GARNet Research Roundup: February 18th 2020
This weeks GARNet Research Roundup begins with two studies that characterize the role of proteins that are involved in the control of meiotic recombination. The first study is from the Henderson lab at the University of Cambridge and investigates the role of the REC8 protein whilst the second is from John Doonan’s group at Aberystwyth University and investigates the role of the cyclin-dependent kinase CDKG.
The third paper is from the same research group in Aberystwyth and investigates how alternative splicing can impact the function of the FLOWERING LOCUS M gene.
The next papers is a cross-UK collaboration led from Rothamsted Research and the John Innes Centre that identifies an important QTL associated with the generation of high-fibre wheat. The fifth paper is from the JIC and reveals how the immune resistance gene MLO plays a role in a plants association with beneficial microbial symbiotes.
The sixth paper is from the Gibbs lab at the University of Birmingham and further characterizes the function of the VRN2 component of the polycomb repressive complex 2.
Nick Harberd from Oxford is a corresponding author of the next paper, which identifies a new gene that could be used to improve nitrogen-use efficiency in rice.
The eighth paper is a proteomic-based study from the University of Cambridge that identifies novel stress-induced components of the Arabidopsis spliceosome.
The penultimate paper is from Jonathan Jones’ lab at the Sainsbury lab, Norwich in which they characterize a new transgenic line useful for studying the plant immune response.
The final paper includes Liam Dolan from Oxford as a co-author in a study that characterizes a novel ATPase from the algae Chara australis.
Lambing C, Tock AJ, Topp SD, Choi K, Kuo PC, Zhao X, Osman K, Higgins J, Franklin FCH, Henderson IR (2020) Interacting genomic landscapes of REC8-cohesin, chromatin and meiotic recombination in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1105/tpc.19.00866
Open Access
This study is led by Chris Lambing from Ian Henderson’s group at the University of Cambridge and includes collaborators from Leicester and Birmingham. They use ChIP-seq to identify the genomic regions associated with the REC8 protein, showing that it interacts with regions with multiple distinct chromatin states. This interaction plays a key role in controlling the formation of double strands breaks and is required to organize meiotic chromosome architecture and interhomolog recombination.
Nibau C, Lloyd AH, Dadarou D, Betekhtin A, Tsilimigka F, Phillips DW, Doonan JH (2020) CDKG1 Is Required for Meiotic and Somatic Recombination Intermediate Processing in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1105/tpc.19.00942 Open Access
Candida Nibau from Aberystwyth University leads this research that reveals a critical role for the cyclin-dependent kinase G1 (CDKG) in the control of recombination, both during meiosis and within somatic cells. The authors discover that this role occurs early in the process through the stabilization of recombination intermediates.
Nibau C, Gallemí M, Dadarou D, Doonan JH, Cavallari N (2020) Thermo-Sensitive Alternative Splicing of FLOWERING LOCUS M Is Modulated by Cyclin-Dependent Kinase G2. Front Plant Sci. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01680 Open Access
Candida Nibau is first author on this collaboration between researchers in the UK (Aberystwyth University) and Vienna, Austria. They assess the factors that control the contribution of two splicing variants of the FLOWERING LOCUS M gene on flowering time across a temperature range. They find that this process is controlled by the activity of the cyclin-dependent kinase G2 (CDKG2) and its cognate cyclin, CYCLIN L1 (CYCL1).
Lovegrove A, Wingen LU, Plummer A, Wood A, Passmore D, Kosik O, Freeman J, Mitchell RAC, Hassall K, Ulker M, Tremmel-Bede K, Rakszegi M, Bedő Z, Perretant MR, Charmet G, Pont C, Salse J, Waite ML, Orford S, Burridge A, Pellny TK, Shewry PR, Griffiths S (2020) Identification of a major QTL and associated molecular marker for high arabinoxylan fibre in white wheat flour. PLoS One. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227826
Open Access
Alison Lovegrove at Rothamsted Research is the first author on this cross-UK research that has gained significant interest from the main–stream media. Through analysis of a Chinese wheat variety with high dietary fibre due to the high amounts of cell wall polysaccharide arabinoxylan the authors identified a QTL that is responsible for this phenotype. Understanding this QTL will allow use of both marker-assisted breeding and new breeding technologies to aid in the generation of high yield, high fibre varieties.
Jacott CN, Charpentier M, Murray JD, Ridout CJ (2020) Mildew Locus O facilitates colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in angiosperms. New Phytol. doi: 10.1111/nph.16465
Catherine Jacott is first author on this study from the JIC that investigates the role of the known barley resistance gene Mildew Resistance Locus O (MLO) during arbuscular mycorrhizal interactions in wheat, barley and Medicago. They show that MLO is important for this beneficial symbiotic association and that the role of MLO has been appropriated during infection with pathogenic powdery mildew.
Labandera AM, Tedds HM, Bailey M, Sprigg C, Etherington RD, Akintewe O, Kalleechurn G, Holdsworth MJ, Gibbs DJ (2020) The PRT6 N-degron pathway restricts VERNALIZATION 2 to endogenous hypoxic niches to modulate plant development. New Phytol. doi: 10.1111/nph.16477
Anne-Marie Labandera is first author on this work from Dan Gibbs’ lab in Birmingham. They show that ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis of the VERNALIZATION2 (VRN2) protein via the oxygen-dependent PRT6 N-degron pathway is important for many areas of plant development. This regulation of VRN2 has different developmental outcomes depending on whether it occurs in or out of meristematic tissues.
Wu K, Wang S, Song W, Zhang J, Wang Y, Liu
Q, Yu J, Ye Y, Li S, Chen J, Zhao Y, Wang J, Wu X, Wang M, Zhang Y, Liu
B, Wu Y, Harberd NP, Fu X (2020) Enhanced sustainable green revolution yield via nitrogen-responsive chromatin modulation in rice. Science. doi: 10.1126/science.aaz2046
Kun Wu is first author on this Chinese-led investigation that also includes Nick Harberd from Oxford University as a corresponding author. Working in rice they link genomic-wide chromatin changes with expression of the NGR5 (NITROGEN-MEDIATED TILLER GROWTH RESPONSE 5) transcription factor during nitrogen-induced growth. Overexpression of NGR5 can uncouple nitrogen-sensing from tiller production and therefore provide a novel tool to possibly enhance agricultural production in low nitrogen conditions.
Marondedze C, Thomas L, Lilley KS, Gehring C (2020) Drought Stress Causes Specific Changes to the Spliceosome and Stress Granule Components. Front Mol Biosci. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2019.00163 Open Access
Claudius Marondedze is the first author on this collaboration between the University of Cambridge and KAUST in Saudi Arabia. They perform label-free mRNA interactome-capture to identify RNA interacting proteins that are induced after drought stress. This reveals over 40 novel spliceosome-interacting proteins but also 32 proteins that associate with stress granules, which are indicative of transcriptional arrest. This provides new insights into how plant stress responses might be altered by the activity of spliceosome components.
Ngou BPM, Ahn HK, Ding P, Redkar A, Brown H, Ma Y, Youles M, Tomlinson L, Jones JDG (2020) Estradiol-inducible AvrRps4 expression reveals distinct properties of TIR-NLR-mediated effector-triggered immunity. J Exp Bot. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erz571
This research from Jonathan Jones’ group at the Sainsbury Lab, Norwich is led by Bruno Pok Man Ngou. They have developed a transgenic line that enables the transient in planta expression of AvrRps4, which is a potent bacterial immune effector. This stimulates the RRS1/RPS4-dependent immune response and provides insights into certain mechanisms of this pathway without exposing the plants to pathogens.
Zhang S, Habets M, Breuninger H, Dolan L, Offringa R, van Duijn B (2020) Evolutionary and Functional Analysis of a Chara Plasma Membrane H(+)-ATPase. Front Plant Sci. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01707 Open Access
Liam Dolan from the University of Oxford is a co-author on this Dutch-led research that includes Sutun Zhang as first author. They characterize a plasma membrane localised ATPase from the algae Chara australis and perform complementation studies in both yeast and Arabidopsis. These studies allow the authors to propose that the mode of regulation of this algal ATPase is likely different from that of known yeast and land plant PM H+-ATPases.
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