Virus-induced gene silencing in Rauwolfia species.

Elucidation of the monoterpene indole alkaloid biosynthesis has recently progressed in Apocynaceae through the concomitant development of transcriptomic analyses and reverse genetic approaches performed by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). While most of these tools have been primarily adapted for the Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), the VIGS procedure has scarcely been used on other Apocynaceae species. For instance, Rauwolfia sp. constitutes a unique source of specific and valuable monoterpene indole alkaloids such as the hypertensive reserpine but are also well recognized models for studying alkaloid metabolism, and as such would benefit from an efficient VIGS procedure. By taking advantage of a recent modification in the inoculation method of the Tobacco rattle virus vectors via particle bombardment, we demonstrated that the biolistic-mediated VIGS approach can be readily used to silence genes in both Rauwolfia tetraphylla and Rauwolfia serpentina. After establishing the bombardment conditions minimizing injuries to the transformed plantlets, gene downregulation efficiency was evaluated at approximately a 70% expression decrease in both species by silencing the phytoene desaturase encoding gene. Such a gene silencing approach will thus constitute a critical tool to identify and characterize genes involved in alkaloid biosynthesis in both of these prominent Rauwolfia species.

Calreticulin Mutations in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms: Comparison of Three Diagnostic Methods.

Calreticulin (CALR) mutations have recently been reported in 70-84% of JAK2V617F-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), and this detection has become necessary to improve the diagnosis of MPN. In a large single-centre cohort of 298 patients suffering from Essential Thrombocythemia (ET), the JAK2V617F, CALR and MPL mutations were noted in 179 (60%), 56 (18.5%) and 13 (4.5%) respectively. For the detection of the CALR mutations, three methods were compared in parallel: high-resolution melting-curve analysis (HRM), product-sizing analysis and Sanger sequencing. The sensitivity for the HRM, product-sizing analysis and Sanger sequencing was 96.4%, 98.2% and 89.3% respectively, whereas the specificity was 96.3%, 100% and 100%. In our cohort, the product-sizing analysis was the most sensitive method and was the easiest to interpret, while the HRM was sometimes difficult to interpret. In contrast, when large series of samples were tested, HRM provided results more quickly than did the other methods, which required more time. Finally, the sequencing method, which is the reference method, had the lowest sensitivity but can be used to describe the type of mutation precisely. Altogether, our results suggest that in routine laboratory practice, product-sizing analysis is globally similar to HRM for the detection of CALR mutations, and that both may be used as first-line screening tests. If the results are positive, Sanger sequencing can be used to confirm the mutation and to determine its type. Product-sizing analysis provides sensitive and specific results, moreover, with the quantitative measurement of CALR, which might be useful to monitor specific treatments.

Molecular cloning and functional characterization of Catharanthus roseus hydroxymethylbutenyl 4-diphosphate synthase gene promoter from the methyl erythritol phosphate pathway.

The Madagascar periwinkle produces monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIA) of high interest due to their therapeutical values. The terpenoid moiety of MIA is derived from the methyl erythritol phosphate (MEP) and seco-iridoid pathways. These pathways are regarded as the limiting branch for MIA biosynthesis in C. roseus cell and tissue cultures. In previous studies, we demonstrated a coordinated regulation at the transcriptional and spatial levels of genes from both pathways. We report here on the isolation of the 5'-flanking region (1,049 bp) of the hydroxymethylbutenyl 4-diphosphate synthase (HDS) gene from the MEP pathway. To investigate promoter transcriptional activities, the HDS promoter was fused to GUS reporter gene. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of young tobacco leaves revealed that the cloned HDS promoter displays a tissue-specific GUS staining restricted to the vascular region of the leaves and limited to a part of the vein that encompasses the phloem in agreement with the previous localization of HDS transcripts in C. roseus aerial organs. Further functional characterizations in stably or transiently transformed C. roseus cells allowed us to identify the region that can be consider as the minimal promoter and to demonstrate the induction of HDS promoter by several hormonal signals (auxin, cytokinin, methyljasmonate and ethylene) leading to MIA production. These results, and the bioinformatic analysis of the HDS 5'-region, suggest that the HDS promoter harbours a number of cis-elements binding specific transcription factors that would regulate the flux of terpenoid precursors involved in MIA biosynthesis.

CaaX-prenyltransferases are essential for expression of genes involvedin the early stages of monoterpenoid biosynthetic pathway in Catharanthus roseus cells.

CaaX-prenyltransferases (CaaX-PTases) catalyse the covalent attachment of isoprenyl groups to conserved cysteine residues located at the C-terminal CaaX motif of a protein substrate. This post-translational modification is required for the function and/or subcellular localization of some transcription factors and components of signal transduction and membrane trafficking machinery. CaaX-PTases, including protein farnesyltransferase (PFT) and type-I protein geranylgeranyltransferase (PGGT-I), are heterodimeric enzymes composed of a common alpha subunit and a specific beta subunit. We have established RNA interference cell lines targeting the beta subunits of PFT and PGGT-I, respectively, in the Catharanthus roseus C20D cell line, which synthesizes monoterpenoid indole alkaloids in response to auxin depletion from the culture medium. In both types of RNAi cell lines, expression of a subset of genes involved in the early stage of monoterpenoid biosynthetic pathway (ESMB genes), including the MEP pathway, is strongly decreased. The role of CaaX-PTases in ESMB gene regulation was confirmed by using the general prenyltransferase inhibitor s-perillyl alcohol (SP) and the specific PFT inhibitor Manumycin A on the wild type line. Furthermore, supplementation of SP inhibited cells with monoterpenoid intermediates downstream of the steps encoded by the ESMB genes restores monoterpenoid indole alkaloids biosynthesis. We conclude that protein targets for both PFT and PGGT-I are required for the expression of ESMB genes and monoterpenoid biosynthesis in C. roseus, this represents a non previously described role for protein prenyltransferase in plants.