Bioinformatics as a Tool for Assessing the Quality of Sub-Cellular Proteomic Strategies and Inferring Functions of Proteins: Plant Cell Wall Proteomics as a Test Case

Bioinformatics is used at three different steps of proteomic studies of sub-cellular compartments. First one is protein identification from mass spectrometry data. Second one is prediction of sub-cellular localization, and third one is the search of functional domains to predict the function of identified proteins in order to answer biological questions. The aim of the work was to get a new tool for improving the quality of proteomics of sub-cellular compartments. Starting from the analysis of problems found in databases, we designed a new Arabidopsis database named ProtAnnDB (http://www.polebio.scsv.ups-tlse.fr/ProtAnnDB/). It collects in one page predictions of sub-cellular localization and of functional domains made by available software. Using this database allows not only improvement of interpretation of proteomic data (top-down analysis), but also of procedures to isolate sub-cellular compartments (bottom-up quality control)

Glycoside Hydrolases in Plant Cell Wall Proteomes: Predicting Functions That Could Be Relevant for Improving Biomass Transformation Processes

Glycoside hydrolases (GHs) are enzymes that are able to rearrange the plant cell wall polysaccharides, being developmental- and stress-regulated. Such proteins are used in enzymatic cocktails for biomass hydrolysis in the second-generation ethanol (E2G) production. In this chapter, we investigate GHs identified in plant cell wall proteomes by predicting their functions through alignment with homologous plant and microorganism sequences and identification of functional domains. Up to now, 49 cell wall GHs were identified in sugarcane and 114 in Brachypodium distachyon. We could point at candidate proteins that could be targeted to lower biomass recalcitrance. We more specifically addressed several GHs with predicted cellulase, hemicellulase, and pectinase activities, such as β-xylosidase, α and β-galactosidase, α-N-arabinofuranosidases, and glucan β-glucosidases. These enzymes are among the most used in enzymatic cocktails to deconstruct plant cell walls. As an example, the fungi arabinofuranosidases belonging to the GH51 family, which were also identified in sugarcane and B. distachyon, have already been associated to the degradation of hemicellulosic and pectic polysaccharides, through a peculiar mechanism, probably more efficient than other GH families. Future research will benefit from the information available here to design plant varieties with self-disassembly capacity, making the E2G more cost-effective through the use of more efficient enzymes

AphanoDB: a genomic resource for Aphanomyces pathogens.

BACKGROUND: The Oomycete genus Aphanomyces comprises devastating plant and animal pathogens. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying pathogenicity of Aphanomyces species. In this study, we report on the development of a public database called AphanoDB which is dedicated to Aphanomyces genomic data. As a first step, a large collection of Expressed Sequence Tags was obtained from the legume pathogen A. euteiches, which was then processed and collected into AphanoDB. DESCRIPTION: Two cDNA libraries of A. euteiches were created: one from mycelium growing on synthetic medium and one from mycelium grown in contact to root tissues of the model legume Medicago truncatula. From these libraries, 18,684 expressed sequence tags were obtained and assembled into 7,977 unigenes which were compared to public databases for annotation. Queries on AphanoDB allow the users to retrieve information for each unigene including similarity to known protein sequences, protein domains and Gene Ontology classification. Statistical analysis of EST frequency from the two different growth conditions was also added to the database. CONCLUSION: AphanoDB is a public database with a user-friendly web interface. The sequence report pages are the main web interface which provides all annotation details for each unigene. These interactive sequence report pages are easily available through text, BLAST, Gene Ontology and expression profile search utilities. AphanoDB is available from URL: http://www.polebio.scsv.ups-tlse.fr/aphano/

Cell wall biogenesis of Arabidopsis thaliana elongating cells: transcriptomics complements proteomics

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Plant growth is a complex process involving cell division and elongation. <it>Arabidopsis thaliana </it>hypocotyls undergo a 100-fold length increase mainly by cell elongation. Cell enlargement implicates significant changes in the composition and structure of the cell wall. In order to understand cell wall biogenesis during cell elongation, mRNA profiling was made on half- (active elongation) and fully-grown (after growth arrest) etiolated hypocotyls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Transcriptomic analysis was focused on two sets of genes. The first set of 856 genes named cell wall genes (CWGs) included genes known to be involved in cell wall biogenesis. A significant proportion of them has detectable levels of transcripts (55.5%), suggesting that these processes are important throughout hypocotyl elongation and after growth arrest. Genes encoding proteins involved in substrate generation or in synthesis of polysaccharides, and extracellular proteins were found to have high transcript levels. A second set of 2927 genes labeled secretory pathway genes (SPGs) was studied to search for new genes encoding secreted proteins possibly involved in wall expansion. Based on transcript level, 433 genes were selected. Genes not known to be involved in cell elongation were found to have high levels of transcripts. Encoded proteins were proteases, protease inhibitors, proteins with interacting domains, and proteins involved in lipid metabolism. In addition, 125 of them encoded proteins with yet unknown function. Finally, comparison with results of a cell wall proteomic study on the same material revealed that 48 out of the 137 identified proteins were products of the genes having high or moderate level of transcripts. About 15% of the genes encoding proteins identified by proteomics showed levels of transcripts below background.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Members of known multigenic families involved in cell wall biogenesis, and new genes that might participate in cell elongation were identified. Significant differences were shown in the expression of such genes in half- and fully-grown hypocotyls. No clear correlation was found between the abundance of transcripts (transcriptomic data) and the presence of the proteins (proteomic data) demonstrating (i) the importance of post-transcriptional events for the regulation of genes during cell elongation and (ii) that transcriptomic and proteomic data are complementary.</p

A new genomic resource dedicated to wood formation in Eucalyptus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Renowned for their fast growth, valuable wood properties and wide adaptability, <it>Eucalyptus </it>species are amongst the most planted hardwoods in the world, yet they are still at the early stages of domestication because conventional breeding is slow and costly. Thus, there is huge potential for marker-assisted breeding programs to improve traits such as wood properties. To this end, the sequencing, analysis and annotation of a large collection of expressed sequences tags (ESTs) from genes involved in wood formation in <it>Eucalyptus </it>would provide a valuable resource.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report here the normalization and sequencing of a cDNA library from developing <it>Eucalyptus </it>secondary xylem, as well as the construction and sequencing of two subtractive libraries (juvenile <it>versus </it>mature wood and <it>vice versa</it>). A total of 9,222 high quality sequences were collected from about 10,000 cDNA clones. The EST assembly generated a set of 3,857 wood-related unigenes including 2,461 contigs (Cg) and 1,396 singletons (Sg) that we named 'EUCAWOOD'. About 65% of the EUCAWOOD sequences produced matches with poplar, grapevine, <it>Arabidopsis </it>and rice protein sequence databases. BlastX searches of the Uniref100 protein database allowed us to allocate gene ontology (GO) and protein family terms to the EUCAWOOD unigenes. This annotation of the EUCAWOOD set revealed key functional categories involved in xylogenesis. For instance, 422 sequences matched various gene families involved in biosynthesis and assembly of primary and secondary cell walls. Interestingly, 141 sequences were annotated as transcription factors, some of them being orthologs of regulators known to be involved in xylogenesis. The EUCAWOOD dataset was also mined for genomic simple sequence repeat markers, yielding a total of 639 putative microsatellites. Finally, a publicly accessible database was created, supporting multiple queries on the EUCAWOOD dataset.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this work, we have identified a large set of wood-related <it>Eucalyptus </it>unigenes called EUCAWOOD, thus creating a valuable resource for functional genomics studies of wood formation and molecular breeding in this economically important genus. This set of publicly available annotated sequences will be instrumental for candidate gene approaches, custom array development and marker-assisted selection programs aimed at improving and modulating wood properties.</p

Transcriptomic analysis of Arabidopsis developing stems: a close-up on cell wall genes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Different strategies (genetics, biochemistry, and proteomics) can be used to study proteins involved in cell biogenesis. The availability of the complete sequences of several plant genomes allowed the development of transcriptomic studies. Although the expression patterns of some <it>Arabidopsis thaliana </it>genes involved in cell wall biogenesis were identified at different physiological stages, detailed microarray analysis of plant cell wall genes has not been performed on any plant tissues. Using transcriptomic and bioinformatic tools, we studied the regulation of cell wall genes in <it>Arabidopsis </it>stems, <it>i.e. </it>genes encoding proteins involved in cell wall biogenesis and genes encoding secreted proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Transcriptomic analyses of stems were performed at three different developmental stages, <it>i.e.</it>, young stems, intermediate stage, and mature stems. Many genes involved in the synthesis of cell wall components such as polysaccharides and monolignols were identified. A total of 345 genes encoding predicted secreted proteins with moderate or high level of transcripts were analyzed in details. The encoded proteins were distributed into 8 classes, based on the presence of predicted functional domains. Proteins acting on carbohydrates and proteins of unknown function constituted the two most abundant classes. Other proteins were proteases, oxido-reductases, proteins with interacting domains, proteins involved in signalling, and structural proteins. Particularly high levels of expression were established for genes encoding pectin methylesterases, germin-like proteins, arabinogalactan proteins, fasciclin-like arabinogalactan proteins, and structural proteins. Finally, the results of this transcriptomic analyses were compared with those obtained through a cell wall proteomic analysis from the same material. Only a small proportion of genes identified by previous proteomic analyses were identified by transcriptomics. Conversely, only a few proteins encoded by genes having moderate or high level of transcripts were identified by proteomics.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Analysis of the genes predicted to encode cell wall proteins revealed that about 345 genes had moderate or high levels of transcripts. Among them, we identified many new genes possibly involved in cell wall biogenesis. The discrepancies observed between results of this transcriptomic study and a previous proteomic study on the same material revealed post-transcriptional mechanisms of regulation of expression of genes encoding cell wall proteins.</p

Transcriptomic analysis of Arabidopsis developing stems: a close-up on cell wall genes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Different strategies (genetics, biochemistry, and proteomics) can be used to study proteins involved in cell biogenesis. The availability of the complete sequences of several plant genomes allowed the development of transcriptomic studies. Although the expression patterns of some <it>Arabidopsis thaliana </it>genes involved in cell wall biogenesis were identified at different physiological stages, detailed microarray analysis of plant cell wall genes has not been performed on any plant tissues. Using transcriptomic and bioinformatic tools, we studied the regulation of cell wall genes in <it>Arabidopsis </it>stems, <it>i.e. </it>genes encoding proteins involved in cell wall biogenesis and genes encoding secreted proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Transcriptomic analyses of stems were performed at three different developmental stages, <it>i.e.</it>, young stems, intermediate stage, and mature stems. Many genes involved in the synthesis of cell wall components such as polysaccharides and monolignols were identified. A total of 345 genes encoding predicted secreted proteins with moderate or high level of transcripts were analyzed in details. The encoded proteins were distributed into 8 classes, based on the presence of predicted functional domains. Proteins acting on carbohydrates and proteins of unknown function constituted the two most abundant classes. Other proteins were proteases, oxido-reductases, proteins with interacting domains, proteins involved in signalling, and structural proteins. Particularly high levels of expression were established for genes encoding pectin methylesterases, germin-like proteins, arabinogalactan proteins, fasciclin-like arabinogalactan proteins, and structural proteins. Finally, the results of this transcriptomic analyses were compared with those obtained through a cell wall proteomic analysis from the same material. Only a small proportion of genes identified by previous proteomic analyses were identified by transcriptomics. Conversely, only a few proteins encoded by genes having moderate or high level of transcripts were identified by proteomics.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Analysis of the genes predicted to encode cell wall proteins revealed that about 345 genes had moderate or high levels of transcripts. Among them, we identified many new genes possibly involved in cell wall biogenesis. The discrepancies observed between results of this transcriptomic study and a previous proteomic study on the same material revealed post-transcriptional mechanisms of regulation of expression of genes encoding cell wall proteins.</p