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GARNet Research Roundup: July 17th 2020

Categories: Aberystwyth University, Edinburgh University, Global, John Innes Centre, RHUL, Uncategorized, University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford, University of Sheffield, University of York

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Published on: July 17, 2020

This edition of GARNet Research Roundup begins with a remarkable four papers that include work from Caroline Dean’s lab at the John Innes Centre. The first two papers are collaborations with members of Martin Howard’s lab and look at the molecular mechanisms that control long-term cold sensing or the antisense regulation of FLC respectively. The third paper looks at the function of the ICU1-associated PRC2 complex while the final ‘Dean-lab’ paper is a collaboration with Judith Irwin and looks at regulation of flowering time in Brassica napus.

The next three papers also feature authors from the John Innes Centre. The first looks at the role of mRNA methylation in the control of leaf organogenesis; the second paper investigates how AXR1 functions in the methylation of transposable elements and the final paper characterises a new method for the automated measurement of seeds.

The first non-JIC paper in this Roundup is led by Robert Caine from the University of Sheffield and characterises stomatal development in Physcomitrium patens. Andrea Harper at the University of York leads the next paper that applies an associative transcriptomics approach to the genome of Brassica juncea.

The next paper includes co-authors from Aberystwyth and characterises a molecular interaction from pollen tubes that can stimulate ectopic programmed cell death. The final two papers include co-authors from the University of Oxford. Firstly Paul Jarvis is involved with a Japanese study that looks at chloroplast autophagy and ubiquitination. Finally Nick Harberd is co-author on a Chinese study looking at iron accumulation in Arabidopsis seeds.

Zhao Y, Antoniou-Kourounioti RL, Calder G, Dean C, Howard M (2020) Temperature-dependent growth contributes to long-term cold sensing Nature; 10.1038/s41586-020-2485-4. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2485-4

Yusheng Zhao is first author on this work from the Howard and Dean labs at the John Innes Centre. They reveal a molecular mechanism that underpins the ability of plants to sense the winter period. They show that abundance of the transcription factor NTL8 is critical for the control of expression of the VERNALIZATION INSENSITIVE 3 protein, which in turn epigenetically silences FLC throughout the winter.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2485-4

Fang X, Wu Z, Raitskin O, et al (2020) The 3′ processing of antisense RNAs physically links to chromatin-based transcriptional control Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;202007268. doi:10.1073/pnas.2007268117

Open Access

Xiaofeng Feng works with the Howard and Dean labs at the John Innes Centre and is lead author on this research. The authors provide molecular detail to the complex control of antisense RNA regulation of the FLC locus, which provides a link to epigenetic silencing via the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2.

Bloomer RH, Hutchison CE, Bäurle I, et al (2020) The Arabidopsis epigenetic regulator ICU11 as an accessory protein of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;201920621. doi:10.1073/pnas.1920621117 Open Access

Rebecca Bloomer is first author on this collaboration between researchers at the John Innes Centre and the University of Edinburgh. They identify INCURVATA11 (ICU11) as a Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) accessory protein that co-localises with the core components of the PRC2. The ICU1-associated PRC2 complex controls H3K36me3 demethylation at the FLC locus, revealing an additional mechanism for the control of flowering time.

https://www.pnas.org/content/117/28/16660.long

Tudor EH, Jones DM, He Z, et al (2020) QTL-seq identifies BnaFT.A02 and BnaFLC.A02 as candidates for variation in vernalization requirement and response in winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus) Plant Biotechnol J. 2020;10.1111/pbi.13421. doi:10.1111/pbi.13421 Open Access

Eleri Tudor is first author on this work from the Dean and Irwin labs at the John Innes Centre. They characterise the key floral regulators FLOWERING LOCUS C (BnaFLC.A02) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (BnaFT.A02) in Brassica napus, showing that allelic variation at these loci is importance for the close-association between vernalisation and flowering time.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pbi.13421

Arribas-Hernández L, Simonini S, Hansen MH, et al (2020) Recurrent requirement for the m6A-ECT2/ECT3/ECT4 axis in the control of cell proliferation during plant organogenesis Development. doi:10.1242/dev.189134 Open Access

Laura Arribas-Hernández is lead author on this Danish-UK collaboration that includes Sara Simonini and Lars Ostergaard from the John Innes Centre as co-authors. They look at the role of YTH-domain proteins ECT2, ECT3 and ECT4 during leaf development. They show that the methylated mRNA (m6A)-binding site of these proteins is essential for their function, highlighting the m6A-ECT2/ECT3/ECT4 axis as an important module to stimulate plant organogenesis.

https://dev.biologists.org/content/early/2020/06/30/dev.189134.long

Christophorou N, She W, Long J, et al (2020) AXR1 affects DNA methylation independently of its role in regulating meiotic crossover localization PLoS Genet. 16(6):e1008894. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1008894 Open Access

This collaboration between Université Paris-Saclay and the John Innes Centre includes Nicolas Christophorou as first author. They investigate the role of the well-characterised NEDD8/RUB1 E1 ligase AXR1 in DNA methylation of transposable elements. This links the role of AXR1 with its previously characterised effects in hormone signalling and in the control of the formation of meiotic crossovers.

Colmer J, O’Neill CM, Wells R, et al (2020) SeedGerm: a cost-effective phenotyping platform for automated seed imaging and machine-learning based phenotypic analysis of crop seed germination New Phytol. 10.1111/nph.16736. doi:10.1111/nph.16736 Open Access

This UK-Chinese-Dutch collaboration is led by Joshua Colmer and introduces a new phenotyping platform that was tested against a diverse panel of Brassica napus varieties. This SeedGerm hardware and software measures seed germination, automates seed imaging and is a platform for machine-learning based phenotypic analysis. This will hopefully be a useful tool for the investigation of critical seed phenotypes.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nph.16736

Caine RS, Chater CCC, Fleming AJ, Gray JE (2020) Stomata and Sporophytes of the Model Moss Physcomitrium patens. Front Plant Sci. 2020;11:643. doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.00643 Open Access

Bobby Caine from the University of Sheffield is lead author on this research that characterises stomatal development in the model moss species Physcomitrium patens. Although they show key differences in stomatal development between Physcomitrium and Arabidopsis, key regulators of this process in higher plants also functions in mosses, providing important evolutionary insights.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.00643/full

Harper AL, He Z, Langer S, et al (2020) Validation of an Associative Transcriptomics platform in the polyploid crop species Brassica juncea by dissection of the genetic architecture of agronomic and quality traits Plant J. 2020;10.1111/tpj.14876. doi:10.1111/tpj.14876 Open Access

GARNet committee member Andrea Harper from the University of York leads this research that employs associative transcriptomics analysis in Brassica juncea. To generate this analysis platform they mapped transcriptome data from a diverse panel of B. juncea accessions to produce a pan-transcriptome reference. This will be a useful research for the mapping of loci involved in important agronomic traits.

Lin Z, Xie F, Trivino M, et al. (2020) Ectopic expression of a self-incompatibility module triggers growth arrest and cell death in vegetative cells Plant Physiol. doi:10.1104/pp.20.00292 Open Access

Zongcheng Lin is first author on this Belgium-led study that includes Marina Trivino and Maurice Bosch from IBERS, Aberystwyth University as co-authors. They look at the interaction between cognate PrsS and PrpS proteins that are involved in the pollen self-incompatibility response in poppy. By ectopic expression in Arabidopsis roots they show that this interaction can cause programmed cell death (PCD) in vegetative tissues. This signalling module may become an important tool for inducible PCD in other developmental contexts.

http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/early/2020/06/19/pp.20.00292.long

Kikuchi Y, Nakamura S, Woodson JD, et al (2020) Chloroplast autophagy and ubiquitination combine to manage oxidative damage and starvation responses Plant Physiol. 2020;pp.00237.2020. doi:10.1104/pp.20.00237 Open Access

Paul Jarvis from the University of Oxford is a co-author on this Japanese study led by Yuta Kikuchi. This work demonstrates that autophagy and chloroplast-associated ubiquitin ligase E3s cooperate for protein turnover, management of ROS accumulation, and adaptation to starvation.

Sun Y, Li JQ, Yan JY, et al (2020) Ethylene promotes seed iron storage during Arabidopsis seed maturation via ERF95 transcription factor J Integr Plant Biol. 10.1111/jipb.12986. doi:10.1111/jipb.12986

Nick Harberd from the University of Oxford is a co-author on this Chinese study led by Ying Sun at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. In this work they show that the ERF95 transcription factor regulates Arabidopsis seed Fe accumulation and through a series of investigations they are able to conclude that the gaseous hormone ethylene promotes seed Fe accumulation during seed maturation via an EIN3-ERF95-FER1-dependent signaling pathway.

GARNet Research Roundup: June 26th 2020

by Geraint

Categories: Cambridge University, Durham University, Edinburgh University, Glasgow University, Global, John Innes Centre, Oxford University, Rothamsted Research, SLCU, Uncategorized, University of Bath, University of Cambridge, University of Glasgow, University of Nottingham, University of Oxford, University of Sheffield, Warwick University

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Published on: June 26, 2020

This edition of the GARNet Research Roundup begins with a study from Nottingham and Leeds that looks at the much-neglected subject of the control of floral arrest. The second paper from Edinburgh identifies a signaling role for the co-opted transposable elements ALP1 and ALP2 in Arabidopsis. Hans-Wilhelm Nützmann from the University of Bath leads the next study that looks at the co-regulation of clustered biosynthetic pathway genes. The fourth paper is from Cambridge and looks at the role of the ASY1 protein during meiotic recombination. The next paper is from Durham and looks at the role of GA-regulated DELLA proteins in the regulation of stomatal aperature.

The next five papers have a methods-type application that should be useful to other researchers. Firstly a research team led from Oxford highlights an improved protocol for the proteome-analysis technique of RNA interactome capture. Secondly researchers from UEA introduce the NATpare tool, which is a pipeline for high-throughput prediction and functional analysis of nat-siRNAs. The third ‘methods’ paper is from the University of Warwick where they have developed novel markers for protoplast-based analyses of hormone signaling. The fourth paper is a protocol for using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in Brachypodium. The final ‘methods-type’ paper is from Alison Smith’s group in Cambridge and has developed a riboswitch-based resource for use in the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

The eleventh paper is led from the University of Glasgow and looks at the activity of the circadian clock in Arabidopsis roots. The next paper introduces genes from the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica into Arabidopsis to show that strigolactone signaling can replace GA signaling in the control of seed germination. The final two papers are focused on research in wheat, first led from the University of Leicester that looks at recombination in durum wheat and secondly from Rothamsted in which they have identified a whole family of NPF membrane transporter genes.

Ware A, Walker CH, Šimura J, et al (2020) Auxin export from proximal fruits drives arrest in temporally competent inflorescences Nat Plants. 2020;10.1038/s41477-020-0661-z. doi:10.1038/s41477-020-0661-z

Open Access with this link rdcu.be/b4rmT

Al Ware and Catriona Walker are co-first authors on this study from the Universities of Nottingham and Leeds. They have looked at the factors that control the timing of floral arrest in Arabidopsis. They discover that there is a minimum number and optimal positioning of fruits that is necessary for floral arrest, as well as looking into the role of auxin transport in this process.

Velanis CN, Perera P, Thomson B, et al (2020) The domesticated transposase ALP2 mediates formation of a novel Polycomb protein complex by direct interaction with MSI1, a core subunit of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) PLoS Genet. 2020;16(5):e1008681. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1008681

Open Access

Christos Velanis is first author on this research led by the Goodrich group at the University of Edinburgh that looked at the function of the Arabidopsis ANTAGONIST OF LIKE HETEROCHROMATIN PROTEIN 1 (ALP1) gene, which has arose by domestication of the Harbinger class of transposable elements (TEs). ALP1 is a component of the POLYCOMB REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2 (PRC2) but yet its functional significance is not yet known. They also identify the related ALP2 gene and find that it interacts with MULTICOPY SUPPRESSOR OF IRA1 (MSI1) as part of the PRC2.

Nützmann HW, Doerr D, Ramírez-Colmenero A, et al (2020) Active and repressed biosynthetic gene clusters have spatially distinct chromosome states Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;201920474. doi:10.1073/pnas.1920474117

Hans-Wilhelm Nützmann is a now a member of faculty at the University of Bath but led this research as a member of the Osbourn group at the John Innes Centre. They use Hi-C and related techniques to study the control of expression of clustered biosynthetic pathway genes in Arabidopsis. This study reveals potential mechanisms that suggest gene clustering in the one-dimensional chromosome is accompanied by compartmentalization of the 3D chromosome.

Lambing C, Kuo PC, Tock AJ, Topp SD, Henderson IR (2020) ASY1 acts as a dosage-dependent antagonist of telomere-led recombination and mediates crossover interference in Arabidopsis Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;201921055. doi:10.1073/pnas.1921055117

Open Access

Christophe Lambing is first author on this study from the Henderson lab at the University of Cambridge that investigates the role of the ASY1 protein in the control of recombination frequency during meiosis. ASY1 is localized in an ascending telomere-to-centromere gradient and this informs the role that it plays to antagonize telomere-recombination to ensure this occurs in more gene-rich regions of the chromosomes.

Sukiran NA, Steel PG, Knight MR (2020) Basal stomatal aperture is regulated by GA-DELLAs in Arabidopsis J Plant Physiol. 2020;250:153182. doi:10.1016/j.jplph.2020.153182

Nur Afiqah Sukiran is the first author of this study from the Durham University that investigates the role of DELLA proteins in the regulation of stomatal aperature. They also find that the GID1 gibberellin receptor is necessary for optimal basal stomatal aperture.

Professor Marc Knight will be discussing his labs work on the #GARNetPresents webinar on June 30th 2020

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4555062676282771981

Bach-Pages M, Homma F, Kourelis J, et al (2020) Discovering the RNA-Binding Proteome of Plant Leaves with an Improved RNA Interactome Capture Method. Biomolecules. 2020;10(4):661 doi:10.3390/biom10040661

Open Access

Marcel Bach-Pages is first author on this research led from the University of Oxford that has improved the proteome-analysis technique of RNA interactome capture (RIC) to identify 717 RNA Binding Proteins (RBP) from Arabidopsis. Many of these RBPs exhibit unconventional modes of RNA binding and uncovered greater diversity in the number of proteins for which RNA binding is an important part of their function.

Thody J, Folkes L, Moulton V (2020) NATpare: a pipeline for high-throughput prediction and functional analysis of nat-siRNAs Nucleic Acids Res. 2020;gkaa448. doi:10.1093/nar/gkaa448

Joshua Thody leads this work from the University of East Anglia in which the authors present a new software pipeline, called NATpare, for prediction and functional analysis of Natural antisense transcript-derived small interfering RNAs (nat-siRNAs) using sRNA and degradome sequencing data. Although this tool could be used to analyse data from different experimental systems it is benchmarked using Arabidopsis data and the authors show that it could rapidly identify a comprehensive set of nat-siRNAs from different tissues and that are produced in response to different stresses.

Lehmann S, Dominguez-Ferreras A, Huang WJ, Denby K, Ntoukakis V, Schäfer P (2020) Novel markers for high-throughput protoplast-based analyses of phytohormone signaling. PLoS One. 2020;15(6):e0234154. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0234154

Open Access

Silke Lehmann leads this work from the University of Warwick that has generated a community-resource of 18 promoter::luciferase constructs that respond to different phytohormones. In addition they suggest an experimental setup for high-throughput analyses in which these new reporter constructs might be used to screen for biological and environmental stimuli that effect hormone-mediated gene expression.

Hus K, Betekhtin A, Pinski A, et al (2020) A CRISPR/Cas9-Based Mutagenesis Protocol for Brachypodium distachyon and Its Allopolyploid Relative, Brachypodium hybridum. Front Plant Sci. 2020;11:614. doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.00614 Open Access

This Polish project is led by Karolina Hus and includes co-authors from Cambridge and Aberystwyth. They have developed a protocols for CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in Brachypodia species. As proof of concept they target two cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKG1 and CDKG2) that are involved in DNA recombination.

Mehrshahi P, Nguyen GTDT, Gorchs Rovira A, et al (2020) Development of Novel Riboswitches for Synthetic Biology in the Green Alga Chlamydomonas ACS Synth Biol. 2020;10.1021/acssynbio.0c00082. doi:10.1021/acssynbio.0c00082

Open Access

Payam Mehrshahi is the first author on this Academia-Industry collaboration led from the University of Cambrige. They have used a synthetic biology approach to assess the effectiveness of riboswitchs (RNA regulatory elements) in the control of gene expression in the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Nimmo HG, Laird J, Bindbeutel R, Nusinow DA (2020) The evening complex is central to the difference between the circadian clocks of Arabidopsis thaliana shoots and roots Physiol Plant. 2020;10.1111/ppl.13108. doi:10.1111/ppl.13108 Open Access

Hugh Nimmo from the University of Glasgow is lead author on this UK-USA collaboration that has looked at the operation of the circadian clock in root tissues and in particularly how it responds to light quality. They found that plants with mutations in certain genes that make up the circadian clock evening complex have root-specific effects, confirming that the shoot and root clocks response to differently to light signals.

Bunsick M, Toh S, Wong C, et al (2020) SMAX1-dependent seed germination bypasses GA signalling in Arabidopsis and Striga Nat Plants. 2020;10.1038/s41477-020-0653-z. doi:10.1038/s41477-020-0653-z

Michael Bunsick is first author of this Canadian-led study that includes Julie Scholes from the University of Sheffield as a co-author. Leading from a curiosity about the relationship between host root exudates and the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, they were led to find that expression of Striga strigolactone-hormone receptor proteins in Arabidopsis is able to bypass the requirement for GA in seed germination. This demonstrates both how the Striga might sense host signals and that there is no absolute requirement for GA-during seed germination.

Desjardins SD, Ogle DE, Ayoub MA, et al (2020) MutS homologue 4 and MutS homologue 5 maintain the obligate crossover in wheat despite stepwise gene loss following polyploidization Plant Physiol. 2020;pp.00534.2020. doi:10.1104/pp.20.00534

Open Access

Stuart Desjardins is first author on his research led from the University of Leicester. They work with allotetraploid (AABB) durum wheat and show that this plant undergoes two pathways of meiotic recombination. They show that the class I pathway requires the MSH4 and MSH5 (MutSγ) proteins and the authors show that these genes are absent in hexaploid (AABBDD) wheat. These findings enable the authors to speculate about the function of these proteins in allopolyploid wheat.

Wang H, Wan Y, Buchner P, King R, Ma H, Hawkesford MJ (2020) Phylogeny and gene expression of the complete NITRATE TRANSPORTER 1/PEPTIDE TRANSPORTER FAMILY (NPF) in Triticum aestivum L J Exp Bot. 2020;eraa210. doi:10.1093/jxb/eraa210 Open Access

Huadun Wang is first author on this manuscript that is led from Rothamsted Research and includes Chinese collaborators. They investigate the 331 member family of wheat NPF genes that encode membrane transporters that transport a diverse range of substrates. Phylogenetically these wheat NPF genes are closely clustered with Arabidopsis, Brachypodium and rice orthologs and this study and lays the foundation for their further functional analysis in wheat.

GARNet Research Roundup: May 7th 2020

by Geraint

Categories: Edinburgh University, Glasgow University, Global, John Innes Centre, Sainsbury Lab, Uncategorized, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow

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Published on: May 7, 2020

This edition of GARNet Research Roundup begins with two studies from the John Innes Centre. The first takes a detailed look at meiosis in Arabidopsis arenosa and the second introduces a novel mode of auxin perception.

The third paper from the Grierson lab in Bristol uses innovative methods to assess root-soil cohesion through study of root hairs. The fourth paper is also from Bristol and looks at the evolution of stomata.

The fifth and sixth papers are from Scotland. Firstly researchers at Edinburgh have developed a deep learning approach for plant phenotyping whilst in the second research from Glasgow looks at the role of UVR8 in the UV response of UV-B adapted plants.

The seventh paper is from The Sainsbury lab, Norwich and reveals a new role for phosphorylation in the formation of the RRS1-R/RPS4 immune receptor complex.

The final paper includes co-authors from Cambridge and looks at the role of epigenetic changes in the reponse to an experimentally evolved plant virus.

Morgan C, Zhang H, Henry CE, Franklin FCH, Bomblies K (2020) Derived alleles of two axis proteins affect meiotic traits in autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1919459117 Open Access

Chris Morgan works at the John Innes Centre and leads this research that looks at meiosis in Arabidopsis arenosa. They use super resolution microscopy to look in great detail at the intertaction of the ASY1 and ASY3 loci. Chris discussed this work on the GARNet community podcast.

Kuhn A, Ramans Harborough S, McLaughlin HM, Natarajan B, Verstraeten I, Friml J, Kepinski S, Østergaard L (2020) Direct ETTIN-auxin interaction controls chromatin states in gynoecium development. Elife doi: 10.7554/eLife.51787 Open Access

Andre Kuhn works with Lars Ostergaard at the John Innes Centre and leads this research that has identified a novel mode of auxin perception in which the ETTIN transcription factor directly interacts with auxin. This allows a rapid response that does not rely on the canonical mode of auxin perception via protein degradation. Andre discussed this work on the GARNet community podcast.

De Baets S, Denbigh TDG, Smyth KM, Eldridge BM, Weldon L, Higgins B, Matyjaszkiewicz A, Meersmans J, Larson ER, Chenchiah IV, Liverpool TB, Quine TA, Grierson CS (2020) Micro-scale interactions between Arabidopsis root hairs and soil particles influence soil erosion. Commun Biol. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-0886-4 Open Access

This work from the University of Bristol is led by Sarah De Baets S, Tom Denbigh, Kevin Smyth, Beth Eldridge. They have developed a series o fthree innovative assays to investigate the role of root hairs in the cohesion of the roots-soil interaction. This research shows that root hairs play a significant role in this process. Tom and Beth discussed this work on the GARNet community podcast.

Harris BJ, Harrison CJ, Hetherington AM, Williams TA (2020) Phylogenomic Evidence for the Monophyly of Bryophytes and the Reductive Evolution of Stomata. Curr Biol. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.03.048 Open Access

This paper from the University of Bristol is led by Brogan Harris and investigates the evolutionary origins of genes that specify stomatal development and function in bryophytes. They show that important stomatal lineage genes are present in bryophytes, indicating that their stomata have undergone reductive evolution.

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960-9822(20)30418-8

Dobrescu A, Giuffrida MV, Tsaftaris SA (2020) Doing More With Less: A Multitask Deep Learning Approach in Plant Phenotyping. Front Plant Sci. 2020 Feb 28;11:141. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00141 Open Access

Andrei Dobrescu leads this methods paper from the University of Edinburgh that uses multitask deep learning to develop software for plant phenotying. They test their method on the analysis of Arabidopsis rosettes.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.00141/full

Liao X, Liu W, Yang HQ, Jenkins GI (2020) A dynamic model of UVR8 photoreceptor signaling in UV-B-acclimated Arabidopsis. New Phytol. doi: 10.1111/nph.16581 Open Access

Xinyang Liao leads this work from the University of Glasgow that continues the Jenkins’ lab research on the UVR8 photoreceptor. In this paper they analysed the role of UVR8 in UV-B-acclimated plants in which the switch between between monomeric and dimeric states can response to high UV-B without the need for new translation. This response is also alters the interaction of UVR8 with the COP1 and RUP2 proteins.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nph.16581

Guo H, Ahn HK, Sklenar J, Huang J, Ma Y, Ding P, Menke FLH, Jones JDG (2020) Phosphorylation-Regulated Activation of the Arabidopsis RRS1-R/RPS4 Immune Receptor Complex Reveals Two Distinct Effector Recognition Mechanisms. Cell Host Microbe. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.03.008

Hailong Guo and Hee-Kyung Ahn work with Jonathan Jones at the Sainsbury lab, Norwich and lead this work that investigates the role of phosphorylation in the formation of the RRS1-R/RPS4 Immune Receptor Complex. This response is different to the effector-triggered conformational changes of RRS1 and represents a distinct novel route for immune signalling.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1931312820301724?via%3Dihub

Corrêa RL, Sanz-Carbonell A, Kogej Z, Müller SY, Ambrós S, López-Gomollón S, Gómez G, Baulcombe DC, Elena SF (2020) Viral Fitness Determines the Magnitude of Transcriptomic and Epigenomic Reprogramming of Defense Responses in Plants. Mol Biol Evol. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaa091

This Spanish led study includes Regis Corrêa as lead author and includes David Baulcombe from Cambridge as a co-author. They infected Arabidopsis with an ancestral and experimentally-evolved isolates of turnip mosaic potyvirus (TuMV). The evolved version was more virulent and triggered a greater transcriptomic response in the plant as well inducing other epigenetic changes.

GARNet Research Roundup: October 17th 2019

by Geraint

Categories: Bristol University, Cambridge University, Durham University, Edinburgh University, Global, James Hutton Institute, John Innes Centre, Nottingham University, Rothamsted Research, SLCU, Uncategorized, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, University of Dundee, University of Edinburgh, University of Nottingham, University of Sheffield

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Published on: October 17, 2019

This edition of the GARNet Research Roundup includes a superb selection of papers by scientists from across the UK. First is work from the Spoel lab in Edinburgh that characterizes the fine-tuning of NPR1 activity during the plant immune response. Second is work from SLCU and the University of Helsinki that is an extensive investigation into the molecular basis of cambial development. Next is research from Nottingham that looks at the importance of soil macro-structures during the growth of wheat roots.

Fourth are three papers that highlight the breadth of research occurring at the John Innes Centre. The first paper is from Enrico Coen’s lab that applies their expertise in computational modeling to leaf development in the carnivorous plant Utricularia gibba. Second is work from Saskia Hogenhout’s lab that looks at immunity to infection by Phytoplasma pathogens. Last is work from Lars Ostergaard’s lab that characterises the role of Auxin Binding promoter elements in floral development.

The seventh paper from Bristol and Glasgow looks at shade avoidance signaling via PIF5, COP1 and UVR8 whilst the eighth paper, which is from Rothamsted, demonstrates how metabolic engineering in Arabidopsis seeds can result in a high proportion of human milk fat substitute. The next paper is from the University of Durham and investigates how the composition of the Arabidopsis cell wall impacts freezing tolerance. The first author of this paper, Dr Paige Panter discusses the paper on the GARNet community podcast.

The tenth paper is from Julia Davies’s lab at the University of Cambridge and introduces an uncharacterised response to extracellular ATP signals in Arabidopsis roots. The next paper is from Mike Blatt’s group at University of Glasgow and characterises a new interaction between vesicular transport and ion channels. The penultimate entry includes co-authors from the JIC on a Chinese-led study that demonstrates improved seed vigour in wheat through overexpression of a NAC transcription factor. Finally are two methods papers taken from a special journal issue on ‘Plant Meiosis’.

Skelly MJ, Furniss JJ, Grey HL, Wong KW, Spoel SH (2019) Dynamic ubiquitination determines transcriptional activity of the plant immune coactivator NPR1. Elife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.47005
Open Access

https://elifesciences.org/articles/47005

Michael Skelly is lead author on this paper from the lab of current GARNet chair Steven Spoel. In it they investigate the mechanisms that fine-tune the function of NPR1, a key player in the plant immune response. Progressive ubiquitination of NPR1 by an E3 ligase causes both its interaction with target genes and its subsequent degradation by an E4 ligase. This latter occurrence is opposed by the deubiquitinase activity of UBP6/7, setting up a complex regulatory environment that allows the plant to rapidly response to pathogen attack.

Zhang J, Eswaran G, Alonso-Serra J, Kucukoglu M, Xiang J, Yang W, Elo A, Nieminen K, Damén T, Joung JG, Yun JY, Lee JH, Ragni L, Barbier de Reuille P, Ahnert SE, Lee JY, Mähönen AP, Helariutta Y (2019) Transcriptional regulatory framework for vascular cambium development in Arabidopsis roots. Nat Plants. doi: 10.1038/s41477-019-0522-9

This pan-European-Korean collaboration has Jing Zhang from the University of Helsinki and the Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge as first author. They use cambium cell-specific transcript profiling and follow-on network analysis to discover 62 new transcription factors involved in cambial development in Arabidopsis. This information was used to engineer plants with increased radial growth through ectopic cambial activity as well as to generate plants with no cambial activity. This understanding provides a platform for possible future improvements in production of woody biomass.

Atkinson JA, Hawkesford MJ, Whalley WR, Zhou H, Mooney SJ (2019) Soil strength influences wheat root interactions with soil macropores. Plant Cell Environ. doi: 10.1111/pce.13659
This work is led from the University of Nottingham by John Atkinson and Sacha Mooney. They use X-ray Computed Tomography to investigate a trait called trematotropism, which applies to the ability of deep rooting plants to search out macropores and avoid densely packed soil. They show root colonisation of macropores is an important adaptive trait and that strategies should be put in place to increase these structures within the natural soil environment.

Lee KJI, Bushell C, Koide Y, Fozard JA, Piao C, Yu M, Newman J, Whitewoods C, Avondo J, Kennaway R, Marée AFM, Cui M, Coen E (2019) Shaping of a three-dimensional carnivorous trap through modulation of a planar growth mechanism. PLoS Biol. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000427
Open Access

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000427

Karen Lee, Claire Bushell and Yohei Koide are co-first authors on this work led by Enrico Coen at the John Innes Centre and Minlong Cui at the Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University in China. This study uses 3D imaging, cellular and clonal analysis, combined with computational modelling to analyse the development of cup-shaped traps of the carnivorous plant Utricularia gibba. They identify growth ansiotrophies that result in the final leave shape that develops from an initial near-spherical form. These processes have some similarities to the polar growth seen in Arabidopsis leaves. Overall they show that ‘simple modulations of a common growth framework underlie the shaping of a diverse range of morphologies’.

Pecher P, Moro G, Canale MC, Capdevielle S, Singh A, MacLean A, Sugio A, Kuo CH, Lopes JRS, Hogenhout SA (2019) Phytoplasma SAP11 effector destabilization of TCP transcription factors differentially impact development and defence of Arabidopsis versus maize. PLoS Pathog. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008035
Open Access

This work from Saskia Hogenhout’s lab at the John Innes Centre is led by Pascal Pecher and Gabriele Moro. They look at the effect of SAP11 effectors from Phytoplasma species that infect either Arabidopsis or maize. They demonstrate that although both related versions of SAP11 destabilise plant TCP transcription factors, their modes of action have significant differences. Please look out for Saskia discussing this paper on the GARNet Community podcast next week.

Kuhn A, Runciman B, Tasker-Brown W, Østergaard L 92019) Two Auxin Response Elements Fine-Tune PINOID Expression During Gynoecium Development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Biomolecules. doi: 10.3390/biom9100526
Open Access

Andre Kuhn is first author of this research from Lars Østergaard’s lab at the John Innes Centre. They functional characterise two Auxin-responsive Elements (AuxRE) within the promotor of the PINOID gene, which are bound by the ETITIN/ARF3 Auxin Response Factor. Alteration of this AuxRE causes phenotypic changes during flower development demonstrating that even with a complex regulatory environment, small changes to cis-elements can have significant developmental consequences.

Sharma A, Sharma B, Hayes S, Kerner K, Hoecker U, Jenkins GI, Franklin KA (2019) UVR8 disrupts stabilisation of PIF5 by COP1 to inhibit plant stem elongation in sunlight. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-12369-1
Open Access

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12369-1

Ashutosh Sharma is first author of this UK-Spanish-Germany collaboration led by Keara Franklin at University of Bristol. They have characterised the interaction between three significant molecular players that function during the shade avoidance response in Arabidopsis; PIF5, UVR8 and COP1. In shaded conditions, UVR8 indirectly promotes rapid degradation of PIF5 through their interactions with the E3 ubiquitin ligase COP1.

van Erp H, Bryant FM, Martin-Moreno J, Michaelson LV, Bhutada G, Eastmond PJ (2019) Engineering the stereoisomeric structure of seed oil to mimic human milk fat. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1907915116

Open Access

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/09/24/1907915116.long

Harrie Van Arp and Peter Eastmond at Rothamsted Research lead this extremely translational study in which they have modified the metabolic pathway for triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis. By modifying the location of one biosynthesis enzyme and removing the activity of another, the fats produced in these Arabidopsis seeds are enriched to contain TAGs that are similar to those found in human milk. They propose that this technology could be used to develop a source of plant-derived human milk fat substitute.

Panter PE, Kent O, Dale M, Smith SJ, Skipsey M, Thorlby G, Cummins I, Ramsay N, Begum RA, Sanhueza D, Fry SC, Knight MR, Knight H (2019) MUR1-mediated cell-wall fucosylation is required for freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytol. doi: 10.1111/nph.16209

Paige Panter led this work as part of her PhD at the University of Durham in the lab of Heather Knight. They characterise the role of the MUR1 protein in the control of cell wall fucosylation and how this contributes to plant freezing tolerance. Paige discusses this paper and the long history of MUR1 on the GARNet Community podcast. Please check it out!

Wang L, Stacey G, Leblanc-Fournier N, Legué V, Moulia B, Davies JM (2019) Early Extracellular ATP Signaling in Arabidopsis Root Epidermis: A Multi-Conductance Process. Front Plant Sci. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01064.

Open Access

The UK-French collaboration is led by Limin Wang from Julia Davies’s lab in Cambridge. They use patch clamp electrophysiology to identify previously uncharacterized channel conductances that respond to extracellular ATP across the root elongation zone epidermal plasma membrane.

Waghmare S, Lefoulon C, Zhang B, Lileikyte E, Donald NA, Blatt MR (2019) K+ channel-SEC11 binding exchange regulates SNARE assembly for secretory traffic. Plant Physiol. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00919

Open Access

This work from Mike Blatt’s lab in Glasgow is led by Sakharam Waghmare. They look at the interaction between SNARE proteins, which are involved in vesicular fusion and K+ channels, which help control turgor pressure during cell expansion. Through combining analysis of protein-protein interactions and electrophysiological measurement they have found that this interaction requires the activity of the regulatory protein SEC11.

Li W, He X, Chen Y, Jing Y, Shen C, Yang J, Teng W, Zhao X, Hu W, Hu M, Li H, Miller AJ, Tong Y (2019) A wheat transcription factor positively sets seed vigour by regulating the grain nitrate signal. New Phytol. doi: 10.1111/nph.16234
Wenjing Li is first author of this Chinese study that includes Yi Chen and Anthony Miller from the John Innes Centre as co-authors. This research shows that seed vigour and nitrate accumulation in wheat is regulated by the TaNAC2 transcriptions factor through its control of the TaNRT2.5 nitrate transporter. The authors suggest that both genes could be used as potential future targets to increase grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency.

The Special Issue of Methods in Molecular Biology on Plant Meiosis includes papers from the University of Cambridge, led by Christophe Lambing and the James Hutton Institute, led by Benoit Darrier.

Lambing C, Choi K, Blackwell AR, Henderson IR (2019) Chromatin Immunoprecipitation of Meiotically Expressed Proteins from Arabidopsis thaliana Flowers. Methods Mol Biol. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9818-0_16
Darrier B, Arrieta M, Mittmann SU, Sourdille P, Ramsay L, Waugh R, Colas I (2019) Following the Formation of Synaptonemal Complex Formation in Wheat and Barley by High-Resolution Microscopy. Methods Mol Biol. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9818-0_15

Mike Skelly talks to GARNet

by Geraint

Categories: Edinburgh University, Uncategorized, University of Edinburgh

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Published on: September 11, 2019

Michael Skelly from the University of Edinburgh talks to GARNet about a paper published in PNAS titled ‘A role for S-nitrosylation of the SUMO-conjugating enzyme SCE1 in plant immunity‘. Thanks Mike! 11/9/19

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GARNet Research Roundup: August 16th 2019

by Geraint

Categories: Bristol University, Cambridge University, Edinburgh University, Global, John Innes Centre, Lancaster University, Nottingham University, Oxford University, Rothamsted Research, Uncategorized, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of York, Warwick University

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Published on: August 16, 2019

This holiday-time edition of the GARNet research roundup begins with two papers that include the late Ian Moore from the University of Oxford as a co-author. The first looks at the role of RAB-A5c in the control of cellular growth anisotropy whilst the second characterises the Transport Protein Particle II (TRAPPII) complex.

The third paper is a UK-wide collaboration that assesses the role of UVA signaling on stomatal development. Next is a paper from Cambridge and the JIC that has identified the TAF4b protein as a novel regulator of meiotic crossovers.

The fifth paper is from the University of York and characterizes a role for cis-12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA) during seed germination.

The next three papers feature scientists from the University of Leeds in research that investigates 1, a peroxisomal ABC transporter; 2, the role of LRR-RLKs in plasmodesmata development and 3, the cell wall characteristics of banana and mango fruit.

The ninth paper is from the University of Edinburgh and investigates the role of S-nitrosylation in the control of SUMO conjugation.

The next two papers include Steve Penfield at the JIC as a corresponding author; the first looks at the role of endosperm-expressed transcriptional factors during seed dormancy and the second, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Warwick, identifies novel QTLs involved in seed dormancy.

The penultimate study is from Lancaster and presents a surprising outcome resulting from the overexpression of the wheat CA1Pase gene. The final paper includes Alison Tidy and Zoe Wilson from University of Nottingham as co-authors on a study that looks at male fertility in Arabidopsis.

Kirchhelle C, Garcia-Gonzalez D, Irani NG, Jérusalem A, Moore I (2019) Two mechanisms regulate directional cell growth in Arabidopsis lateral roots. Elife. pii: e47988. doi: 10.7554/eLife.47988

Open Access

Charlotte Kirchhelle leads this work that was conducted in the lab of the late Ian Moore at the University of Oxford. She investigates the role of the plant-specific small GTPase RAB-A5c during growth anisotropy in lateral roots, which involves coordinated orientations of cellulose microfibrils (CMFs) and by cortical microtubules (CMTs). They identify RAB-A5c dependent and independent mechanisms to control cellular growth anisotropy in this growing tissue.

From https://elifesciences.org/articles/47988

Kalde M, Elliott L, Ravikumar R, Rybak K, Altmann M, Klaeger S, Wiese C, Abele M, Al B, Kalbfuß N, Qi X, Steiner A, Meng C, Zheng H, Kuster B, Falter-Braun P, Ludwig C, Moore I, Assaad FF (2019) Interactions between Transport Protein Particle (TRAPP) complexes and Rab GTPases in Arabidopsis. Plant J. doi: 10.1111/tpj.14442

This German-led study includes Monika Kalde from the University of Oxford as first author as well Ian Moore as co-author. They characterize the components and function of the Transport Protein Particle II (TRAPPII) complex. TRAPPII plays multiple roles in intra-cellular transport and this study identified 13 subunits, including several that were previously uncharacterised.

Isner JC, Olteanu VA, Hetherington AJ, Coupel-Ledru A, Sun P, Pridgeon AJ, Jones GS, Oates M, Williams TA, Maathuis FJM, Kift R, Webb AR, Gough J, Franklin KA, Hetherington AM (2019). Short- and Long-Term Effects of UVA on Arabidopsis Are Mediated by a Novel cGMP Phosphodiesterase. Curr Biol.29(15):2580-2585.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.071

Open Access

Jean-Charles Isner is the first author on this collaboration between labs in Bristol, York, Oxford and Cambridge. They show that UVA radiation (which represents 95% of the UV radiation reaching earth) inhibits stomatal opening through a process that involves a reduction in the cytosolic level of cGMP. The AtCN-PDE1 gene (a cGMP-activated phosphodiesterase) is needed to decrease cGMP levels in Arabidopsis. This response is present across the tree of life except in metazoans. They show AtCN-PDE1 is needed for the UVA response and that prolonged UVA exposure causes increased growth yet reduced water use efficiency.

From https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)30798-5

Lawrence EJ, Gao H, Tock AJ, Lambing C, Blackwell AR, Feng X, Henderson IR (2019) Natural Variation in TBP-ASSOCIATED FACTOR 4b Controls Meiotic Crossover and Germline Transcription in Arabidopsis. Curr Biol. pii: S0960-9822(19)30844-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.084

Open Access

This work from Ian Henderson’s lab in Cambridge and Xiaoqi Feng’s lab at the JIC is led by Emma Lawrence and isolates a novel modifier of meiotic crossover frequency, TBP-ASSOCIATED FACTOR 4b (TAF4b), which encodes a subunit of the RNA polymerase II general transcription factor TFIID. They show TAF4b expression is enriched in meiocytes, compared to the more general expression of its paralog TAF4. Ultimately they reveal TAF4b drives a novel mode of meiotic recombination control through its activity as a general transcription factor.

From https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)30844-9

Barros-Galvão T, Dave A, Cole A, Harvey D, Langer S, Larson TR, Vaistij FE, Graham IA (2019) cis-12-oxo-phytodienoic acid represses Arabidopsis thaliana seed germination in shade light conditions. J Exp Bot. pii: erz337. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erz337

Open Access

Thiago Barros-Galvão is first author on this study from Ian Graham’s lab at the University of York. They investigate how the jasmonic acid pre-cursor cis-12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA) contributes to control of seed germination, particularly under shade conditions. OPDA acts through the activity of the transcription factor MOTHER-OF-FT-AND-TFL1 (MFT).

From https://academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jxb/erz337/5536641

Carrier DJ, van Roermund CWT, Schaedler TA, Rong HL, IJlst L, Wanders RJA, Baldwin SA, Waterham HR, Theodoulou FL, Baker A (2019) Mutagenesis separates ATPase and thioesterase activities of the peroxisomal ABC transporter, Comatose. Sci Rep. 9(1):10502. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-46685-9

Open Access

Alison Baker at the University of Leeds is the corresponding author of this UK, Dutch collaboration that includes David Carrier as first author. They characterise the peroxisomal ABC transporter, Comatose (CTS) through mutagenesis of key residues responsible for the proteins intrinsic acyl-CoA thioesterase (ACOT) activity. Ultimately they show that ACOT activity depends of endogenous ATPase activity but that these activities could be functional separated by mutagenesis of key residues.

Grison M, Kirk P, Brault M, Wu XN, Schulze WX, Benitez-Alfonso Y, Immel F, Bayer EMF (2019). Plasma membrane-associated receptor like kinases relocalize to plasmodesmata in response to osmotic stress. Plant Physiol. pii: pp.00473.2019. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00473

Open Access

GARNet advisory committee member Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso and members of her research group are co-authors on the next two studies. This work is led by Magali Grison in Emmanuelle Bayer’s lab in Bordeaux. They show that the PM-localised Leucine-Rich-Repeat Receptor-Like-Kinases (LRR-RLKs), QSK1 and IMK2 relocate and cluster to the plasmodesmata under osmotic stress conditions. Through a variety of assays that focuses on QSK1 the authors show that reorganisation of RLKs can be important for the regulation of callose deposition at plasmodesmata and under osmotic stress this can have a functional effect on lateral root development.

Rongkaumpan G, Amsbury S, Andablo-Reyes E, Linford H, Connell S, Knox JP, Sarkar A, Benitez-Alfonso Y, Orfila C (2019) Cell Wall Polymer Composition and Spatial Distribution in Ripe Banana and Mango Fruit: Implications for Cell Adhesion and Texture Perception. Front Plant Sci. 10:858. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00858

Open Access

Ganittha Rongkaumpan is first author on this interdisciplinary collaborative research from multiple departments at the University of Leeds. They characterise the composition of the cell wall in two fruits, banana and mango, which soften during ripening. The authors compared structural information, obtained using Atomic Force Microscopy and biochemical analysis, with data from rheology and tribology assays to understand why these fruits feel different in the mouth during ingestion.

From https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00858/full

Skelly MJ, Malik SI, Le Bihan T, Bo Y, Jiang J, Spoel SH, Loake GJ (2019) A role for S-nitrosylation of the SUMO-conjugating enzyme SCE1 in plant immunity Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. pii: 201900052. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1900052116

Michael Skelly from the University of Edinburgh is the lead author of this study from the labs of Gary Loake and GARNet chairman Steven Spoel. They investigate the mechanism through which nitric oxide signaling after pathogen recognition stimulates inhibitory S-nitrosylation of the Arabidopsis SUMO E2 enzyme, SCE1. S-nitrosylation occurs on the evolutionary conserved Cys139 of SCE1 and they investigate the wider significant of this residue in the control of immune responses across eukaryotes.

MacGregor DR, Zhang N, Iwasaki M, Chen M, Dave A, Lopez-Molina L, Penfield S (2019) ICE1 and ZOU determine the depth of primary seed dormancy in Arabidopsis independently of their role in endosperm development. Plant J. 98(2):277-290. doi: 10.1111/tpj.14211

Open Access

Dana MacGregor (now at Rothamsted Research) leads this work from the lab of Steve Penfield at the JIC that investigates the extent of control on depth of primary dormancy that is mediated by the endosperm-expressed transcription factors ZHOUPI (ZOU) and INDUCER OF CBF EXPRESSION1 (ICE1). These effects are additive and independent of their role in endosperm development since the dormancy defect in ice1 and zou mutants can be ameliorated without altering seed morphology. They show that ICE1 acts primarily through control of ABA INSENSITIVE 3 (ABI3).

From https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tpj.14211

Footitt S, Walley PG, Lynn JR, Hambidge AJ, Penfield S, Finch-Savage WE (2019) Trait analysis reveals DOG1 determines initial depth of seed dormancy, but not changes during dormancy cycling that result in seedling emergence timing. New Phytol. doi: 10.1111/nph.16081

This research is a collaboration between the John Innes Centre and the Universities Liverpool and Warwick, from which Steven Footitt is first author. They used two Arabidopsis ecotypes that have differences in the timing of seedling emergence to identify new QTLs involved in depth of seed dormancy and Seedling Emergence Timing (SET). They revealed that DOG1 is important for determining depth of dormancy. In addition they identified three new SET QTLs, which are each physically close to DOG1, that play a role in the control of SET in the field.

Lobo AKM, Orr D, Gutierrez MO, Andralojc J, Sparks C, Parry MAJ, Carmo-Silva E (2019) Overexpression of ca1pase decreases Rubisco abundance and grain yield in wheat. Plant Physiol. pii: pp.00693.2019. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00693

Open Access

This research from Lancaster Environmental Centre and their Brazilian collaborators is led by Ana Karla Lobo and demonstrates that overexpression of 2-carboxy-D-arabinitol-1-phosphate phosphatase (CA1Pase) in wheat causes a reduction in above ground biomass and compromises wheat grain yields. As CA1Pase is involved in removing inhibitors of Rubisco activity this result is contrary to the anticipated outcome. This suggests that Rubisco inhibitors might actually protect enzyme activity, thus maintaining the number of active sites that the enzyme is able to support.

From http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/early/2019/07/31/pp.19.00693.long

Zhao SQ, Li WC, Zhang Y, Tidy AC, Wilson ZA (2019) Knockdown of Arabidopsis ROOT UVB SENSITIVE4 Disrupts Anther Dehiscence by Suppressing Secondary Thickening in the Endothecium. Plant Cell Physiol. doi: 10.1093/pcp/pcz127

Shu-Qing Zhao is the lead author on this China-UK collaboration that includes Alison Tidy and Zoe Wilson from the University of Nottingham. They show that using an artificial microRNA to reduce levels of the RUS4 gene in Arabidopsis causes a decline in male fertility. They perform a detailed analysis of the RUS4 expression module and how it impacts fertility.

GARNet Research Roundup: July 26th 2019

by Geraint

Categories: Aberystwyth University, Brassica, Cambridge University, Cardiff University, Edinburgh University, Global, John Innes Centre, Nottingham University, Oxford University, Uncategorized, University of Bath, University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of Nottingham, University of Oxford, University of Sheffield, University of Southampton, University of York

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Published on: July 26, 2019

This summer-time-reading bumper edition of the GARNet Research Roundup begins with two papers from the University of Sheffield that each use advanced imaging techniques. Firstly Andrew Fleming’s group leads a study on the link between stomatal function and mesophyll space morphology. Second is a study from Matthew Johnson’s group that looks at the dynamic arrangement of thylakoid stacks.

Next are two papers that include Alison Smith from the JIC as a corresponding author. The first also includes Vasilios Andriotis from the University of Newcastle and looks at the role of the plastidial pentose phosphate pathway during post-germination growth. Second uses a gene-editing strategy to generate potatoes with altered starch morphologies.

The fifth paper also looks at starch; researchers from Cambridge and Norwich are involved in a study that characterises the role of the LIKE SEX4 1 protein in starch degradation.

The sixth paper is from Aberystwyth University and identifies a transcription factor that alters secondary cell wall composition in Brachypodium and maize. Next is research from the University of Bath that looks at the role of a protein S-acyl transferase during seed germination.

The eighth and ninth papers are led by Spanish research groups and include contributions from UK-based co-authors in Cambridge and Nottingham, working on photoperiod perception or phosphate signaling respectively.

The tenth paper features work from Cardiff University and looks at the role of heterologous expression of the Arabidopsis WEE1 protein. The Bancroft lab from the University of York leads the next paper that investigates glucosinolate signaling in Brassica napus.

The final three manuscripts are methods papers. The first from Edinburgh introduces a new NanoLUC reporter whilst the other two include techniques involved in the investigation of light-regulated growth processes.

Lundgren MR, Mathers A, Baillie AL, Dunn J, Wilson MJ, Hunt L, Pajor R, Fradera-Soler M, Rolfe S, Osborne CP, Sturrock CJ, Gray JE, Mooney SJ, Fleming AJ (2019) Mesophyll porosity is modulated by the presence of functional stomata. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10826-5

Open Access

This UK-wide study is led from Andrew Fleming’s lab in Sheffield and includes Marjorie Lundgren as first author (now working in Lancaster). They use microCT imaging alongside more traditional measurements linked to analysis of gas exchange to show that mesophyll airspace formation is linked to stomatal function in both Arabidopsis and wheat. This allows the authors to propose that coordination of stomata and mesophyll airspace pattern underpins water use efficiency in crops.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10826-5

Wood WH, Barnett SFH, Flannery S, Hunter CN, Johnson MP (2019) Dynamic thylakoid stacking is regulated by LHCII phosphorylation but not its interaction with photosystem I. Plant Physiol. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00503

Open Access

William Wood is the first author on this study from the University of Sheffield that uses 3D structured illumination microscopy (3D-SIM) to look at the dynamics of thylakoid stacking in both Arabidopsis and spinach. They show that the processes they observe are dependent on light harvesting complex II phosphorylation.

http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/early/2019/06/11/pp.19.00503.long

Andriotis VME, Smith AM (2019) The plastidial pentose phosphate pathway is essential for postglobular embryo development in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1908556116

Open Access

Vasilios Andriotis (now at the University of Newcastle) is the lead author of this work performed in Alison Smith’s lab at the JIC. They look at the role of the plastidial oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (OPPP) during embryo development. This involved demonstrating that production of ribose-5-phosphate (R5P), which in turn leads to synthesis of purine nucleotides, is a critical function of the OPPP.

Tuncel A, Corbin KR, Ahn-Jarvis J, Harris S, Hawkins E, Smedley MA, Harwood W, Warren FJ, Patron NJ, Smith AM (2019) Cas9-mediated mutagenesis of potato starch-branching enzymes generates a range of tuber starch phenotypes. Plant Biotechnol J. doi: 10.1111/pbi.13137

Open Access

Alison Smith and Nicola Patron who work in Norwich Research Park are corresponding authors of this study that includes Aytug Tuncel as first author. They have used Cas9-mediated gene editing to generate potato plants that have a range of different tuber starch structures. This shows that gene-editing techniques allows the transgene-free alteration to generate potentially healthier crops.

Schreier TB, Umhang M, Lee SK, Lue WL, Shen Z, Silver D, Graf A, Müller A, Eicke S, Stadler M, Seung D, Bischof S, Briggs SP, Kötting O, Moorhead GB, Chen J, Zeeman SC (2019) LIKE SEX4 1 acts as a β-amylase-binding scaffold on starch granules during starch degradation. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1105/tpc.19.00089

Open Access

Tina Schreier from the University of Cambridge is the first author on this international study led from Switzerland that also includes Alexander Graf and David Seung from the JIC as co-authors. This study defines a precise role for the LIKE SEX FOUR 1 (LSF1) protein that binds starch and is required for normal starch degradation. Through a variety of experiments they show that the glucan binding, rather than phosphatase activity, is required for LSF1 function during starch degradation.

http://www.plantcell.org/content/early/2019/07/02/tpc.19.00089.long

Bhatia R, Dalton S, Roberts LA, Moron-Garcia OM, Iacono R, Kosik O, Gallagher JA, Bosch M (2019) Modified expression of ZmMYB167 in Brachypodium distachyon and Zea mays leads to increased cell wall lignin and phenolic content. Sci Rep. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45225-9

Open Access

Rakesh Bhatia is the first author on this work from the lab of Maurice Bosch at Aberystwyth University. They overexpress the maize MYB transcription factor ZmMYB167 in both Brachypodium and maize. Both species show increased lignin content with Brachypodium but not maize showing a biomass deficit. This indicates that ZmMYB167 could be a useful molecular tool for the alteration of secondary cell wall biosynthesis.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-45225-9

Li Y, Xu J, Li G, Wan S, Batistic O, Sun M, Zhang Y, Scott R, Qi B (2019) Protein S-acyl Transferase 15 is Involved in Seed Triacylglycerol Catabolism during Early Seedling Growth in Arabidopsis (2019) J Exp Bot. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erz282

First author on this UK-Chinese collaboration is Yaxiao Li who works with Baoxiu Qi at the University of Bath. The authors characterise the function of Arabidopsis Protein Acyl Transferase 15, AtPAT15. This protein is involved in essential β-oxidation of triacylglycerols during post-germination growth.

Ramos-Sánchez JM, Triozzi PM, Alique D, Geng F, Gao M, Jaeger KE, Wigge PA, Allona I, Perales M (2019) LHY2 Integrates Night-Length Information to Determine Timing of Poplar Photoperiodic Growth. Curr Biol. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.003

Open Access

This Spanish-led study includes co-authors from the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge and attempts to define the factors that control photoperiod perception in trees, using poplar as a model system. FLOWERING LOCUS T2 (FT2) has been previously shown to be involved in this process and this study builds on that work to show that night-length information is transmitted by the clock gene LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 2 (LHY2) and is able to control FT2 expression.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)30696-7?

Silva-Navas J, Conesa CM, Saez A, Navarro-Neila S, Garcia-Mina JM, Zamarreño AM, Baigorri R, Swarup R, Del Pozo JC (2019) Role of cis-zeatin in root responses to phosphate starvation. New Phytol. doi: 10.1111/nph.16020

Ranjan Swarup from the University of Nottingham is a co-author on this Spanish-led study that has Javier Silva-Navas as first author. Through analysis of dark-grown seedlings they have identified a set of new genes involved in root phosphate signaling. In addition they provide evidence of a links between cytokinin and phosphate signaling through modulation of the cell cycle.

Siciliano I, Lentz Grønlund A, Ševčíková H, Spadafora ND, Rafiei G, Francis D, Herbert RJ, Bitonti MB, Rogers HJ, Lipavská H (2019) Expression of Arabidopsis WEE1 in tobacco induces unexpected morphological and developmental changes. Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 18;9(1):8695. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45015-3

Open Access

Ilario Siciliano leads this work that includes colleagues from Hilary Rogers’ lab at Cardiff University. The WEE1 protein regulates the cell cycle across eukaryote lineages. In this work they show that overexpression of AtWEE1 in tobacco causes precocious flowering and increased shoot morphogenesis of stem explants whilst in cell culture this WEE1 OX causes smaller cell sizes.

Kittipol V, He Z, Wang L, Doheny-Adams T, Langer S, Bancroft I (2019) Genetic architecture of glucosinolate variation in Brassica napus. J Plant Physiol. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2019.06.001

Open Access

This study from the Bancroft lab at the University of York is led by Varanya Kittipol. Through use of Associative Transcriptomics (AT) across a diversity panel of 288 Brassica napus genotypes they are able to identify a set of genes involved in synthesis of glucosinate hydrolysis products.

Urquiza-García U, Millar AJ (2019). Expanding the bioluminescent reporter toolkit for plant science with NanoLUC. Plant Methods. doi: 10.1186/s13007-019-0454-4

Open Access

This study from the University of Edinburgh introduces NanoLUC, a new more stable luciferase-based reporter for use by the plant community.

The final two papers are methods papers that focus on different aspects of light-regulated growth. These are from the University of Southampton and University of York.

https://plantmethods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13007-019-0454-4

Terry MJ, Kacprzak SM (2019) A Simple Method for Quantification of Protochlorophyllide in Etiolated Arabidopsis Seedlings. Methods Mol Biol. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9612-4_14

Oakenfull RJ, Ronald J, Davis SJ (2019) Measuring Phytochrome-Dependent Light Input to the Plant Circadian Clock. Methods Mol Biol. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9612-4_15

GARNet Research Roundup: June 12th 2019

by Geraint

Categories: Brassica, Cardiff University, Durham University, Edinburgh University, Global, John Innes Centre, Nottingham University, Oxford Brookes University, RHUL, Uncategorized, University of Nottingham, University of Oxford, Warwick University

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Published on: June 12, 2019

In another big edition of the GARNet Research Roundup we cover many different areas of research that utilise a varied group of experimental organisms!

The first paper from the Feng lab at the John Innes Centre performs an assessment of the factors influencing heterochromatin activity in sperm companion cells. Second is work from the JIC and Cardiff University that looks at the role of an auxin minima during fruit valve margin differentiation.

The next two papers have authors from Edinburgh. Firstly the McCormick lab has developed a stereo-based 3D imaging system for plants while Steven Spoel is a co-author on a study that looks at the pathogen responsive gene NPR1.

Coming from across the M8 is a paper from the Christie lab in Glasgow that looks into using phototropin genes as potential targets for crop improvement.

The next paper is from Oxford Brookes University where they visualise the movement of protein nanodomain clusters within the plasma membrane. Elsewhere in Oxford is a paper from the van der Hoorn group that characterises the effect of a novel triazine herbicide.

Two papers from the University of Durham also identify and characterise the role of novel herbicides, in this case on the activity of inositol phosphorylceramide synthases.

The final five papers feature research that each use different experimental organisms. Firstly a paper from the Earlham Institute uses delayed fluorescence to investigate the circadian clock in wheat and OSR. Second is a paper from Warwick that assesses the role of nodulation during nitrogen uptake in Medicago. The next paper features the Yant lab at University of Nottingham looks at growth of two species of Arabidopsis in challenging environments.

The penultimate paper includes authors from the University of Oxford and provides a detailed analysis of the factors controlling leaf shape in Cardamine and Arabidopsis thaliana. The final paper uses the imaging facility at the Hounsfield facility in Nottingham to image the roots of date palms.

He S, Vickers M, Zhang J, Feng X (2019) Natural depletion of H1 in sex cells causes DNA demethylation, heterochromatin decondensation and transposon activation. Elife. doi: 10.7554/eLife.42530

Open Access

Lead author on his paper is Shengbo He from Xiaoqi Feng’s lab at the John Innes Centre. This work looks at activation of Transposable elements (TEs) in the sperm companion cell of Arabidopsis. This is catalyzed by the DEMETER-catalyzed DNA demethylation in regions depleted of histone H1, demonstrating a key role for H1 in determining heterochromatin activity.

https://elifesciences.org/articles/42530

Li XR, Vroomans RMA, Fox S, Grieneisen VA, Østergaard L, Marée AFM (2019) Systems Biology Approach Pinpoints Minimum Requirements for Auxin Distribution during Fruit Opening. Mol Plant. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2019.05.003

Open Access

Xin-Ran Li and Renske Vroomans are co-lead authors on this work from the Ostergaard, Grieneisen and Maree labs from the John Innes Centre and (now) Cardiff University.They look at the role of an auxin minima in the control of valve margin differentiation in Arabidopsis fruit. They used a cycle of experimental-modeling to develop a model that predicts the maturation of the auxin minimum to ensure timely fruit opening and seed dispersal.

https://www.cell.com/molecular-plant/fulltext/S1674-2052(19)30168-6?

Bernotas G, Scorza LCT, Hansen MF, Hales IJ, Halliday KJ, Smith LN, Smith ML, McCormick AJ (2019) A photometric stereo-based 3D imaging system using computer vision and deep learning for tracking plant growth. Gigascience. doi: 10.1093/gigascience/giz056

Open Access

Gytis Bernotas from UWE and Livia Scorza from the McCormick lab at the University of Edinburgh lead this work that is the result of a 2+ year collaboration with the Melvyn Smith and others at the Computer Machine Vision (CMV) facility at UWE. The authors have developed hardware and software (including a deep neural network) to automate the 3D imaging and segmentation of rosettes and individual leaves using a photometric stereo approach.

https://academic.oup.com/gigascience/article/8/5/giz056/5498634

Chen J, Mohan R, Zhang Y, Li M, Chen H, Palmer IA, Chang M, Qi G, Spoel SH, Mengiste T, Wang D, Liu F, Fu ZQ (2019) NPR1 promotes its own and target gene expression in plant defense by recruiting CDK8. Plant Physiol. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00124

GARNet chairman Steven Spoel is a co-author on this US-led study with Jian Chen as lead author. The paper investigates the interacting partners of NPR1 (NONEXPRESSER OF PR GENES 1), which is a master regulator of salicyclic signaling and therefore an important regulation of plant defense response.

Hart JE, Sullivan S, Hermanowicz P, Petersen J, Diaz-Ramos LA, Hoey DJ, Łabuz J, Christie JM (2019) Engineering the phototropin photocycle improves photoreceptor performance and plant biomass production. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1902915116

Open Access

Jaynee Hart is first author on this research from Christie lab at the University of Glasgow in which they target the phototropin blue light receptor as a candidate for crop improvement. They showed plants that engineered to have a slow-photocycling version of PHOT1 or PHOT2 had increased biomass under low light conditions, due to their increased sensitivity to low light.

McKenna JF, Rolfe DJ, Webb SED, Tolmie AF, Botchway SW, Martin-Fernandez ML, Hawes C, Runions J (2019) The cell wall regulates dynamics and size of plasma-membrane nanodomains in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1819077116

Open Access

Joe McKenna from Oxford Brookes University leads this work that takes advantage of their superb imaging facilities to assess the dynamic regulation of specific protein clusters in the Arabidopsis plasma membrane. They show that the cytoskeleton (both actin and microtubule) and the cell wall play roles in the control of intra-PM moment of the pathogen receptor FLS2 and the auxin transporter PIN3.

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/06/07/1819077116

Morimoto K, Cole KS, Kourelis J, Witt CH, Brown D, Krahn D, Stegmann M, Kaschani F, Kaiser M, Burton J, Mohammed S, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K, Weerapana E, van der Hoorn RAL (2019) Triazine probes targeting ascorbate peroxidases in plants. Plant Physiol. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00481

Open Access

Kyoko Morimoto is first author on this UK-German-Japanese collaboration led from the lab of GARNet committee member Renier van der Hoorn. They characterise the herbicidal effect of the small 1,3,5-triazine KSC-3 on ascorbate peroxidases (APXs) across a range of plant species.

Pinneh EC, Stoppel R, Knight H, Knight MR, Steel PG, Denny PW (2019) Expression levels of inositol phosphorylceramide synthase modulate plant responses to biotic and abiotic stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS One. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217087

Open Access

Pinneh EC, Mina JG, Stark MJR, Lindell SD, Luemmen P, Knight MR, Steel PG, Denny PW (2019) The identification of small molecule inhibitors of the plant inositol phosphorylceramide synthase which demonstrate herbicidal activity. Sci Rep. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-44544-1

Open Access

Elizabeth Pinneh leads these two papers from the Denny lab in Durham. In the first paper they use RNAseq data and analysis of overexpression transgenic lines to define the role of inositol phosphorylceramide synthase (IPCS) during abiotic and biotic stress responses.

Secondly they screened a panel of 11000 compounds for their activity against the AtIPCS2 in a yeast two-hybrid assay. Successful hits from the screen were confirmed with in vitro enzyme assays and in planta against Arabidopsis.

Rees H, Duncan S, Gould P, Wells R, Greenwood M, Brabbs T, Hall A (2019) A high-throughput delayed fluorescence method reveals underlying differences in the control of circadian rhythms in Triticum aestivum and Brassica napus. Plant Methods. doi: 10.1186/s13007-019-0436-6

Open Access

Hannah Rees from Anthony Hall’s lab at the Earlham Institute leads this methods paper that introduces the use of delayed fluorescence to investigate the circadian rhythms in wheat and oil seed rape.

https://plantmethods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13007-019-0436-6

Lagunas B, Achom M, Bonyadi-Pour R, Pardal AJ, Richmond BL, Sergaki C, Vázquez S, Schäfer P, Ott S, Hammond J, Gifford ML (2019) Regulation of Resource Partitioning Coordinates Nitrogen and Rhizobia Responses and Autoregulation of Nodulation in Medicago truncatula. Mol Plant. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2019.03.014

Open Access

Beatriz Lagunas is lead author on this paper from the University of Warwick that investigates the role of nodulation in actual nitrogen uptake by the roots of Medicago truncatula. They use integrated molecular and phenotypic analysis to determine that the respond to nitrogen flux are processed on a whole plant level through multiple developmental processes.

https://www.cell.com/molecular-plant/fulltext/S1674-2052(19)30127-3?

Preite V, Sailer C, Syllwasschy L, Bray S, Ahmadi H, Krämer U, Yant L (2019) Convergent evolution in Arabidopsis halleri and Arabidopsis arenosa on calamine metalliferous soils Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0243

Open Access

Veronica Preite is first author on this UK-German collaboration led by Ute Kraemer and Levi Yant in Nottingham. They performed whole genome resequenced of 64 individuals of two Arabidopsis species that grow on calamine metalliferous sites (which have toxic levels of the zinc and cadmium). They revealed a modest amount of gene and network convergence in plants that have colonised these challenging environments.

Kierzkowski D, Runions A, Vuolo F, Strauss S, Lymbouridou R, Routier-Kierzkowska AL, Wilson-Sánchez D, Jenke H, Galinha C, Mosca G, Zhang Z, Canales C, Dello Ioio R, Huijser P, Smith RS, Tsiantis M (2019) A Growth-Based Framework for Leaf Shape Development and Diversity. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.011

Open Access

Claudia Canales and Carla Galinha from Oxford are co-authors on this German-led study from Miltos Tsiantis’ lab that performs a detailed dissection of the growth parameters that control differences in leaf-shape in Cardamine and Arabidopsis. They show critical roles for the SHOOTMERISTEMLESS and REDUCED COMPLEXITY homeobox proteins to define differences in shape determination.

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(19)30509-4?

Xiao T, Raygoza AA, Pérez JC, Kirschner G, Deng Y, Atkinson B, Sturrock C, Lube V, Wang JY, Lubineau G, Al-Babili S, Ramírez LAC, Bennett MJ, Blilou I (2019) Emergent Protective Organogenesis in Date Palms: A Morpho-devo-dynamic Adaptive Strategy During Early Development. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1105/tpc.19.00008

Open Access

Members of the Hounsfield CT Imaging Facility  at the University of Nottingham are co-authors on this paper that is led by Tingting Xiao from KAUST in Saudi Arabia. The paper takes a detailed look at root morphology in Date Palm.

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