This edition of the GARNet Research Roundup begins with research from Durham University that links environmental sensing, SUMOylation and BR signaling. The second paper is from the Baulcombe lab in Cambridge and investigates the epigenetic control of transposons. The third paper is from Aberystwyth University and introduces the DeepPod learning framework for the automated counting of Arabidopsis siliques.
The fourth paper includes co-authors from the University of Nottingham in research that conducts a comprehensive analysis of the Arabidopsis auxin receptor gene family. The next paper from the University of Bristol looks at different statistical methods to measure segregation distortion.
The sixth paper is a structural-biology study of an Arabidopsis histone methyltransferase and includes co-authors from King’s College London and the Crick Institute. The penultimate paper includes Brian Forde from Lancaster University as a co-author and analyses the ZmTMM1 transcription factor from maize. The final paper investigates the role of the WRKY6 transcription factor during seed development and includes Ian Bancroft as a co-author.
Srivastava M, Srivastava AK, Orosa-Puente B, Campanaro A, Zhang C, Sadanandom A (2020) SUMO Conjugation to BZR1 Enables Brassinosteroid Signaling to Integrate Environmental Cues to Shape Plant Growth. Curr Biol. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.01.089 Open Access
Moumita Srivastava is first author on this study from Durham University that introduces SUMO regulation of brassinosteroid (BR) signalling through the BZR1 transcription factor. During salt stress Arabidopsis plants arrest growth by upregulating the SUMO protease ULP1a that in turn deSUMOylates BZR1 allowing for its destabilizing interaction with the BIN2 kinase. This study environmental sensing, SUMOylation and the BR response.
Wang Z, Baulcombe DC (2020) Transposon age and non-CG methylation. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14995-6 Open Access
Zhengming Wang and David Baulcombe from the University of Cambridge are authors on this research that assesses the ordering of the mechanisms through which transposon-containing chromatin is silenced. They demonstrate that both RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) and RNA-independent silencing through chromodomain DNA methyltransferases (CMTs) occurs to provide long-term control of transposons and concomitant alterations to the transcriptome.
Hamidinekoo A, Garzón-Martínez GA, Ghahremani M, Corke FMK, Zwiggelaar R, Doonan JH, Lu C (2020) DeepPod: a convolutional neural network based quantification of fruit number in Arabidopsis. Gigascience doi: 10.1093/gigascience/giaa012 Open Access
This research from Aberystwyth University includes Azam Hamidinekoo as first author in which they have developed the DeepPod deep learning framework for the automated identification of Arabidopsis siliques from complex images. They used a training set of over 2400 images to develop prediction software that had comparable success with manual expert human counting. The project code is available on GitHub.
Prigge MJ, Platre M, Kadakia N, Zhang Y, Greenham K, Szutu W, Pandey BK, Bhosale RA, Bennett MJ, Busch W, Estelle M (2020) Genetic analysis of the Arabidopsis TIR1/AFB auxin receptors reveals both overlapping and specialized functions. Elife doi: 10.7554/eLife.54740 Open Access
Mike Prigge from UCSD in California leads this research that includes co-authors from the University of Nottingham. They analyse the phenotypes of all mutant combinations of the six-member TIR1/AFB family of auxin receptors, demonstrating significant functional overlap but that the presence of a functional TIR1 or AFB2 is needed to maintain growth throughout the life cycle. Interestingly they find that the mysterious AFB1 receptor appears to play a specalised role in processes dependent on more rapid auxin-mediated effects.
Coulton A, Przewieslik-Allen AM, Burridge AJ, Shaw DS, Edwards KJ, Barker GLA (2020) Segregation distortion: Utilizing simulated genotyping data to evaluate statistical methods. PLoS One. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228951 Open Access
Alexander Coulton is the first author on this study from the University of Bristol that looks at different statistical tests that are used to confirm segregation distortion in high-density SNP data. In this data they find that the false discovery rate correction best fits the traditional p-value threshold of 0.05 and they perform empirical tests using mapping populations generated between different wheat varieties.
Dobrovolska O, Brilkov M, Madeleine N, Ødegård-Fougner Ø, Strømland Ø, Martin SR, De Marco V, Christodoulou E, Teigen K, Isaksson J, Underhaug J, Reuter N, Aalen RB, Aasland R, Halskau Ø (2020) The Arabidopsis (ASHH2) CW domain binds monomethylated K4 of the histone H3 tail through conformational selection. FEBS J doi: 10.1111/febs.15256
This Norwegian-led study has Olena Dobrovolska as first author and co-authors from King’s College London and the Crick Institute. They have performed a structural analysis using NMR and molecular dynamics of the Arabidopsis Histone lysine methyltransferase ASHH2.
Liu Y, Jia Z, Li X, Wang Z, Chen F, Mi G, Forde B, Takahashi H, Yuan L (2020) Involvement of a truncated MADS-box transcription factor ZmTMM1 in root nitrate foraging. J Exp Bot. doi: 10.1093/jxb/eraa116
Ying Liu leads this Chinese study that includes Brian Forde from Lancaster as a co-author. They show that the maize ZmTMM1 transcription factor is able to rescue the nitrate foraging defect in Arabidopsis anr1agl21 double mutants, demonstrating a link between nitrate-induced transcriptional regulation in grasses and dicots.
Song G, Li X, Munir R, Khan AR, Azhar W, Yasin MU, Jiang Q, Bancroft I, Gan Y (2020) The WRKY6 transcription factor affects seed oil accumulation and alters fatty acid compositions in Arabidopsis thaliana. Physiol Plant. doi: 10.1111/ppl.13082
Ian Bancroft from the University of York is a co-author on this Chinese-led study in which Ge Song is first author. They discovered a high expression level of the WRKY6 transcription factor in developing seeds of Arabidopsis and that wrky6 mutants have larger seeds with altered fatty acid (FA) content and composition. The authors suggest that WRKY6 could be a target for the genetic improvement of FA content in the oil-seed crop of Brassica napus.
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