Tissue and nitrogen-linked expression profiles of ammonium and nitrate transporters in maize

BACKGROUND:In order to grow, plants rely on soil nutrients which can vary both spatially and temporally depending on the environment, the soil type or the microbial activity. An essential nutrient is nitrogen, which is mainly accessible as nitrate and ammonium. Many studies have investigated transport genes for these ions in Arabidopsis thaliana and recently in crop species, including Maize, Rice and Barley. However, in most crop species, an understanding of the participants in nitrate and ammonium transport across the soil plant continuum remains undefined. RESULTS:We have mapped a non-exhaustive set of putative nitrate and ammonium transporters in maize. The selected transporters were defined based on previous studies comparing nitrate transport pathways conserved between Arabidopsis and Zea mays (Plett D et. al, PLOS ONE 5:e15289, 2010). We also selected genes from published studies (Gu R et. al, Plant and Cell Physiology, 54:1515-1524, 2013, Garnett T et. al, New Phytol 198:82-94, 2013, Garnett T et. al, Frontiers in Plant Sci 6, 2015, Dechorgnat J et. al, Front Plant Sci 9:531, 2018). To analyse these genes, the plants were grown in a semi-hydroponic system to carefully control nitrogen delivery and then harvested at both vegetative and reproductive stages. The expression patterns of 26 putative nitrogen transporters were then tested. Six putative genes were found not expressed in our conditions. Transcripts of 20 other genes were detected at both the vegetative and reproductive stages of maize development. We observed the expression of nitrogen transporters in all organs tested: roots, young leaves, old leaves, silks, cobs, tassels and husk leaves. We also followed the gene expression response to nitrogen starvation and resupply and uncovered mainly three expression patterns: (i) genes unresponsiveness to nitrogen supply; (ii) genes showing an increase of expression after nitrogen starvation; (iii) genes showing a decrease of expression after nitrogen starvation. CONCLUSIONS:These data allowed the mapping of putative nitrogen transporters in maize at both the vegetative and reproductive stages of development. No growth-dependent expression was seen in our conditions. We found that nitrogen transporter genes were expressed in all the organs tested and in many cases were regulated by the availability of nitrogen supplied to the plant. The gene expression patterns in relation to organ specificity and nitrogen availability denote a speciality of nitrate and ammonium transporter genes and their probable function depending on the plant organ and the environment.Julie Dechorgnat, Karen L. Francis, Kanwarpal S. Dhugga, J. Antony Rafalski, Stephen D. Tyerman and Brent N. Kaise

Solution of the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov equations in the Cartesian deformed harmonic-oscillator basis. (VII) HFODD (v2.49t): a new version of the program

We describe the new version (v2.49t) of the code HFODD which solves the nuclear Skyrme Hartree-Fock (HF) or Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov (HFB) problem by using the Cartesian deformed harmonic-oscillator basis. In the new version, we have implemented the following physics features: (i) the isospin mixing and projection, (ii) the finite temperature formalism for the HFB and HF+BCS methods, (iii) the Lipkin translational energy correction method, (iv) the calculation of the shell correction. A number of specific numerical methods have also been implemented in order to deal with large-scale multi-constraint calculations and hardware limitations: (i) the two-basis method for the HFB method, (ii) the Augmented Lagrangian Method (ALM) for multi-constraint calculations, (iii) the linear constraint method based on the approximation of the RPA matrix for multi-constraint calculations, (iv) an interface with the axial and parity-conserving Skyrme-HFB code HFBTHO, (v) the mixing of the HF or HFB matrix elements instead of the HF fields. Special care has been paid to using the code on massively parallel leadership class computers. For this purpose, the following features are now available with this version: (i) the Message Passing Interface (MPI) framework, (ii) scalable input data routines, (iii) multi-threading via OpenMP pragmas, (iv) parallel diagonalization of the HFB matrix in the simplex breaking case using the ScaLAPACK library. Finally, several little significant errors of the previous published version were corrected.Comment: Accepted for publication to Computer Physics Communications. Program files re-submitted to Comp. Phys. Comm. Program Library after correction of several minor bug

Sequence characterization of hypervariable regions in the soybean genome: leucine-rich repeats and simple sequence repeats

The genetic basis of cultivated soybean is rather narrow. This observation has been confirmed by analysis of agronomic traits among different genotypes, and more recently by the use of molecular markers. During the construction of an RFLP soybean map (Glycine soja x Glycine max) the two progenitors were analyzed with over 2,000 probes, of which 25% were polymorphic. Among the probes that revealed polymorphisms, a small proportion, about 0.5%, hybridized to regions that were highly polymorphic. Here we report the sequencing and analysis of five of these probes. Three of the five contain segments that encode leucine-rich repeat (LRR) sequence homologous to known disease resistance genes in plants. Two other probes are relatively AT-rich and contain segments of (A)n/(T)n. DNA segments corresponding to one of the probes (A45-10) were amplified from nine soybean genotypes. Partial sequencing of these amplicons suggests that deletions and/or insertions are responsible for the extensive polymorphism observed. We propose that genes encoding LRR proteins and simple sequence repeat region prone to slippage are some of the most hypervariable regions of the soybean genome.<br>A base genética da soja cultivada é relativamente estreita. Essa observação foi confirmada por análises de características agronômicas entre diferentes genótipos e, mais recentemente, pelo uso de marcadores moleculares. Durante a construção de um mapa de RFLP da soja (Glycine soja x Glycine max), os dois progenitores foram analisados com mais de 2000 sondas, das quais 25% eram polimórficas. Entre as sondas que revelaram polimorfismos, uma pequena proporção, cerca de 0,5%, hibridizou com regiões que eram altamente polimórficas. Neste trabalho, são apresentados o seqüenciamento e análise de cinco dessas sondas. Três dessas sondas contêm segmentos que codificam repetições ricas em leucina que são homólogas a genes de resistência a doenças já conhecidos em plantas. As duas outras sondas são relativamente ricas em AT e contêm segmentos do tipo (A)n/(T)n. Segmentos de DNA correspondentes a uma das sondas (A45-10) foram amplificados a partir de nove genótipos de soja. Seqüenciamento parcial desses amplicons sugere que deleções e/ou inserções são responsáveis pelo extensivo polimorfismo observado. Nós propomos que os genes que codificam proteínas com repetições ricas em leucina e regiões de seqüências repetidas simples, que são passíveis do fenômeno de slippage (deslizamento), estão entre as regiões mais variáveis do genoma da soja

Analysis of genetic relatedness between populations of Aedes aegypti from different geographic regions of São Paulo state, Brazil Análise de relacionamento genético entre populações de Aedes aegypti de diferentes regiões geográficas do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

RAPD markers have been used for the analysis of genetic differentiation of Aedes aegypti, because they allow the study of genetic relationships among populations. The aim of this study was to identify populations in different geographic regions of the São Paulo State in order to understand the infestation pattern of A. aegypti. The dendrogram constructed with the combined data set of the RAPD patterns showed that the mosquitoes were segregated into two major clusters. Mosquitoes from the Western region of the São Paulo State constituted one cluster and the other was composed of mosquitoes from a laboratory strain and from a coastal city, where the largest Latin American port is located. These data are in agreement with the report on the infestation in the São Paulo State. The genetic proximity was greater between mosquitoes whose geographic origin was closer. However, mosquitoes from the coastal city were genetically closer to laboratory-reared mosquitoes than to field-collected mosquitoes from the São Paulo State. The origin of the infestation in this place remains unclear, but certainly it is related to mosquitoes of origins different from those that infested the West and North region of the State in the 80's.<br>Marcadores de RAPD são utilizados para a análise de diferenciação genética de Aedes aegypti, pois permitem o estudo do relacionamento genético entre populações. Este estudo procurou identificar populações em diferentes regiões geográficas do Estado de São Paulo visando entender o padrão de infestação do A. aegypti. O dendrograma construído com os dados combinados dos padrões de RAPD mostrou que os mosquitos foram separados em dois grupos principais. Mosquitos da região oeste do Estado de São Paulo constituíram um grupo e o outro grupo foi composto de mosquitos de uma cepa de laboratório juntamente com mosquitos de uma cidade litorânea onde se localiza o maior porto da América Latina. Estes dados concordam com o relato de infestação do Estado de São Paulo. A proximidade genética foi maior entre mosquitos cuja origem geográfica foi mais próxima, entretanto, mosquitos da cidade litorânea foram geneticamente mais próximos aos mosquitos criados em laboratório que àqueles coletados no Estado de São Paulo. A origem da infestação deste local permanece obscura mas certamente está relacionada a mosquitos de origens diferentes daqueles que infestaram a região oeste e norte do Estado na década de 80