RESUMO
KEY MESSAGE: miR171a controls HAM1 functions within the protodermal cells of the embryo, and these controls are essential for normal embryogenesis in Arabidopsis. Arabidopsis thaliana miR171a is known to bind to and cleave mRNAs of three HAIRY MERISTEM (HAM) genes that encode members of the GRAS family transcriptional regulators. The molecular functions of the HAM genes are still being elucidated in Arabidopsis. However, detailed expression patterns of miR171a and the effects of the failure of miR171a to suppress HAM genes were unknown till now. Here, we show the detailed expression patterns of miR171a and HAM1 using green fluorescent protein and confocal scanning microscopy. Our observations revealed that miR171a was expressed in the surface cell layer of the embryo and shoot apical meristem, and it controlled HAM1 functions. To determine the impact of the failure of miR171a to suppress of HAM1, we introduced seven synonymous mutations into the miR171a target site of the HAM1 gene (modified HAM1, mHAM1) and generated transgenic plants that had mHAM1 driven by HAM1 native promoter. The mHAM1 transgenic plants showed organogenic defects. These results indicate that the control of HAM1 functions at the single-cell-layer level by miR171a is essential for proper organ formation in Arabidopsis.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Arabidopsis/genética , Arabidopsis/genética , Regulação da Expressão Gênica no Desenvolvimento , Regulação da Expressão Gênica de Plantas , MicroRNAs/genética , Sementes/genética , Arabidopsis/citologia , Arabidopsis/embriologia , Sequência de Bases , Sítios de Ligação/genética , Meristema/genética , Mutação , Brotos de Planta/genética , Brotos de Planta/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Plantas Geneticamente Modificadas , Sementes/citologia , Sementes/embriologia , Homologia de Sequência do Ácido NucleicoRESUMO
Small RNAs are riboregulators that play critical roles in eukaryotic cells. They repress gene expression by acting either on DNA to guide sequence elimination and chromatin remodeling, or on RNA to guide cleavage and translation repression. Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa contain four and six DICER-LIKE (DCL) genes with specialized functions in small RNA biogenesis for RNA interference-related processes. We recently profiled genome-wide gene expression in egg and synergid cells in rice. In this article, we show that OsDCL2, OsDCL4, and OsHEN1 are preferentially expressed in the egg cell. In addition, we revealed that AtDCL2 is also preferentially expressed in the Arabidopsis egg cell. These findings suggest that small RNA pathways are activated in the egg cell in both rice and Arabidopsis. The activation of these pathways in the egg cell might be essential for egg cell maturation, fertilization, or embryogenesis.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/metabolismo , Flores/metabolismo , Oryza/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Ribonuclease III/metabolismo , Arabidopsis/genética , Proteínas de Arabidopsis/genética , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/genética , Flores/genética , Regulação da Expressão Gênica de Plantas/genética , Regulação da Expressão Gênica de Plantas/fisiologia , Oryza/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , RNA Interferente Pequeno/genética , Ribonuclease III/genéticaRESUMO
Double fertilization in flowering plants refers to a process in which two sperm cells, carried by the pollen tube, fertilize both the egg and the central cell after their release into a synergid cell of the female gametophyte. The molecular processes by which the female gametophytic cells express their unique functions during fertilization are not well understood. Genes expressed in egg and synergid cells might be important for multiple stages of the plant reproductive process. Here, we profiled genome-wide gene expression in egg and synergid cells in rice (Oryza sativa), a model monocot, using a nonenzymatic cell isolation technique. We found that the expression profiles of the egg and synergid cells were already specified at the micropylar end of the female gametophyte during the short developmental period that comprises the three consecutive mitotic nuclear divisions after megaspore generation. In addition, we identified a large number of genes expressed in the rice egg and synergid cells and characterized these genes using Gene Ontology analysis. The analysis suggested that epigenetic and posttranscriptional regulatory mechanisms are involved in the specification and/or maintenance of these cells. Comparisons between the rice profiles and reported Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) profiles revealed that genes enriched in the egg/synergid cell of rice were distinct from those in Arabidopsis.
Assuntos
Perfilação da Expressão Gênica , Oryza/genética , Óvulo Vegetal/genética , Biologia Computacional , Regulação da Expressão Gênica no Desenvolvimento , Regulação da Expressão Gênica de Plantas , Genes de Plantas , Análise de Sequência com Séries de Oligonucleotídeos , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas , RNA de Plantas/genética , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase ReversaRESUMO
In plant vegetative cells, mitochondria are usually small and grain-shaped. In contrast, unusually shaped giant mitochondria (large cup-shaped or long stretched-rod-shaped) appear in the egg cells of geranium, maize, Ipomoea nil, and bracken. In this study, to characterize egg cell mitochondria in rice, we used nonenzymatic manual dissection to isolate unfertilized egg cells of rice and observed the egg cell mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) simultaneously. These observations showed that the mitochondria in the rice egg cell are small and grain-shaped, unlike the mitochondria in geranium, maize, I. nil, and bracken. Double staining of mitochondria by MitoTracker and mtDNA by SYBR Green I showed that mitochondria in the rice egg cell have a large amount of mtDNA compared with the rice root protoplast. We also used real-time PCR analysis to quantify the mtDNA amount in the rice egg cell. We quantified the copy numbers of four mitochondrial genes per single rice egg cell and rice leaf protoplast. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that the egg cell has more than ten times more copy numbers of all of four genes encoded in the mitochondrial genome compared with the leaf protoplast.