Characterisation of betalain biosynthesis in Parakeelya flowers identifies the key biosynthetic gene DOD as belonging to an expanded LigB gene family that is conserved in betalain-producing species.

Plant betalain pigments are intriguing because they are restricted to the Caryophyllales and are mutually exclusive with the more common anthocyanins. However, betalain biosynthesis is poorly understood compared to that of anthocyanins. In this study, betalain production and betalain-related genes were characterized in Parakeelya mirabilis (Montiaceae). RT-PCR and transcriptomics identified three sequences related to the key biosynthetic enzyme Dopa 4,5-dioxgenase (DOD). In addition to a LigB gene similar to that of non-Caryophyllales species (Class I genes), two other P. mirabilis LigB genes were found (DOD and DOD-like, termed Class II). PmDOD and PmDOD-like had 70% amino acid identity. Only PmDOD was implicated in betalain synthesis based on transient assays of enzyme activity and correlation of transcript abundance to spatio-temporal betalain accumulation. The role of PmDOD-like remains unknown. The striking pigment patterning of the flowers was due to distinct zones of red betacyanin and yellow betaxanthin production. The major betacyanin was the unglycosylated betanidin rather than the commonly found glycosides, an occurrence for which there are a few previous reports. The white petal zones lacked pigment but had DOD activity suggesting alternate regulation of the pathway in this tissue. DOD and DOD-like sequences were also identified in other betalain-producing species but not in examples of anthocyanin-producing Caryophyllales or non-Caryophyllales species. A Class I LigB sequence from the anthocyanin-producing Caryophyllaceae species Dianthus superbus and two DOD-like sequences from the Amaranthaceae species Beta vulgaris and Ptilotus spp. did not show DOD activity in the transient assay. The additional sequences suggests that DOD is part of a larger LigB gene family in betalain-producing Caryophyllales taxa, and the tandem genomic arrangement of two of the three B. vulgaris LigB genes suggests the involvement of duplication in the gene family evolution.

The effects of host defence elicitors on betacyanin accumulation in Amaranthus mangostanus seedlings.

The effect of elicitors associated with host defence on betacyanin accumulation in Amaranthus mangostanus seedlings was investigated. Under the conditions of the experiments, betacyanin accumulation was generally enhanced by light. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment increased betacyanin synthesis in a concentration-dependent response. Seedlings treated with ethylene as 5mM Ethephon also had elevated levels of betacyanin. In contrast, salicylic acid (SA) and H(2)O(2) treatments had no influence on betacyanin contents in light or dark. Combined MeJA with Ethephon or H(2)O(2) had an additive effect on betacyanin accumulation in dark-grown seedlings. However, a decline was recorded in light-grown seedlings. Moreover, an antagonistic effect on betacyanin synthesis was found when MeJA and SA were added simultaneously. Our results indicate that betacyanin content in A. mangostanus seedlings can be upregulated by MeJA and ethylene. Both additive and antagonistic effects in regulating betacyanin synthesis in A. mangostanus seedlings were observed between MeJA and other elicitors.

Stringent programming of DNA methylation in humans.

We describe a PCR-based method called Amplified Methylation Polymorphism (AMP) for scanning genomes for DNA methylation changes. AMP detects tissue-specific DNA methylation signatures often representing junctions between methylated and unmethylated DNA close to intronexon junctions and/or associated with CpG islands. Identical AMP profiles are detected for healthy, young, monozygotic twins.

Single-site mutations in the carboxyltransferase domain of plastid acetyl-CoA carboxylase confer resistance to grass-specific herbicides.

Grass weed populations resistant to aryloxyphenoxypropionate (APP) and cyclohexanedione herbicides that inhibit acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase; EC 6.4.1.2) represent a major problem for sustainable agriculture. We investigated the molecular basis of resistance to ACCase-inhibiting herbicides for nine wild oat (Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana Durieu) populations from the northern grain-growing region of Australia. Five amino acid substitutions in plastid ACCase were correlated with herbicide resistance: Ile-1,781-Leu, Trp-1,999-Cys, Trp-2,027-Cys, Ile-2,041-Asn, and Asp-2,078-Gly (numbered according to the Alopecurus myosuroides plastid ACCase). An allele-specific PCR test was designed to determine the prevalence of these five mutations in wild oat populations suspected of harboring ACCase-related resistance with the result that, in most but not all cases, plant resistance was correlated with one (and only one) of the five mutations. We then showed, using a yeast gene-replacement system, that these single-site mutations also confer herbicide resistance to wheat plastid ACCase: Ile-1,781-Leu and Asp-2,078-Gly confer resistance to APPs and cyclohexanediones, Trp-2,027-Cys and Ile-2,041-Asn confer resistance to APPs, and Trp-1,999-Cys confers resistance only to fenoxaprop. These mutations are very likely to confer resistance to any grass weed species under selection imposed by the extensive agricultural use of the herbicides.

Meiotic and epigenetic defects in Dnmt3L-knockout mouse spermatogenesis.

The production of mature germ cells capable of generating totipotent zygotes is a highly specialized and sexually dimorphic process. The transition from diploid primordial germ cell to haploid spermatozoa requires genome-wide reprogramming of DNA methylation, stage- and testis-specific gene expression, mitotic and meiotic division, and the histone-protamine transition, all requiring unique epigenetic control. Dnmt3L, a DNA methyltransferase regulator, is expressed during gametogenesis, and its deletion results in sterility. We found that during spermatogenesis, Dnmt3L contributes to the acquisition of DNA methylation at paternally imprinted regions, unique nonpericentric heterochromatic sequences, and interspersed repeats, including autonomous transposable elements. We observed retrotransposition of an LTR-ERV1 element in the DNA from Dnmt3L-/- germ cells, presumably as a result of hypomethylation. Later in development, in Dnmt3L-/- meiotic spermatocytes, we detected abnormalities in the status of biochemical markers of heterochromatin, implying aberrant chromatin packaging. Coincidentally, homologous chromosomes fail to align and form synaptonemal complexes, spermatogenesis arrests, and spermatocytes are lost by apoptosis and sloughing. Because Dnmt3L expression is restricted to gonocytes, the presence of defects in later stages reveals a mechanism whereby early genome reprogramming is linked inextricably to changes in chromatin structure required for completion of spermatogenesis.