35 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Diversity in Expression of Phosphorus (P) Responsive Genes in Cucumis melo L
Phosphorus (P) is a major limiting nutrient for plant growth in many soils. Studies in model species have identified genes involved in plant adaptations to low soil P availability. However, little information is available on the genetic bases of these adaptations in vegetable crops. In this respect, sequence data for melon now makes it possible to identify melon orthologues of candidate P responsive genes, and the expression of these genes can be used to explain the diversity in the root system adaptation to low P availability, recently observed in this species
Rapid assembly of customized TALENs into multiple
Transcriptional activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) have become a powerful tool for genome editing. Here we present an efficient TALEN assembly approach in which TALENs are assembled by direct Golden Gate ligation into Gateway® Entry vectors from a repeat variable di-residue (RVD) plasmid array. We constructed TALEN pairs targeted to mouse Ddx3 subfamily genes, and demonstrated that our modified TALEN assembly approach efficiently generates accurate TALEN moieties that effectively introduce mutations into target genes. We generated "user friendly" TALEN Entry vectors containing TALEN expression cassettes with fluorescent reporter genes that can be efficiently transferred via Gateway (LR) recombination into different delivery systems. We demonstrated that the TALEN Entry vectors can be easily transferred to an adenoviral delivery system to expand application to cells that are difficult to transfect. Since TALENs work in pairs, we also generated a TALEN Entry vector set that combines a TALEN pair into one PiggyBac transposon-based destination vector. The approach described here can also be modified for construction of TALE transcriptional activators, repressors or other functional domains. © 2013 Zhang et al
Recommended from our members
Gene expression changes in phosphorus deficient potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) leaves and the potential for diagnostic gene expression markers
Background: There are compelling economic and environmental reasons to reduce our reliance on inorganic phosphate (Pi)
fertilisers. Better management of Pi fertiliser applications is one option to improve the efficiency of Pi fertiliser use, whilst
maintaining crop yields. Application rates of Pi fertilisers are traditionally determined from analyses of soil or plant tissues.
Alternatively, diagnostic genes with altered expression under Pi limiting conditions that suggest a physiological
requirement for Pi fertilisation, could be used to manage Pifertiliser applications, and might be more precise than indirect
measurements of soil or tissue samples.
Results: We grew potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants hydroponically, under glasshouse conditions, to control their
nutrient status accurately. Samples of total leaf RNA taken periodically after Pi was removed from the nutrient solution were
labelled and hybridised to potato oligonucleotide arrays. A total of 1,659 genes were significantly differentially expressed
following Pi withdrawal. These included genes that encode proteins involved in lipid, protein, and carbohydrate
metabolism, characteristic of Pi deficient leaves and included potential novel roles for genes encoding patatin like proteins
in potatoes. The array data were analysed using a support vector machine algorithm to identify groups of genes that could
predict the Pi status of the crop. These groups of diagnostic genes were tested using field grown potatoes that had either
been fertilised or unfertilised. A group of 200 genes could correctly predict the Pi status of field grown potatoes.
Conclusions: This paper provides a proof-of-concept demonstration for using microarrays and class prediction tools to
predict the Pi status of a field grown potato crop. There is potential to develop this technology for other biotic and abiotic
stresses in field grown crops. Ultimately, a better understanding of crop stresses may improve our management of the crop,
improving the sustainability of agriculture