Discovery of a high-altitude ecotype and ancient lineage of Arabidopsis thaliana from Tibet

Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana) has long been a model species for dicotyledon study, and was the first flowering plant to get its genome completed sequenced [1]. Although most wild A. thaliana are collected in Europe, several studies have found a rapid A. thaliana west-east expansion from Central Asia [2]. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is close to Central Asia and known for its high altitude, unique environments and biodiversity [3]. However, no wild-type A. thaliana had been either discovered or sequenced from QTP. Studies on the A. thaliana populations collected under 2000 m asl have shown that the adaptive variations associated with climate and altitudinal gradients [4]. Hence a high-altitude A. thaliana provides a precious natural material to investigate the evolution and adaptation process. Here, we present the genome of a new ecotype of A. thaliana collected in the Gongga County, Tibet (4200 m asl) (Fig. 1a), to demonstrate its evolutionary history and adaptation to highaltitude regions

Super enhancer lncRNAs: a novel hallmark in cancer

Abstract Super enhancers (SEs) consist of clusters of enhancers, harboring an unusually high density of transcription factors, mediator coactivators and epigenetic modifications. SEs play a crucial role in the maintenance of cancer cell identity and promoting oncogenic transcription. Super enhancer lncRNAs (SE-lncRNAs) refer to either transcript from SEs locus or interact with SEs, whose transcriptional activity is highly dependent on SEs. Moreover, these SE-lncRNAs can interact with their associated enhancer regions in cis and modulate the expression of oncogenes or key signal pathways in cancers. Inhibition of SEs would be a promising therapy for cancer. In this review, we summarize the research of SE-lncRNAs in different kinds of cancers so far and decode the mechanism of SE-lncRNAs in carcinogenesis to provide novel ideas for the cancer therapy

Differential microRNA Analysis of Glandular Trichomes and Young Leaves in Xanthium strumarium L. Reveals Their Putative Roles in Regulating Terpenoid Biosynthesis.

The medicinal plant Xanthium strumarium L. (X. strumarium) is covered with glandular trichomes, which are the sites for synthesizing pharmacologically active terpenoids such as xanthatin. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of 21-24 nucleotide (nt) non-coding RNAs, most of which are identified as regulators of plant growth development. Identification of miRNAs involved in the biosynthesis of plant secondary metabolites remains limited. In this study, high-throughput Illumina sequencing, combined with target gene prediction, was performed to discover novel and conserved miRNAs with potential roles in regulating terpenoid biosynthesis in X. strumarium glandular trichomes. Two small RNA libraries from leaves and glandular trichomes of X. strumarium were established. In total, 1,185 conserved miRNAs and 37 novel miRNAs were identified, with 494 conserved miRNAs and 18 novel miRNAs being differentially expressed between the two tissue sources. Based on the X. strumarium transcriptome data that we recently constructed, 3,307 annotated mRNA transcripts were identified as putative targets of the differentially expressed miRNAs. KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway analysis suggested that some of the differentially expressed miRNAs, including miR6435, miR5021 and miR1134, might be involved in terpenoid biosynthesis in the X. strumarium glandular trichomes. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of miRNAs in X. strumarium, which forms the basis for further understanding of miRNA-based regulation on terpenoid biosynthesis

Molecular Cloning and Functional Characterization of a Novel (Iso)flavone 4′,7-O-diglucoside Glucosyltransferase from Pueraria lobata

Pueraria lobata roots accumulate a rich source of isoflavonoid glycosides, including 7-O- and 4'-O-mono-glucosides, and 4',7-O-diglucosides, which have numerous human health benefits. Although isoflavonoid 7-O-glucosyltranferases (7-O-UGTs) have been well characterized at molecular levels in legume plants, genes or enzymes that are required for isoflavonoid 4'-O- and 4',7-O-glucosylation have not been identified in P. lobata to date. Especially for the 4',7-O-di-glucosylations, the genetic control for this tailing process has never been elucidated from any plant species. Through transcriptome mining, we describe here the identification and characterization of a novel UGT (designated PlUGT2) governing the isoflavonoid 4',7-O-di-glucosylations in P. lobata. Biochemical roles of PlUGT2 were assessed by in vitro assays with PlUGT2 protein produced in Escherichia coli and analyzed for its qualitative substrate specificity. PlUGT2 was active with various (iso)flavonoid acceptors, catalyzing consecutive glucosylation activities at their O-4' and O-7 positions. PlUGT2 was most active with genistein, a general isoflavone in legume plants. Real-time PCR analysis showed that PlUGT2 is preferentially transcribed in roots relative to other organs of P. lobata, which is coincident with the accumulation pattern of 4'-O-glucosides and 4',7-O-diglucosides in P. lobata. The identification of PlUGT2 would help to decipher the P. lobata isoflavonoid glucosylations in vivo and may provide a useful enzyme catalyst for an efficient biotransformation of isoflavones or other natural products for food or pharmacological purposes

Distribution of small RNAs among different categories in leaves and glandular trichomes of <i>X</i>. <i>strumarium</i>.

<p>^aThe reads that were matched to the <i>X</i>. <i>strumarium</i> transcriptome.</p><p>Distribution of small RNAs among different categories in leaves and glandular trichomes of <i>X</i>. <i>strumarium</i>.</p

RT-qPCR data for the transcript abundance of some miRNAs in the leaves and glandular trichomes.

<p>The miRNA levels were normalized to an internal control (actin) and expressed relative to the values of leaves (control), which were given an arbitrary value of 1. Error bars indicate the standard deviation of three biological replicates.</p

Statistics of small RNA sequencing.

<p>^aThe percentage of the tissue_specific unique reads for the respective tissue source.</p><p>Statistics of small RNA sequencing.</p

Target genes for differentially expressed miRNAs involved in terpenoids biosynthesis.

<p>Target genes for differentially expressed miRNAs involved in terpenoids biosynthesis.</p

GO functional classification for the predicted targets by the differentially expressed miRNAs.

<p>X-axis, the three main GO categories and 47 GO terms assigned for the differentially expressed miRNA targets; Y-axis, the gene numbers corresponding to the GO terms.</p

Nucleotide preference at each position of novel miRNAs.

<p>(A) miRNA nucleotide bias of novel miRNAs in leaves; (B) miRNA nucleotide bias of novel miRNAs in glandular trichomes.</p