Gibberellin acts through jasmonate to control the expression of MYB21, MYB24, and MYB57 to promote stamen filament growth in Arabidopsis.

Precise coordination between stamen and pistil development is essential to make a fertile flower. Mutations impairing stamen filament elongation, pollen maturation, or anther dehiscence will cause male sterility. Deficiency in plant hormone gibberellin (GA) causes male sterility due to accumulation of DELLA proteins, and GA triggers DELLA degradation to promote stamen development. Deficiency in plant hormone jasmonate (JA) also causes male sterility. However, little is known about the relationship between GA and JA in controlling stamen development. Here, we show that MYB21, MYB24, and MYB57 are GA-dependent stamen-enriched genes. Loss-of-function of two DELLAs RGA and RGL2 restores the expression of these three MYB genes together with restoration of stamen filament growth in GA-deficient plants. Genetic analysis showed that the myb21-t1 myb24-t1 myb57-t1 triple mutant confers a short stamen phenotype leading to male sterility. Further genetic and molecular studies demonstrate that GA suppresses DELLAs to mobilize the expression of the key JA biosynthesis gene DAD1, and this is consistent with the observation that the JA content in the young flower buds of the GA-deficient quadruple mutant ga1-3 gai-t6 rga-t2 rgl1-1 is much lower than that in the WT. We conclude that GA promotes JA biosynthesis to control the expression of MYB21, MYB24, and MYB57. Therefore, we have established a hierarchical relationship between GA and JA in that modulation of JA pathway by GA is one of the prerequisites for GA to regulate the normal stamen development in Arabidopsis.

DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B) mutations in ICF syndrome lead to altered epigenetic modifications and aberrant expression of genes regulating development, neurogenesis and immune function.

Genome-wide DNA methylation patterns are established and maintained by the coordinated action of three DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B. DNMT3B hypomorphic germline mutations are responsible for two-thirds of immunodeficiency, centromere instability, facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome cases, a rare recessive disease characterized by immune defects, instability of pericentromeric satellite 2-containing heterochromatin, facial abnormalities and mental retardation. The molecular defects in transcription, DNA methylation and chromatin structure in ICF cells remain relatively uncharacterized. In the present study, we used global expression profiling to elucidate the role of DNMT3B in these processes using cell lines derived from ICF syndrome and normal individuals. We show that there are significant changes in the expression of genes critical for immune function, development and neurogenesis that are highly relevant to the ICF phenotype. Approximately half the upregulated genes we analyzed were marked with low-level DNA methylation in normal cells that was lost in ICF cells, concomitant with loss of repressive histone modifications, particularly H3K27 trimethylation, and gains in transcriptionally active H3K9 acetylation and H3K4 trimethylation marks. In addition, we consistently observed loss of binding of the SUZ12 component of the PRC2 polycomb repression complex and DNMT3B to derepressed genes, including a number of homeobox genes critical for immune system, brain and craniofacial development. We also observed altered global levels of certain histone modifications in ICF cells, particularly ubiquitinated H2AK119. Therefore, this study provides important new insights into the role of DNMT3B in modulating gene expression and chromatin structure and reveals new connections between DNMT3B and polycomb-mediated repression.

Direct interaction of AGL24 and SOC1 integrates flowering signals in Arabidopsis.

During the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth, the shoot meristem of flowering plants acquires the inflorescence identity to generate flowers rather than vegetative tissues. An important regulator that promotes the inflorescence identity in Arabidopsis is AGAMOUS-LIKE 24 (AGL24), a MADS-box transcription factor. Using a functional estradiol-inducible system in combination with microarray analysis, we identified AGL24-induced genes, including SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CO 1 (SOC1), a floral pathway integrator. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis of a functional AGL24-6HA-tagged line revealed in vivo binding of AGL24-6HA to the regulatory region of SOC1. Mutagenesis of the AGL24 binding site in the SOC1 promoter decreased Pro(SOC1):GUS expression and compromised SOC1 function in promoting flowering. Our results show that SOC1 is one of the direct targets of AGL24, and that SOC1 expression is upregulated by AGL24 at the shoot apex at the floral transitional stage. ChIP assay using a functional SOC1-9myc-tagged line and promoter mutagenesis analysis also revealed in vivo binding of SOC1-9myc to the regulatory regions of AGL24 and upregulation of AGL24 at the shoot apex by SOC1. Furthermore, we found that as in other flowering genetic pathways, the effect of gibberellins on flowering under short-day conditions was mediated by the interaction between AGL24 and SOC1. These observations suggest that during floral transition, a positive-feedback loop conferred by direct transcriptional regulation between AGL24 and SOC1 at the shoot apex integrates flowering signals.

Gibberellin mobilizes distinct DELLA-dependent transcriptomes to regulate seed germination and floral development in Arabidopsis.

Severe Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) gibberellin (GA)-deficient mutant ga1-3 fails to germinate and is impaired in floral organ development. In contrast, the ga1-3 gai-t6 rga-t2 rgl1-1 rgl2-1 mutant confers GA-independent seed germination and floral development. This fact suggests that GA-regulated transcriptomes for seed germination and floral development are DELLA dependent. However, it is currently not known if all GA-regulated genes are GA regulated in a DELLA-dependent fashion and if a similar set of DELLA-regulated genes is mobilized to repress both seed germination and floral development. Here, we compared the global gene expression patterns in the imbibed seeds and unopened flower buds of the ga1-3 mutant with that of the wild type and of the ga1-3 gai-t6 rga-t2 rgl1-1 rgl2-1 mutant. We found that about one-half of total GA-regulated genes are apparently regulated in a DELLA-dependent fashion, suggesting that there might be a DELLA-independent or -partially-dependent component of GA-dependent gene regulation. A cross-comparison based on gene identity revealed that the GA-regulated DELLA-dependent transcriptomes in the imbibed seeds and flower buds are distinct from each other. Detailed ontology analysis showed that, on one hand, DELLAs differentially regulate the expression of different individual members of a gene family to run similar biochemical pathways in seeds and flower. Meanwhile, DELLAs control many functionally different genes to run specific pathways in seeds or flower buds to mark the two different developmental processes. Our data shown here not only confirm many previous reports but also single out some novel aspects of DELLA functions that are instructive to our future research.

HNF factors form a network to regulate liver-enriched genes in zebrafish.

Defects in some of liver-enriched genes in mammals will cause liver- and/or blood-related diseases. However, due to the fact that embryogenesis happens intrauterinally in the mammals, the function of these liver-enriched genes during liver organogenesis is poorly studied. We report here the identification of 129 genuine liver-enriched genes in adult zebrafish and show that, through in situ hybridization, 69 of these genes are also enriched in the embryonic liver. External embryogenesis coupled with the well-established morpholino-mediated gene knock-down technique in zebrafish offers us a unique opportunity to study if this group of genes plays any role during liver organogenesis in the future. As an example, preliminary study using morpholino-mediated gene knock-down method revealed that a novel liver-enriched gene leg1 is crucial for the liver expansion growth. We also report the analysis of promoter regions of 51 liver-enriched genes by searching putative binding sites for Hnf1, Hnf3, Hnf4 and Hnf6, four key transcription factors enriched in the liver. We found that promoter regions of majority of liver-enriched genes contain putative binding sites for more than one HNF factors, suggesting that most of liver-enriched genes are likely co-regulated by different combination of HNF factors. This observation supports the hypothesis that these four liver-enriched transcription factors form a network in controlling the expression of liver-specific or -enriched genes in the liver.

The two-component response regulator PprB modulates quorum-sensing signal production and global gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The response regulator PprB and its cognate sensor PprA were recently reported as a two-component regulatory system that controls membrane permeability and antibiotic sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We found that a Tn5 insertion mutation in pprB caused a drastic reduction in virulence factor production and cell motility. A transcriptome analysis revealed that 175 genes were regulated by PprB. Among the 113 PprB-activated genes, 85.5% are known to be activated by N-3-oxo-dodecanoyl-homoserine lactone (OdDHL) and N-butanoyl-homoserine lactone (BHL). In particular, the expression of lasI, rhlI and rhlR, which encode key components of the las and rhl quorum-sensing (QS) systems, were significantly decreased in the pprB mutant. These data suggest that PprB might regulate QS signal production. Measurement of OdDHL and BHL in cultures of the mutant sustained this hypothesis. By using various OdDHL- or BHL-responsive QS reporter systems, including lasB-lacZ, lasI-lacZ and rsaL-lacZ, we found that the mutation in pprB resulted in a large decrease in the sensitivity of P. aeruginosa to exogenous OdDHL. However, there was no difference in sensitivity to BHL. Further analysis showed that the OdDHL influx was significantly reduced in the pprB mutant. We conclude that PprB is a novel QS modulator that positively regulates N-acylhomoserine lactone production probably by affecting the OdDHL signal influx and thereby influences global expression of the QS-dependent genes.

Loss of function of def selectively up-regulates Delta113p53 expression to arrest expansion growth of digestive organs in zebrafish.

Transcription factor p53 forms a network with associated factors to regulate the cell cycle and apoptosis in response to environmental stresses. However, there is currently no direct genetic evidence to show if or how the p53 pathway functions during organogenesis. Here we present evidence to show that the zebrafish def (digestive-organ expansion factor) gene encodes a novel pan-endoderm-specific factor. A loss-of-function mutation in def confers hypoplastic digestive organs and selectively up-regulates the expression of Delta113p53, counterpart to a newly identified isoform of p53 produced by an alternative internal promoter in intron 4 of the p53 gene in human. The increased Delta113p53 expression is limited to within the mutant digestive organs, and this increase selectively induces the expression of p53-responsive genes to trigger the arrest of the cell cycle but not apoptosis, resulting in compromised organ growth in the mutant. Our data demonstrate that, while induction of expression of p53 and/or its isoforms is crucial to suppress abnormal cell growth, Delta113p53 is tightly regulated by an organ/tissue-specific factor Def, especially during organogenesis, to prevent adverse inhibition of organ/tissue growth.

Expression of a full-length hepatitis C virus cDNA up-regulates the expression of CC chemokines MCP-1 and RANTES.

We had previously reported the cloning of the complete genome of an isolate of hepatitis C virus (HCV), HCV-S1, of genotype 1b. We have constructed a full-length complementary DNA (cDNA) clone of HCV-S1 using nine overlapping cDNA clones that encompassed its entire genome. HCV core, E1, E2, NS-3, -4B, -5A, and -5B proteins were detected in 293T cells by immunoblot analyses when expression of the full-length HCV-S1 was driven under a CMV promoter. Expression of full-length HCV-S1 led to induction of the CC chemokines RANTES and MCP-1 at both the mRNA and the protein levels in HeLa, Huh7, and HepG2 cells. Reporter gene assays showed that a minimal MCP-1 promoter construct containing 128 nucleotides upstream of its translational start site was sufficient for optimal HCV-mediated activation. HCV induced AP-1 binding activities to this region, as determined from electrophoretic mobility shift assays and supershifts with anti-AP-1 antibodies. Transfection of full-length HCV-S1 up-regulated both AP-1 binding activities as well as c-jun transcripts. A minimal promoter construct containing 181 nucleotides upstream of the RANTES translational start site was sufficient for maximal HCV-mediated induction. Gel mobility shift and supershift assays showed that HCV induced NF-kappaB and other unknown binding activities to the A/B-site within this region. In HeLa cells, HCV core and NS5A could separately augment promoter activities of both MCP-1 and RANTES. In Huh7 cells, only NS5A produced a similar effect, while rather surprisingly, HCV core induced a dramatic reduction in promoter activities of these two genes. This study provides the first direct evidence for the induction of CC chemokines in HCV infection and draws attention to their roles in affecting the progress and outcome of HCV-associated liver diseases.

Inducible system in human hepatoma cell lines for hepatitis C virus production.

We cloned the complete complementary DNA of an isolate of the hepatitis C virus, HCV-S1, into a tetracycline-inducible expression vector and stably transfected it into two human hepatoma cell lines, Huh7 and HepG2. Twenty-six Huh7 and two HepG2-positive clones were obtained after preliminary screening. Two Huh7 (SH-7 and -9) and one HepG2 (G-19) clones were chosen for further characterisation. Expression of HCV proteins in these cells accumulated from 6 h to 4 days posttreatment. Full-length viral plus-strand RNA was detected by Northern analyses. Using RT-PCR and ribonuclease protection assay, we also detected the synthesis of minus-strand HCV RNA. Plus- and minus-strand viral RNA was still detected after treatment with actinomycin D. Indirect immunofluorescence staining with anti-E2, NS4B, and NS5A revealed that these proteins were mostly localised to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Culture media from tet-induced SH-9 cells was separated on sucrose density gradients and analysed for the presence of HCV RNA. Viral RNA levels peaked at two separate ranges, one with a buoyant density of 1.08 g/ml and another from 1.17 to 1.39 g/ml. Electron microscopy demonstrated the presence of subviral-like particles (approximately 20-25 nm in diameter) in the cytoplasm of SH-9 and G-19 cells, which were positively labelled by anti-HCV core antibodies. Anti-E2 antibodies strongly labelled cytoplasmic vesicular structures and some viral-like particles. Complete viral particles of about 50 nm which reacted with anti-E2 antibodies were observed in the culture media of tet-induced SH-9 cells following negative staining. Supernatant from tet-treated SH-9 cells was found to infect nai;ve Huh7 and stable Huh7-human CD81 cells.