This weeks Arabidopsis Research Roundup includes four papers that focus on different aspects of plant cell biology. Firstly Ian Henderson’s research group in Cambridge defines the role of a critical component that determines crossover frequency in plants and other eukaryotes. Secondly Karl Oparka (Edinburgh) leads a broad collaboration that defines the mechanism of unloading of solutes and macromolecules from the root phloem. Thirdly Keith Lindsey (Durham) has developed a model that describes how auxin patterns the Arabidopsis root. Finally Mike Blatt (Glasgow) is part of a group that uses Arabidopsis as a framework for the study of ABA-signaling during stomatal movement in ferns.
Ziolkowski PA, Underwood CJ, Lambing C, Martinez-Garcia M, Lawrence EJ, Ziolkowska L, Griffin C, Choi K, Franklin FC, Martienssen RA, Henderson IR (2017) Natural variation and dosage of the HEI10 meiotic E3 ligase control Arabidopsis crossover recombination. Genes Dev
http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gad.295501.116
Open Access
GARNet committee member Ian Henderson (University of Cambridge) leads this work that features collaborators from the UK, US and Poland. They use an experimental technique that allows facile analysis of recombination rates alongside a study of Arabidopsis natural variation to isolate a QTL that is critical for maintaining the correct number of crossovers during meiosis. This HEI10 gene codes for an E3 ligase (the targets of which are currently unknown) whose copy number is a key component in the control of recombination rate. Hei10 mutants have less crossovers whilst plants with extra copies of HEI10 have an increased number, especially in sub-telomeric regions of the genome. HEI10 is a highly conserved protein, demonstrating its important role to ensure appropriate levels of recombination throughout the evolution of eukaryotes.
Ian kindly takes ten minutes to discuss this paper with GARNet on our YouTube Channel.
Ross-Elliott TJ, Jensen KH, Haaning KS, Wager BM, Knoblauch J, Howell AH, Mullendore DL, Monteith AG, Paultre D, Yan D, Otero-Perez S, Bourdon M, Sager R, Lee JY, Helariutta Y, Knoblauch M, Oparka KJ (2017) Phloem unloading in Arabidopsis roots is convective and regulated by the phloem-pole pericycle. Elife.
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24125
Open Access
Karl Oparka (University of Edinburgh) is the corresponding author of this study that includes researchers from the UK, US and Denmark. Movement of solutes and macromolecules through the plant phloem is key for the correct distribution of nutrients allowing for optimal growth. In this paper they discover that unloading of molecules from the phloem occurs via a set of specialized funnel plasmodesmata that link the phloem to adjacent pericycle cells. Remarkably they find that whereas solutes are constantly unloaded, larger proteins are released through these plasmodesmata in discrete pulses, which they describe as ‘batch unloading’. Overall this study provides evidence of a major role for the phloem-pericycle cells in the process of moving essential nutrients from the phloem into surrounding tissues.
Moore S, Liu J, Zhang X, Lindsey K (2017) A recovery principle provides insight into auxin pattern control in the Arabidopsis root. Sci Rep. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep43004
Open Access
The work comes from the lab of Keith Lindsey (University of Durham) and developes a data-driven model that predicts the role of auxin patterning in the recovery of an Arabidopsis root following a perturbation of polar auxin transport. They demonstrate three main principles that define the role of auxin influx and efflux carriers in this process and also provide experimental validation for their predictions.
Cai S, Chen G, Wang Y, Huang Y, Marchant B, Wang Y, Yang Q, Dai F, Hills A, Franks PJ, Nevo E, Soltis D, Soltis P, Sessa E, Wolf PG, Xue D, Zhang G, Pogson BJ, Blatt MR, Chen ZH (2017)
Evolutionary Conservation of ABA Signaling for Stomatal Closure in Ferns Plant Physiol
http://dx.doi.org/10.1104/pp.16.01848
Open Access
Mike Blatt (University of Glasgow) is a co-author on this global study that looks into the evolution of ABA-signaling in the control of stomatal closure. Although this study is focused on this process in ferns they build their findings on the analysis of transcriptional networks from Arabidopsis. Ultimately they find that the evolution of ABA-controlled guard cells movements are important in the adaptation of ferns to a terrestrial environment.
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