This GARNet research roundup includes papers that feature a number of different research areas. Firstly is work from Glasgow that investigates the photoactivation of the UVR8 light receptor. Second is work from the University of Cambridge that links the activity of the BIG protein to the circadian oscillator. The next paper has co-authors from Cambridge and looks at promotor sequences needed for expression in bundle sheath cells. The fourth paper from the University of Leeds documents an important role for peroxisomes in the drought response whilst the final manuscript includes co-authors from the University of Birmingham and looks at the role of the ASYNAPTIC4 protein during meiosis.
Díaz-Ramos LA, O’Hara A, Kanagarajan S, Farkas D, Strid Å, Jenkins GI. Difference in the action spectra for UVR8 monomerisation and HY5 transcript accumulation in Arabidopsis (2018) Photochem Photobiol Sci. doi: 10.1039/c8pp00138c
Open Access
Aranzazu Díaz-Ramos and Andrew O’Hara are co-first authors on this research from the University of Glasgow that investigates the activation of photomorphogenic responses by the UVR8 photoreceptor. They show that two distinct UVR8 responses, either the monomerisation of UVR homodimers or accumulation of HY5 responsive transcripts, occurs at different wavelengths.
Hearn TJ, Marti MC, Abdul-Awal SM, Wimalasekera R, Stanton CR, Haydon MJ, Theodoulou FL, Hannah MA, Webb AA (2018) BIG regulates dynamic adjustment of circadian period in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology pp.00571.2018. doi: 10.1104/pp.18.00571
Open Access
Timothy Hearn works with Alex Webb at the University of Cambridge and in this paper characterises how the multi-functional BIG protein impacts the circadian clock. This gene was isolated in a forward genetics screen to identify signaling components that alter the response to nicotinamide, which acts as a brake on the circadian oscillator. This finding allows the authors to better understand how altering the circadian oscillator can affect appropriate phasing during different environmental conditions.
Kirschner S, Woodfield H, Prusko K, Koczor M, Gowik U, Hibberd JM, Westhoff P. Expression of SULTR2;2 in the Arabidopsis bundle sheath and vein cells is mediated by a positive regulator. J Exp Bot. 2018 Jul 19. doi: 10.1093/jxb/ery263
Open Access
Sandra Kirschner is first author on this German-led study that includes Helen Woodfield (now Cardiff University) and Julian Hibberd (University of Cambridge). They are interested in the mechanisms that restrict gene expression to bundle sheath cells in C3 plants with a longer view of understanding the biology of these cells in C4 plants. They analyse the vascular-restricted SULTR2;2 promotor and identified a short region that is necessary for its expression pattern. Importantly they show that this sequence is evolutionarily conserved across Brassicaceae and a distantly related C4 plant.
Ebeed HT, Stevenson S, Cuming AC, Baker A. Conserved and differential transcriptional responses of peroxisome associated pathways to drought, dehydration and ABA. J Exp Bot. 2018 Jul 19. doi: 10.1093/jxb/ery266
Open Access
Heba Ebeed is the lead author of this work conducted in Alison Baker’s lab at the University of Leeds. They take a comparative genomics approach to investigate the expression of peroxisome-localised genes in a moss (physcomitrella), monocot (wheat) and a dicot (arabidopsis). They show that members of three gene families are upregulated in each of these organisms following drought stress, demonstrating the importance of peroxisomes in this environmental response throughout plant evolution.
Chambon A, West A, Vezon D, Horlow C, De Muyt A, Chelysheva L, Ronceret A, Darbyshire AR, Osman K, Heckmann S, Franklin FCH, Grelon M (2018) Identification of ASYNAPTIC4, a component of the meiotic chromosome axis. Plant Physiol. pii: pp.01725.2017. doi: 10.1104/pp.17.01725
Chris Franklin and Alice Darbyshire from the University of Birmingham are co-authors on this French-led study that looks into the role of the ASYNAPTIC4 (ASY4) protein in the control of synapsis formation during meiosis. Plants without ASY4 activity have defective chromosomal axis formation and cannot undergo synapsis. Although the initiation of recombination is unaffected in asy4 mutants, later processes are altered, demonstrating the key role for ASY4 during meiosis
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