Cao A, Cuyas L, David P, Doerner P, Ferjani A, Lai F, Li-Beisson Y, Mutterer J, Philibert M, Raghothama KG, Rivasseau C, Secco D, Whelan J, Nussaume L, Javot H (2018) The phosphate fast-responsive genes PECP1 and PPsPase1 affect phosphocholine and phosphoethanolamine content. Plant Physiol. doi: 10.1104/pp.17.01246 Open Access
Peter Doerner (University of Edinburgh) is a co-author on this global study that characterises the phosphate starvation-mediated induction of the HAD-type phosphatases PPsPase1 (AT1G73010) and PECP1 (AT1G17710). They show that expression of these genes closely follows phosphate status but that their activity does not alter phospate content. The role of these proteins is to control phosphocholine and phosphoethanolamine content, which is a output of changing phosphate conditions. The authors conclude that expression of these genes can be an excellent molecular marker for the phosphate starvation response.
Schoenaers S, Balcerowicz D, Breen G, Hill K, Zdanio M, Mouille G, Holman TJ, Oh J, Wilson MH, Nikonorova N, Vu LD, De Smet I, Swarup R, De Vos WH, Pintelon I, Adriaensen D, Grierson C, Bennett MJ, Vissenberg K (2018) The Auxin-Regulated CrRLK1L Kinase ERULUS Controls Cell Wall Composition during Root Hair Tip Growth. Current Biology doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.050
This Belgian-led study includes contributions from Claire Greirson’s and Malcolm Bennett’s labs in Bristol and Nottingham respectively. They investigate the role of the ERULUS (ERU) protein, an auxin-induced receptor-like kinase, during the development of root hairs. ERU localises to the apical root hair plasma membrane and regulates cell wall composition by altering pectin dynamic. The authors conclude that ERU is a key regulator of auxin-mediated control of root hair development.
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