What makes desiccation tolerable?

A comparison of drought tolerance in plants at extreme ends of the evolutionary spectrum is beginning to show the mechanisms involved

Integration of Arabidopsis thaliana stress-related transcript profiles, promoter structures, and cell-specific expression

The integration of stress-dependent, tissue- and cell-specific expression profiles and 5'-regulatory sequence motif analysis defines a common stress transcriptome, identifies major motifs for stress response, and places stress response in the context of tissue and cell lineages in the Arabidopsis root

Cloning of PCR-Products Encoding Potassium Channel Proteins from Mesembryanthemum crystallinum

Gene fragments of potassium channels were cloned from Mesembryanthemum crystallinum by using RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction). The two fragments were isolated independently and showed high similarity with each other. About 80% identity was found between the two fragments and potassium-channel genes of Arabidopsis. Southern hybridization indicated that the potassium channel gene may be a single copy gene or that a small gene family of potassium channels exists.耐塩性、耐乾性の極めて高い Mesembryanthemum crystallinum からPCR法を用いてカリウムチャンネル遺伝子断片を得た。2つのクローンが独立に得られたが、互いによく似ていて、シロイヌナズナのカリウムチャンネルとは67から88％の相同性を示した。サザンハイブリダイゼーションの結果から、今回得られた遺伝子はシングルコピーであり、またカリウムチャンネル遺伝子ファミリーが存在する可能性が示唆された

Life at the extreme: Lessons from the genome

© 2012 BioMed Central Ltd. Extremophile plants thrive in places where most plant species cannot survive. Recent developments in high-throughput technologies and comparative genomics are shedding light on the evolutionary mechanisms leading to their adaptation

From genome to function: the Arabidopsis aquaporins

BACKGROUND: In the post-genomic era newly sequenced genomes can be used to deduce organismal functions from our knowledge of other systems. Here we apply this approach to analyzing the aquaporin gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana. The aquaporins are intrinsic membrane proteins that have been characterized as facilitators of water flux. Originally termed major intrinsic proteins (MIPs), they are now also known as water channels, glycerol facilitators and aqua-glyceroporins, yet recent data suggest that they facilitate the movement of other low-molecular-weight metabolites as well. RESULTS: The Arabidopsis genome contains 38 sequences with homology to aquaporin in four subfamilies, termed PIP, TIP, NIP and SIP. We have analyzed aquaporin family structure and expression using the A. thaliana genome sequence, and introduce a new NMR approach for the purpose of analyzing water movement in plant roots in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary data indicate a strongly transcellular component for the flux of water in roots

Intracellular consequences of SOS1 deficiency during salt stress

A mutation of AtSOS1 (Salt Overly Sensitive 1), a plasma membrane Na+/H+-antiporter in Arabidopsis thaliana, leads to a salt-sensitive phenotype accompanied by the death of root cells under salt stress. Intracellular events and changes in gene expression were compared during a non-lethal salt stress between the wild type and a representative SOS1 mutant, atsos1-1, by confocal microscopy using ion-specific fluorophores and by quantitative RT-PCR. In addition to the higher accumulation of sodium ions, atsos1-1 showed inhibition of endocytosis, abnormalities in vacuolar shape and function, and changes in intracellular pH compared to the wild type in root tip cells under stress. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed a dramatically faster and higher induction of root-specific Ca2+ transporters, including several CAXs and CNGCs, and the drastic down-regulation of genes involved in pH-homeostasis and membrane potential maintenance. Differential regulation of genes for functions in intracellular protein trafficking in atsos1-1 was also observed. The results suggested roles of the SOS1 protein, in addition to its function as a Na+/H+ antiporter, whose disruption affected membrane traffic and vacuolar functions possibly by controlling pH homeostasis in root cells

Light-induced expression of ipt from Agrobacterium tumefaciens results in cytokinin accumulation and osmotic stress symptoms in transgenic tobacco

Cytokinins are plant growth regulators that induce shoot formation, inhibit senescence and root growth. Experiments with hydroponically grown tobacco plants, however, indicated that exogenously applied cytokinin led to the accumulation of proline and osmotin. These responses were also associated with environmental stress reactions, such as salt stress, in many plant species. To test whether increased endogenous cytokinin accumulation led to NaCl stress symptoms, the gene ipt from Agrobacterium tumefaciens , encoding isopentenyl transferase, was transformed into Nicotiana tabacum cv. SR-1 under the control of the light-inducible rbcS-3A promoter from pea. In high light (300 μmol PPFD m -2 s -1 ), ipt mRNA was detected and zeatin/zeatin glucoside levels were 10-fold higher than in control plants or when transformants were grown in low light (30 μmol PPFD m -2 s -1 ). High light treatment was accompanied by increased levels of proline and osmotin when compared to low light grown transformed and untransformed control plants. Elevated in planta cytokinin levels induced responses also stimulated by salt stress, suggesting either common or overlapping signaling pathways are initiated independently by cytokinin and NaCl, setting in motion gene expression normally elicited by developmental processes such as flowering or environmental stress.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43438/1/11103_2004_Article_BF00020179.pd