ASYMMETRIC LEAVES2 gene, a member of LOB/AS2 family of Arabidopsis thaliana, causes an abaxializing leaves in transgenic cockscomb.

The leaf primordium derives from the peripheral zone of shoot apical meristem. During the formation of leaf primordia, they need to establish the proximodistal, mediolateral, and ab/adaxial axes. Among these axes, the ab/adaxial axis might be the most important. ASYMMETRIC LEAVES2 (AS2) gene is a member of AS2/LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARY (LOB) family of Arabidopsis thaliana. In this work, we transformed 35S:AS2 transgene constructs to cockscomb (Celosia cristata) via Agrobacterium tumefaciens. All primary transformants subsequently obtained were placed into phenotypic categories and self-pollinated. As a whole, a total of 44 T1 35S:AS2 cockscomb plants obtained were grouped into two major categories: (I) slightly wrinkled leaves (28/44), (II) extremely curved leaves (16/44), on the basis of their leaf phenotypes. Furthermore, we characterized the anatomical features of these malformed leaves; and found the transformation of adaxial cell types into abaxial cell ones. A series of data suggest that AS2 might be involved in the determination of abaxial polarity in cockscomb plants. However, a few research teams have reported that AS2 might be involved in the determination of adaxial polarity in leaf primodia of Arabidopsis thaliana. These data above indicate that the roles of the same ab/adaxial determinant might differ between distinct species. At last, the different function of AS2 in distinct species was discussed.

Plant regeneration and cellular behaviour studies in Celosia cristata grown in vivo and in vitro.

Tissue culture studies of Celosia cristata were established from various explants and the effects of various hormones on morphogenesis of this species were examined. It was found that complete plant regeneration occurred at highest percentage on MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L NAA and 1.5 mg/L BAP, with the best response showed by shoot explants. In vitro flowering was observed on MS basal medium after six weeks. The occurrence of somaclonal variation and changes in cellular behavior from in vivo and in vitro grown plants were investigated through cytological studies and image analysis. It was observed that Mitotic Index (MI), mean chromosome numbers, and mean nuclear to cell area ratio of in vitro root meristem cells were slightly higher compared to in vivo values. However, in vitro plants produced lower mean cell areas but higher nuclear areas when compared to in vivo plants. Thus, no occurrence of somaclonal variation was detected, and this was supported by morphological features of the in vitro plants.

Genetic diversity and population structure of Celosia argentea and related species revealed by SRAP.

Genetic diversity of 16 populations of Celosia argentea L. and 6 populations of Celosia cristata L. in China was investigated using sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP). Ten SRAP primer combinations generated 507 scorable amplification bands ranging from 50 to 2000 bp, among which 274 were polymorphic, with an average of 54 polymorphic bands per primer combination. The unweighted pair group method of arithmetic averages (UPGMA) cluster analysis enabled construction of a phylogenetic tree for estimating genetic distance among populations, which agreed well with the geographic origin information. Twenty-two populations were distinctly separated into two major genetic groups. One typical representative fragment, M1E6 in C. argentea, provided an alternative approach to distinguish C. argentea from C. cristata. Also, great genetic diversity found in C. argentea populations by significant geographic difference was confirmed by a high level of population genetics parameters. The information may be beneficial to future breeding selection and conservation management for populations of C. argentea.

Molecular cloning and functional identification of a ribosome inactivating/antiviral protein from leaves of post-flowering stage of Celosia cristata and its expression in E. coli.

A full-length cDNA clone, encoding a ribosome inactivating/antiviral protein (RIP/AVP) was isolated from the cDNA library of post-flowering stage of Celosia cristata leaves. The full-length cDNA consisted of 1015 nucleotides, with an open reading frame encoding 283 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence had a putative active site domain conserved in other ribosome inactivating/antiviral proteins (RIPs/AVPs). The coding region of the cDNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as recombinant protein of 72 kDa. The expressed fusion product was confirmed by Western analysis and purification by affinity chromatography. Both the recombinant protein (reCCP-27) and purified expressed protein (eCCP-27) inhibited translation in rabbit reticulocytes showing IC50 values at 95 ng and 45 ng, respectively. The native purified nCCP-27 has IC50 at 25 ng. The purified product also showed N-glycosidase activity towards tobacco ribosomes and antiviral activity towards tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and sunnhemp rosette virus (SRV).

Modifications in the purification protocol of Celosia cristata antiviral proteins lead to protein that can be N-terminally sequenced.

Plants antiviral proteins are being used as anticancer agents and inhibit other viral diseases in humans. We modified the purification protocol of the two N-terminally blocked antiviral glycoproteins, CCP-25 and CCP-27, purified from the leaves of Celosia cristata. This not only gave rise to single pure samples with few steps of purification but also resulted in N-terminally free proteins. The extra purity of the samples was analyzed by reverse phase HPLC. Deglycosylation studies of CCP-25 with PNGase F enzyme revealed that its asparagine or asparagine-linked glycon contents are negligible. Partial N-terminal sequence of the CCP-25 showed the sequence (ANDIS), which seems to be conserved among plant antiviral proteins.

DUF538 protein super family is predicted to be the potential homologue of bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein in plant system.

DUF538 protein super family includes a number of plant proteins that their role is not yet clear. These proteins have been frequently reported to be expressed in plants under various stressful stimuli such as bacteria and elicitors. In order to further understand about this protein family we utilized bioinformatics tools to analyze its structure in details. As a result, plants DUF538 was predicted to be the partial structural homologue of BPI (bactericidal/permeability increasing) proteins in mammalian innate immune system that provides the first line of defense against different pathogens including bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. Moreover, on the base of the experimental data, it was identified that exogenously applied purified fused product of Celosia DUF538 affects the bacterial growth more possibly similar to BPI through the binding to the bacterial membranes. In conclusion, as the first ever time report, we nominated DUF538 protein family as the potential structural and functional homologue of BPI protein in plants, providing a basis to study the novel functions of this protein family in the biological systems in the future.

Heterologous expression of stress-responsive DUF538 domain containing protein and its morpho-biochemical consequences.

As a usual response, plants induce/activate various proteins which are thought to be involved in defense mechanisms against the biotic and abiotic stresses they may be confronted with. The novel DUF538 domain containing proteins with unknown functions have been found to be induced/activated in response to different environmental stress stimuli in plants. In order to perform biochemical studies with these new plant stress-responsive proteins, a cDNA containing DUF538 domain was amplified from Celosia cristata full-length leaf expression library using a specific primer set. The isolated cDNA was subsequently expressed in Escherichia coli as a part of maltose-binding fusion protein (MBP-DUF538 construct) and purified at the yield of about 32 mg per liter of cell culture by affinity chromatography without affecting the recombinant bacterial cell growth. The purified fusion product was exogenously applied (10 µg per 4 cm(2)) on the leaves of Nicotiana tobaccum L. The results revealed that fused DUF538 protein does not induce morphological reposes, but elevates redox enzyme activities including catalase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and phenyalanine ammonia lyase. This is the first time ever time report with respect to the heterologous expression of a plant stress-responsive DUF538 domain that may provide a basis to study its physiological roles and biochemical activities in vitro and in vivo.

Isolation and characterization of cDNAs encoding an enzyme with glucosyltransferase activity for cyclo-DOPA from four o'clocks and feather cockscombs.

cDNAs encoding an enzyme with UDP-glucose:cyclo-DOPA 5-O-glucosyltransferase activity were isolated from four o'clocks and feather cockscombs. Phylogenetic analysis of the amino acid sequences deduced from the cDNAs show that they represent a single subclade distinct from those of other phenylpropanoid and flavonoid glucosyltransferases. Changes in the amount of transcripts of the cDNA in four o'clocks correlated with the accumulation of betanin during flower development. The cDNAs isolated here were candidates for the gene of the enzyme involved in another pathway of betacyanin biosynthesis via glucosylation at the cyclo-DOPA step rather than at the betanidin step.

Cloning and expression of small cDNA fragment encoding strong antiviral peptide from Celosia cristata in Escherichia coli.

A small cDNA fragment containing a ribosome-inactivating site was isolated from the leaf cDNA population of Celosia cristata by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR was conducted linearly using a degenerate primer designed from the partially conserved peptide of ribosome-inactivating/antiviral proteins. Sequence analysis showed that it is 150 bp in length. The cDNA fragment was then cloned in a bacterial expression vector and expressed in Escherichia coli as a ~57 kD fused protein, and its presence was further confirmed by Western blot analysis. The recombinant protein was purified by affinity chromatography. The purified product showed strong antiviral activity towards tobacco mosaic virus on host plant leaves, Nicotiana glutinosa, indicating the presence of a putative antiviral determinant in the isolated cDNA product. It is speculated that antiviral site is at, or is separate but very close to, the ribosome-inactivating site. We nominate this short cDNA fragment reported here as a good candidate to investigate further the location of the antiviral determinants. The isolated cDNA sequence was submitted to EMBL databases under accession number of AJ535714.