Pub Date : 2024-09-02DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.30.610574
Kayla M Clouse, Martel L Ellis, Natalie E Ford, Rachel L Hostetler, Peter Balint-Kurti, Manuel Kleiner, Maggie R Wagner
Heterosis or hybrid vigor refers to the superior phenotypes of hybrids relative to their parental inbred lines. Recently, soil microbes were identified as an environmental modifier of heterosis in maize. While manipulation of the soil microbial community consistently altered heterosis, the direction of the effect appeared to be dependent on the microbiome composition, environment, or both. Abiotic factors are well-known modifiers of heterosis expression, however, how the interactive effects between the soil microbial community and abiotic factors contribute to heterosis are poorly understood. To disentangle the proposed mechanisms by which microbes influence heterosis, we characterize the variation in heterosis expression when maize was grown in soil inocula derived from active maize farms or prairies. While we did not observe consistent differences in heterosis among plants grown in these inocula, our observations reaffirm that microbial effects on heterosis are likely specific to the local microbial community. The introduction of a nutrient amendment resulted in greater heterosis expression in the presence of an agricultural inoculum but not a prairie inoculum. We also observed an effect of soil inocula and nutrient treatment on the composition of bacterial and fungal communities in the root endosphere. In addition, the interaction between soil and nutrient treatment significantly affected bacterial community composition, whereas fungal community composition was only marginally affected by this interaction. These results further suggest that the soil microbial community plays a role in maize heterosis expression but that the abiotic environment is likely a larger driver.
{"title":"The interaction between abiotic and biotic soil factors drive heterosis expression in maize","authors":"Kayla M Clouse, Martel L Ellis, Natalie E Ford, Rachel L Hostetler, Peter Balint-Kurti, Manuel Kleiner, Maggie R Wagner","doi":"10.1101/2024.08.30.610574","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.30.610574","url":null,"abstract":"Heterosis or hybrid vigor refers to the superior phenotypes of hybrids relative to their parental inbred lines. Recently, soil microbes were identified as an environmental modifier of heterosis in maize. While manipulation of the soil microbial community consistently altered heterosis, the direction of the effect appeared to be dependent on the microbiome composition, environment, or both. Abiotic factors are well-known modifiers of heterosis expression, however, how the interactive effects between the soil microbial community and abiotic factors contribute to heterosis are poorly understood. To disentangle the proposed mechanisms by which microbes influence heterosis, we characterize the variation in heterosis expression when maize was grown in soil inocula derived from active maize farms or prairies. While we did not observe consistent differences in heterosis among plants grown in these inocula, our observations reaffirm that microbial effects on heterosis are likely specific to the local microbial community. The introduction of a nutrient amendment resulted in greater heterosis expression in the presence of an agricultural inoculum but not a prairie inoculum. We also observed an effect of soil inocula and nutrient treatment on the composition of bacterial and fungal communities in the root endosphere. In addition, the interaction between soil and nutrient treatment significantly affected bacterial community composition, whereas fungal community composition was only marginally affected by this interaction. These results further suggest that the soil microbial community plays a role in maize heterosis expression but that the abiotic environment is likely a larger driver.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-02DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.02.610789
Luisa C Teasdale, Kevin D Murray, Max Collenberg, Adrián Contreras-Garrido, Theresa Schlegel, Leon van Ess, Justina Jüttner, Christa Lanz, Oliver Deusch, Joffrey Fitz, Regina Mencia, Rosanne van D Velthoven, Hajk-Georg Drost, Detlef Weigel, Gautam Shirsekar
Nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) proteins are a major component of the plant immune system, which directly or indirectly detect molecular signals of pathogen invasion. Despite their critical role, the processes by which NLR genes diversify remain poorly characterised due to the extraordinary sequence, structural, and regulatory variability of NLRs, even among closely related individuals. To understand the evolution of NLR diversity in Arabidopsis thaliana, we leverage graph-based methods to define pangenomic NLR neighbourhoods in 17 genetically diverse genomes. We integrate full-length transcript and transposable element information to exhaustively annotate all intact and degraded NLRs, enabling exploration of the processes that underpin the birth, death and maintenance of NLR diversity within a species. Our main finding is that many uncorrelated mutational processes create NLR diversity, and that there is no single metric that captures on its own the true extent of NLR structural and sequence variation. This immense diversity in plant immune system diversification allows populations to survive the constant onslaught of pathogens, not unlike vertebrate adaptive immunity, where variation is also generated by a variety of complementary mechanisms, albeit at the level of individuals.
{"title":"Pangenomic context reveals the extent of intraspecific plant NLR evolution","authors":"Luisa C Teasdale, Kevin D Murray, Max Collenberg, Adrián Contreras-Garrido, Theresa Schlegel, Leon van Ess, Justina Jüttner, Christa Lanz, Oliver Deusch, Joffrey Fitz, Regina Mencia, Rosanne van D Velthoven, Hajk-Georg Drost, Detlef Weigel, Gautam Shirsekar","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.02.610789","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.02.610789","url":null,"abstract":"Nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) proteins are a major component of the plant immune system, which directly or indirectly detect molecular signals of pathogen invasion. Despite their critical role, the processes by which NLR genes diversify remain poorly characterised due to the extraordinary sequence, structural, and regulatory variability of NLRs, even among closely related individuals. To understand the evolution of NLR diversity in Arabidopsis thaliana, we leverage graph-based methods to define pangenomic NLR neighbourhoods in 17 genetically diverse genomes. We integrate full-length transcript and transposable element information to exhaustively annotate all intact and degraded NLRs, enabling exploration of the processes that underpin the birth, death and maintenance of NLR diversity within a species. Our main finding is that many uncorrelated mutational processes create NLR diversity, and that there is no single metric that captures on its own the true extent of NLR structural and sequence variation. This immense diversity in plant immune system diversification allows populations to survive the constant onslaught of pathogens, not unlike vertebrate adaptive immunity, where variation is also generated by a variety of complementary mechanisms, albeit at the level of individuals.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-02DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.30.610543
Martin Darino, Namrata Jaiswal, Reynaldi Darma, Erika Kroll, Martin Urban, Youhuang Xiang, Hye-Seon Kim, Ariana Myers, Steven Scofield, Roger W Innes, Kim E. Hammond-Kosack, Matthew Helm
Most plant pathogens secrete effector proteins to circumvent host immune responses, thereby promoting pathogen virulence. One such pathogen is the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which causes Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) disease on wheat and barley. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that F. graminearum expresses many candidate effector proteins during early phases of the infection process, some of which are annotated as proteases. However, the contributions of these proteases to virulence remains poorly defined. Here, we characterize a F. graminearum endopeptidase, FgTPP1 (FGSG_11164), that is highly upregulated during wheat spikelet infection and is secreted from fungal cells. To elucidate the potential role of FgTPP1 in F. graminearum virulence, we generated FgTPP1 deletion mutants (ΔFgtpp1) and performed FHB infection assays. While the number of completely bleached spikes infected by F. graminearum wild-type reached 50% of total infected spikes, the number of fully bleached spikes infected by ΔFgtpp1 mutants was 25%, suggesting FgTPP1 contributes to fungal virulence. Transient expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged FgTPP1 revealed that FgTPP1 localizes, in part, to chloroplasts and attenuates chitin-mediated activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, reactive oxygen species production, and cell death induced by an autoactive disease resistance protein when expressed in planta. Notably, the FgTPP1 protein is conserved across the Ascomycota phylum, making it a core effector among ascomycete plant pathogens. These properties make FgTPP1 an ideal candidate for decoy substrate engineering, with the goal of engineering resistance to FHB, and likely other crop diseases caused by ascomycete fungi.
{"title":"The Fusarium graminearum effector protease FgTPP1 suppresses immune responses and facilitates Fusarium Head Blight Disease","authors":"Martin Darino, Namrata Jaiswal, Reynaldi Darma, Erika Kroll, Martin Urban, Youhuang Xiang, Hye-Seon Kim, Ariana Myers, Steven Scofield, Roger W Innes, Kim E. Hammond-Kosack, Matthew Helm","doi":"10.1101/2024.08.30.610543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.30.610543","url":null,"abstract":"Most plant pathogens secrete effector proteins to circumvent host immune responses, thereby promoting pathogen virulence. One such pathogen is the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which causes Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) disease on wheat and barley. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that F. graminearum expresses many candidate effector proteins during early phases of the infection process, some of which are annotated as proteases. However, the contributions of these proteases to virulence remains poorly defined. Here, we characterize a F. graminearum endopeptidase, FgTPP1 (FGSG_11164), that is highly upregulated during wheat spikelet infection and is secreted from fungal cells. To elucidate the potential role of FgTPP1 in F. graminearum virulence, we generated FgTPP1 deletion mutants (ΔFgtpp1) and performed FHB infection assays. While the number of completely bleached spikes infected by F. graminearum wild-type reached 50% of total infected spikes, the number of fully bleached spikes infected by ΔFgtpp1 mutants was 25%, suggesting FgTPP1 contributes to fungal virulence. Transient expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged FgTPP1 revealed that FgTPP1 localizes, in part, to chloroplasts and attenuates chitin-mediated activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, reactive oxygen species production, and cell death induced by an autoactive disease resistance protein when expressed in planta. Notably, the FgTPP1 protein is conserved across the Ascomycota phylum, making it a core effector among ascomycete plant pathogens. These properties make FgTPP1 an ideal candidate for decoy substrate engineering, with the goal of engineering resistance to FHB, and likely other crop diseases caused by ascomycete fungi.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Plants accommodate diverse microbial communities (microbiomes), which can change dynamically during plant adaptation to varying environmental conditions. However, the direction of these changes and the underlying mechanisms driving them, particularly in crops adapting to the field conditions, remain poorly understood. We investigate the root-associated microbiome of rice (Oryza sativa L.) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon and metagenome sequencing, across four consecutive cultivation seasons in a high-yield, non-fertilized, and pesticide-free paddy field, compared to a neighboring fertilized and pesticide-treated field. Our findings reveal that root microbial community shifts and diverges based on soil fertilization status and plant developmental stages. Notably, nitrogen-fixing bacteria such as Telmatospirillum, Bradyrhizobium and Rhizomicrobium were over-represented in rice grown in the non-fertilized field, implying that the assembly of these microbes supports rice adaptation to nutrient-deficient environments. A machine learning model trained on the microbiome data successfully predicted soil fertilization status, highlighting the potential of root microbiome analysis in forecasting soil nutrition levels. Additionally, we observed significant changes in the root microbiome of ccamk mutants, which lack a master regulator of mycorrhizal symbiosis, under laboratory conditions but not in the field, suggesting a condition-dependent role for CCaMK in establishing microbiomes in paddy rice.
{"title":"Soil nutrition-dependent dynamics of the root-associated microbiome in paddy rice","authors":"Asahi Adachi, Yuniar Devi Utami, John Jewish Arellano Dominguez, Masako Fuji, Sumire Kirita, Shunsuke Imai, Takumi Murakami, Yuichi Hongoh, Rina Shinjo, Takehiro Kamiya, Toru Fujiwara, Kiwamu Minamisawa, Naoaki Ono, Shigehiko Kanaya, Yusuke Saijo","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.02.610732","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.02.610732","url":null,"abstract":"Plants accommodate diverse microbial communities (microbiomes), which can change dynamically during plant adaptation to varying environmental conditions. However, the direction of these changes and the underlying mechanisms driving them, particularly in crops adapting to the field conditions, remain poorly understood.\u0000We investigate the root-associated microbiome of rice (Oryza sativa L.) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon and metagenome sequencing, across four consecutive cultivation seasons in a high-yield, non-fertilized, and pesticide-free paddy field, compared to a neighboring fertilized and pesticide-treated field.\u0000Our findings reveal that root microbial community shifts and diverges based on soil fertilization status and plant developmental stages. Notably, nitrogen-fixing bacteria such as Telmatospirillum, Bradyrhizobium and Rhizomicrobium were over-represented in rice grown in the non-fertilized field, implying that the assembly of these microbes supports rice adaptation to nutrient-deficient environments. A machine learning model trained on the microbiome data successfully predicted soil fertilization status, highlighting the potential of root microbiome analysis in forecasting soil nutrition levels. Additionally, we observed significant changes in the root microbiome of ccamk mutants, which lack a master regulator of mycorrhizal symbiosis, under laboratory conditions but not in the field, suggesting a condition-dependent role for CCaMK in establishing microbiomes in paddy rice.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-02DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.31.610606
Alice Diot, Guillaume Madignier, Elie Maza, Anis Djari, Olivia Di Valentin, Yi Chen, Simon Blanchet, Christian Chervin
Grapevine naturally endures stresses like heat, drought, and hypoxia. A recent study showed very low oxygen levels inside grape berries, linked to ethanol content. Other studies have established the link between ethanol and tolerance to various stresses: heat stress, drought, and high salinity. The causes of such a tolerance are not well understood. In our study, three-week-old Gamay calli, Vitis vinifera, were characterised for their endogenous oxygen levels and endogenous ethanol concentration. Subsequently, a transcriptomic study of these cells was conducted, 6 and 24 hours after treatment with 1 mM ethanol. After 6 hours, ethanol addition led to 386 differentially expressed genes, with a notable upregulation of genes related to heat response, especially small Heat Shock Proteins (sHSPs). Further experiments showed that ethanol priming in grape cells or in Arabidopsis seedlings reduced pigment and electrolyte leakage under heat stress, respectively. This study supports the idea that ethanol priming helps protect plants against heat stress and provides a valuable RNA-seq dataset for further research into the underlying mechanisms, sHSPs playing a potentially crucial role in this adaptive response.
{"title":"Responses of grapevine cells to physiological doses of ethanol, among which induced resistance to heat stress","authors":"Alice Diot, Guillaume Madignier, Elie Maza, Anis Djari, Olivia Di Valentin, Yi Chen, Simon Blanchet, Christian Chervin","doi":"10.1101/2024.08.31.610606","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.31.610606","url":null,"abstract":"Grapevine naturally endures stresses like heat, drought, and hypoxia. A recent study showed very low oxygen levels inside grape berries, linked to ethanol content. Other studies have established the link between ethanol and tolerance to various stresses: heat stress, drought, and high salinity. The causes of such a tolerance are not well understood. In our study, three-week-old Gamay calli, Vitis vinifera, were characterised for their endogenous oxygen levels and endogenous ethanol concentration. Subsequently, a transcriptomic study of these cells was conducted, 6 and 24 hours after treatment with 1 mM ethanol. After 6 hours, ethanol addition led to 386 differentially expressed genes, with a notable upregulation of genes related to heat response, especially small Heat Shock Proteins (sHSPs). Further experiments showed that ethanol priming in grape cells or in Arabidopsis seedlings reduced pigment and electrolyte leakage under heat stress, respectively. This study supports the idea that ethanol priming helps protect plants against heat stress and provides a valuable RNA-seq dataset for further research into the underlying mechanisms, sHSPs playing a potentially crucial role in this adaptive response.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"124 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-02DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.02.610836
Evgenii V Potapenko, David Schwartz, Tali Mandel, Nimrod Ashkenazy, Dana Fuerst, Guy Atzmon, Abraham B Korol, Michael B Kantar, Avi Bar-Massada, Sariel Hubner
Biodiversity conservation is urged at biodiversity hotspots that are under constant threat from anthropogenic development, yet a careful examination of the adaptive potential is a prerequisite for action. The Levant is considered a biodiversity hotspot and the distribution edge for many species, including important crop wild relatives. This region is under accelerated desertification and constantly disturbed by human activities, thus urging intervenient action. We collected and sequenced 300 wild barley plants along an eco-geographic gradient following a unique ecological-genetic sampling design. This scheme enabled to overcome the tight correlation between environmental and geographic distances. Phenotypic data was collected from 3600 progeny plants over three years and enabled to identify adaptive haplotype blocks comprised of phenological regulating genes tightly linked to drought and heat responsive genes. These haplotype blocks were highly enriched for transposable elements insertions, likely regulating genetic variation around adaptive genes, especially in stressed populations. Ecological and evolutionary models using over 2600 observations were combined to predict maladaptive risk, indicating that populations will be funneled into higher water availability refugia habitats while increasing isolation. Our findings highlight the main factors affecting rapid local adaptation and provide important recommendations for biodiversity management and conservation.
{"title":"Transposable elements are entangled in rapid adaptation to climate change","authors":"Evgenii V Potapenko, David Schwartz, Tali Mandel, Nimrod Ashkenazy, Dana Fuerst, Guy Atzmon, Abraham B Korol, Michael B Kantar, Avi Bar-Massada, Sariel Hubner","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.02.610836","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.02.610836","url":null,"abstract":"Biodiversity conservation is urged at biodiversity hotspots that are under constant threat from anthropogenic development, yet a careful examination of the adaptive potential is a prerequisite for action. The Levant is considered a biodiversity hotspot and the distribution\u0000edge for many species, including important crop wild relatives. This region is under accelerated desertification and constantly disturbed by human activities, thus urging intervenient action. We collected and sequenced 300 wild barley plants along an eco-geographic gradient following a unique ecological-genetic sampling design. This scheme enabled to overcome the tight correlation between environmental and geographic distances. Phenotypic data was collected from 3600 progeny plants over three years and enabled to identify adaptive haplotype blocks comprised of phenological regulating genes tightly linked to drought and heat responsive genes. These haplotype blocks were highly enriched for transposable elements insertions, likely regulating genetic variation around adaptive genes, especially in stressed populations. Ecological and evolutionary models using over 2600 observations were combined to predict maladaptive risk, indicating that populations will be funneled into higher water availability refugia habitats while increasing isolation. Our findings highlight the main factors affecting rapid local adaptation and provide important recommendations for biodiversity management and conservation.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Methyltransferase complex (MTC) deposits N6-adenosine (m6A) onto RNA, whereas microprocessor produces miRNA. Whether and how these two distinct complexes cross-regulate each other has been poorly studied. Here we report that the MTC subunit B (MTB) tends to form insoluble condensates with poor activity, with its level monitored by 20S proteasome. Conversely, the microprocessor component SERRATE (SE) forms liquid-like condensates, which in turn promotes solubility and stability of MTB, leading to increased MTC activity. Consistently, the hypomorphic lines expressing SE variants, defective in MTC interaction or liquid-like phase behavior, exhibit reduced m6A level. Reciprocally, MTC can recruit microprocessor to MIRNA loci, prompting co-transcriptional cleavage of primary miRNA (pri-miRNAs) substrates. Additionally, pri-miRNAs carrying m6A modifications at their single-stranded basal regions are enriched by m6A readers, which retain microprocessor in the nucleoplasm for continuing processing. This reveals an unappreciated mechanism of phase separation in RNA modification and processing through MTC and microprocessor coordination.
{"title":"Reciprocal regulation of m6A modification and miRNA production machineries via phase separation-dependent and -independent mechanisms","authors":"Songxiao Zhong, Xindi Li, Changhao Li, Haiyan Bai, Jingjing Chen, Lu Gan, Jiyun Zhu, Taerin Oh, Xingxing Yan, Jiaying Zhu, Niankui Li, Hisashi Koiwa, Thomas Meek, Xu Peng, Bin Yu, Zhonghui Zhang, Xiuren Zhang","doi":"10.1101/2024.08.31.610644","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.31.610644","url":null,"abstract":"Methyltransferase complex (MTC) deposits N6-adenosine (m6A) onto RNA, whereas microprocessor produces miRNA. Whether and how these two distinct complexes cross-regulate each other has been poorly studied. Here we report that the MTC subunit B (MTB) tends to form insoluble condensates with poor activity, with its level monitored by 20S proteasome. Conversely, the microprocessor component SERRATE (SE) forms liquid-like condensates, which in turn promotes solubility and stability of MTB, leading to increased MTC activity. Consistently, the hypomorphic lines expressing SE variants, defective in MTC interaction or liquid-like phase behavior, exhibit reduced m6A level. Reciprocally, MTC can recruit microprocessor to MIRNA loci, prompting co-transcriptional cleavage of primary miRNA (pri-miRNAs) substrates. Additionally, pri-miRNAs carrying m6A modifications at their single-stranded basal regions are enriched by m6A readers, which retain microprocessor in the nucleoplasm for continuing processing. This reveals an unappreciated mechanism of phase separation in RNA modification and processing through MTC and microprocessor coordination.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142227525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-31DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.29.610265
Wei Liu, Jing Hou, Li Liu, Mengyu Lei, Yu Han, Mingjia Zhu, Wenjia Zhang, Ran Hao, Yan Ji, Huan Si, Jianquan Liu, Yanjun Zan
Photosynthesis is the most important reaction underlying carbon fixation. Despite its potential in boosting carbon assimilation, nature variations underlying genes in photosynthesis pathway and their role in adaptive traits variation remains elusive. In this study, we investigated the genetic, transcriptomic variation of 1103 genes in photosynthesis associated pathways, including 82 photosynthesis core genes, 24 plastid-encoded RNA polymerase related genes, 2 nucleus-encoded RNA polymerase-related genes, 34 photomorphogenesis-related genes, 40 genes involved in transcription and translation (TAC) and 938 other nuclear-encoded chloroplast-targeted genes. By de novo assembling the chloroplast genomes of 28 representative accessions and leveraging whole-genome, transcriptome sequencing data from the 1001 Genome Project, we revealed extensive natural genetic and transcriptome variations these genes in worldwide Arabidopsis thaliana population. 34.0% of them were identified with regulatory variations in expression quantitative locus mapping (eQTL) mapping, including key components of Rubisco (RBCS1B, RBCS2B), and Rubisco activase (RCA). Genome-wide and transcriptome-wide association analysis (GWAS/TWAS) showed that these genetic and transcriptomic variations made considerable contribution to variation of adaptive traits. Overall, our study provides insight into the natural genetic variation of these genes among worldwide Arabidopsis thaliana accessions and their role in complex traits variation and adaptation.
{"title":"Natural genetic and transcriptomic variation in photosynthesis associated pathways contribute to adaptive traits variation in worldwide Arabidopsis thaliana population","authors":"Wei Liu, Jing Hou, Li Liu, Mengyu Lei, Yu Han, Mingjia Zhu, Wenjia Zhang, Ran Hao, Yan Ji, Huan Si, Jianquan Liu, Yanjun Zan","doi":"10.1101/2024.08.29.610265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.29.610265","url":null,"abstract":"Photosynthesis is the most important reaction underlying carbon fixation. Despite its potential in boosting carbon assimilation, nature variations underlying genes in photosynthesis pathway and their role in adaptive traits variation remains elusive. In this study, we investigated the genetic, transcriptomic variation of 1103 genes in photosynthesis associated pathways, including 82 photosynthesis core genes, 24 plastid-encoded RNA polymerase related genes, 2 nucleus-encoded RNA polymerase-related genes, 34 photomorphogenesis-related genes, 40 genes involved in transcription and translation (TAC) and 938 other nuclear-encoded chloroplast-targeted genes. By de novo assembling the chloroplast genomes of 28 representative accessions and leveraging whole-genome, transcriptome sequencing data from the 1001 Genome Project, we revealed extensive natural genetic and transcriptome variations these genes in worldwide Arabidopsis thaliana population. 34.0% of them were identified with regulatory variations in expression quantitative locus mapping (eQTL) mapping, including key components of Rubisco (RBCS1B, RBCS2B), and Rubisco activase (RCA). Genome-wide and transcriptome-wide association analysis (GWAS/TWAS) showed that these genetic and transcriptomic variations made considerable contribution to variation of adaptive traits. Overall, our study provides insight into the natural genetic variation of these genes among worldwide Arabidopsis thaliana accessions and their role in complex traits variation and adaptation.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142183085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-10DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.07.606835
Israel L. Cunha Neto, Anthony A. Snead, Jacob B. Landis, Chelsea D. Specht, Joyce G. Onyenedum
Secondary growth is a conserved mechanism that gives rise to vascular tissues produced via a single vascular cambium. Molecular mechanisms underlying this process are characterized mostly in model species bearing typical vascular architecture, while the genetics underlying ecologically-important atypical vascular architectures remain unexplored. We use developmental anatomy, comparative transcriptomics, and molecular evolutionary analyses to address this knowledge gap, investigating how multiple ectopic cambia (EC) form in the woody vine Wisteria floribunda. Anatomical studies show EC in W. floribunda arise from cortical parenchyma, while cambium-specific transcriptome comparisons reveal that genes acting as regulators of typical cambium development in model species are likewise associated with atypical EC development. Gene trees of KNOX proteins indicate duplication events may contribute to EC formation, including a Fabaceae-specific duplication of KNAT6 detected as under positive selection. These findings reveal insights into the genetics of EC formation, advancing our understanding of the development of complex vascular traits.
{"title":"Ectopic cambia in Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda) vines are associated with the expression of conserved KNOX genes","authors":"Israel L. Cunha Neto, Anthony A. Snead, Jacob B. Landis, Chelsea D. Specht, Joyce G. Onyenedum","doi":"10.1101/2024.08.07.606835","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.07.606835","url":null,"abstract":"Secondary growth is a conserved mechanism that gives rise to vascular tissues produced via a single vascular cambium. Molecular mechanisms underlying this process are characterized mostly in model species bearing typical vascular architecture, while the genetics underlying ecologically-important atypical vascular architectures remain unexplored. We use developmental anatomy, comparative transcriptomics, and molecular evolutionary analyses to address this knowledge gap, investigating how multiple ectopic cambia (EC) form in the woody vine Wisteria floribunda. Anatomical studies show EC in W. floribunda arise from cortical parenchyma, while cambium-specific transcriptome comparisons reveal that genes acting as regulators of typical cambium development in model species are likewise associated with atypical EC development. Gene trees of KNOX proteins indicate duplication events may contribute to EC formation, including a Fabaceae-specific duplication of KNAT6 detected as under positive selection. These findings reveal insights into the genetics of EC formation, advancing our understanding of the development of complex vascular traits.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141941366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-10DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.09.607347
James Godwin, Arnaud Thierry Djami-Tchatchou, Siva L. S. Velivelli, Meenakshi Tetorya, Raviraj Kalunke, Ambika Pokhrel, Mowei Zhou, Garry W Buchko, Kirk Czymmek, Dilip Shah
Cationic nodule-specific cysteine-rich (NCR) peptides of nitrogen-fixing legume plants exhibit antifungal activity and can be repurposed for development as biofungicides. Chickpea NCR13 is a highly cationic peptide with six cysteines forming three disulfide bonds. Expression of NCR13 in Pichia pastoris resulted in formation of two peptide folding variants, NCR13_PFV1 and NCR13_PFV2, that differed in the pairing of two out of three disulfide bonds despite having an identical amino acid sequence. The NMR structure of each PFV revealed a unique three-dimensional fold with the PFV1 structure being more compact but less dynamic. PFV1 and PFV2 differed profoundly in the potency of antifungal activity and their multi-faceted modes of action (MoA). PFV1 showed significantly faster fungal cell-permeabilizing and cell entry capabilities and greater stability once inside the fungal cells. PFV1 was more effective in binding to fungal ribosomal RNA and inhibiting protein translation in vitro. When sprayed on pepper and tomato plants, PFV1 was more effective in controlling the gray mold disease caused by Botrytis cinerea. Our work highlights the significant impact of disulfide pairing on the antifungal activity and MoA of NCR13 and provides structural framework for design of novel, potent antifungal peptides for agricultural use.
{"title":"Chickpea NCR13 disulfide cross-linking variants exhibit profound differences in antifungal activity and modes of action","authors":"James Godwin, Arnaud Thierry Djami-Tchatchou, Siva L. S. Velivelli, Meenakshi Tetorya, Raviraj Kalunke, Ambika Pokhrel, Mowei Zhou, Garry W Buchko, Kirk Czymmek, Dilip Shah","doi":"10.1101/2024.08.09.607347","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.09.607347","url":null,"abstract":"Cationic nodule-specific cysteine-rich (NCR) peptides of nitrogen-fixing legume plants exhibit antifungal activity and can be repurposed for development as biofungicides. Chickpea NCR13 is a highly cationic peptide with six cysteines forming three disulfide bonds. Expression of NCR13 in Pichia pastoris resulted in formation of two peptide folding variants, NCR13_PFV1 and NCR13_PFV2, that differed in the pairing of two out of three disulfide bonds despite having an identical amino acid sequence. The NMR structure of each PFV revealed a unique three-dimensional fold with the PFV1 structure being more compact but less dynamic. PFV1 and PFV2 differed profoundly in the potency of antifungal activity and their multi-faceted modes of action (MoA). PFV1 showed significantly faster fungal cell-permeabilizing and cell entry capabilities and greater stability once inside the fungal cells. PFV1 was more effective in binding to fungal ribosomal RNA and inhibiting protein translation in vitro. When sprayed on pepper and tomato plants, PFV1 was more effective in controlling the gray mold disease caused by Botrytis cinerea. Our work highlights the significant impact of disulfide pairing on the antifungal activity and MoA of NCR13 and provides structural framework for design of novel, potent antifungal peptides for agricultural use.","PeriodicalId":501341,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Plant Biology","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141941365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}