Natural variation of CT2 affects the embryo/kernel weight ratio in maize.

Embryo size is a critical trait determining not only grain yield but also the nutrition of the maize kernel. Up to present, only a few genes have been characterized affecting the maize embryo/kernel ratio. Here, we identify 63 genes significantly associated with maize embryo/kernel weight ratio using a genome-wide association study (GWAS). The peak GWAS signal shows that the natural variation in Zea mays COMPACT PLANT2 (CT2), encoding the heterotrimeric G protein α subunit, is significantly associated with the Embryo/Kernel Weight Ratio (EKWR), Further analyses show that a missense mutation of CT2 decreases its enzyme activity and associates with EKWR. The function of CT2 on affecting embryo/kernel weight ratio is further validated by characterization of two ct2 mutants, for which EKWR is significantly decreased. Subsequently, the key downstream genes of CT2 are identified by combining the differential expression analysis (DEG) of the ct2 mutant and quantitative trait transcript analysis in the GWAS population. In addition, the allele frequency spectrum shows that CT2 was under selective pressure during maize domestication. This study provides important genetic insights into the natural variation of maize embryo/kernel weight ratio, which could be applied in future maize breeding programs to improve grain yield and nutritional content.

Analysis of Raffinose Metabolism-Related Sugar Components in Seeds.

Raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) are synthesized from sucrose and subsequent addition of galactose moieties which was provided by galactinol. Galactinol is synthesized from UDP-galactose and myo-inositol. RFOs accumulate at late stage of seed development and play important roles in seed longevity. RFOs are major components in seeds of many plant species. Here, we document a methodology for extraction and quantitative analysis of raffinose metabolism-related soluble sugars or the derivative alcohols in plant seeds. This protocol, based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), achieves the efficient separation and accurate quantification of sucrose, myo-inositol, galactinol, and raffinose within 25 min of retention time.

Raffinose catabolism enhances maize waterlogging tolerance by stimulating adventitious root growth and development.

Raffinose mitigates plant heat, drought, and cold stresses; however, whether raffinose contributes to plant waterlogging tolerance is unknown. The maize raffinose synthase mutant zmrafs-1 had seedlings that lack raffinose, generated fewer and shorter adventitious roots, and were more sensitive to waterlogging stress, while overexpression of the raffinose synthase gene, ZmRAFS, increased raffinose content, stimulated adventitious root formation, and enhanced waterlogging tolerance of maize seedlings. Transcriptome analysis of null segregant seedlings compared with zmrafs-1, particularly when waterlogged, revealed that the expression of genes related to galactose metabolism and the auxin biosynthetic pathway were up-regulated by raffinose. Additionally, indole-3-acetic acid content was significantly decreased in zmrafs-1 seedlings and increased in ZmRAFS-overexpressing seedlings. Inhibition of the hydrolysis of raffinose by 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin decreased the waterlogging tolerance of maize seedlings, the expression of genes encoding proteins related to auxin transport-related genes, and the indole-3-acetic acid level in the seedlings, indicating that the hydrolysis of raffinose is necessary for maize waterlogging tolerance. These data demonstrate that raffinose catabolism stimulates adventitious root formation via the auxin signaling pathway to enhance maize waterlogging tolerance.

The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor gene, OsbHLH38, plays a key role in controlling rice salt tolerance.

The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is crucial for plant seed germination and abiotic stress tolerance. However, the association between ABA sensitivity and plant abiotic stress tolerance remains largely unknown. In this study, 436 rice accessions were assessed for their sensitivity to ABA during seed germination. The considerable diversity in ABA sensitivity among rice germplasm accessions was primarily reflected by the differentiation between the Xian (indica) and Geng (japonica) subspecies and between the upland-Geng and lowland-Geng ecotypes. The upland-Geng accessions were most sensitive to ABA. Genome-wide association analyses identified four major quantitative trait loci containing 21 candidate genes associated with ABA sensitivity of which a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor gene, OsbHLH38, was the most important for ABA sensitivity. Comprehensive functional analyses using knockout and overexpression transgenic lines revealed that OsbHLH38 expression was responsive to multiple abiotic stresses. Overexpression of OsbHLH38 increased seedling salt tolerance, while knockout of OsbHLH38 increased sensitivity to salt stress. A salt-responsive transcription factor, OsDREB2A, interacted with OsbHLH38 and was directly regulated by OsbHLH38. Moreover, OsbHLH38 affected rice abiotic stress tolerance by mediating the expression of a large set of transporter genes of phytohormones, transcription factor genes, and many downstream genes with diverse functions, including photosynthesis, redox homeostasis, and abiotic stress responsiveness. These results demonstrated that OsbHLH38 is a key regulator in plant abiotic stress tolerance.

Maize PIMT2 repairs damaged 3-METHYLCROTONYL COA CARBOXYLASE in mitochondria, affecting seed vigor.

PROTEIN l-ISOASPARTYL O-METHYLTRANSFERASE (PIMT) affects seed vigor by repairing damaged proteins. While PIMT is capable of isoaspartyl (isoAsp) repair in all proteins, those proteins most susceptible to isoAsp formation have not been well characterized, and the mechanisms by which PIMT affects seed vigor remain largely unknown. Using co-immunoprecipitation and LC-MS/MS, we found that maize (Zea mays) PIMT2 (ZmPIMT2) interacted predominantly with both subunits of maize 3-METHYLCROTONYL COA CARBOXYLASE (ZmMCC). ZmPIMT2 is specifically expressed in the maize embryo. Both mRNA and protein levels of ZmPIMT2 increased during seed maturation and declined during imbibition. Maize seed vigor was decreased in the zmpimt2 mutant line, while overexpression of ZmPIMT2 in maize and Arabidopsis thaliana increased seed vigor upon artificial aging. ZmPIMT2 was localized in the mitochondria, as determined by subcellular localization assays using maize protoplasts. ZmPIMT2 binding to ZmMCCα was confirmed by luciferase complementation tests in both tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) leaves and maize protoplasts. Knockdown of ZmMCCα decreased maize seed aging tolerance. Furthermore, overexpression of ZmPIMT2 decreased the accumulation of isoAsp of ZmMCCα protein in seed embryos that underwent accelerated aging treatment. Taken together, our results demonstrate that ZmPIMT2 binds ZmMCCα in mitochondria, repairs isoAsp damage, and positively affects maize seed vigor.

Alterations in Carbohydrate Quantities in Freeze-Dried, Relative to Fresh or Frozen Maize Leaf Disks.

For various reasons, leaves are occasionally lyophilized prior to storage at -80 °C and preparing extracts. Soluble carbohydrate identity and quantity from maize leaf disks were ascertained in two separate years using anion exchange HPLC with pulsed electrochemical detection. Analyses were made from disks after freezing in liquid nitrogen with or without subsequent lyophilization (both years) or directly after removal from plants with or without lyophilization (only in the second year). By adding the lyophilizing step, galactose content consistently increased and, frequently, so did galactoglycerols. The source of the galactose increase with the added lyophilizing step was not due to metabolizing raffinose, as the raffinose synthase (rafs) null mutant leaves, which do not make that trisaccharide, also had a similar increase in galactose content with lyophilization. Apparently, the ester linkages attaching free fatty acids to galactoglycerolipids of the chloroplast are particularly sensitive to cleavage during lyophilization, resulting in increases in galactoglycerols. Regardless of the galactose source, a systematic error is introduced for carbohydrate (and, most likely, also chloroplast mono- or digalactosyldiacylglycerol) amounts when maize leaf samples are lyophilized prior to extraction. The recognition of lyophilization as a source of galactose increase provides a cautionary note for investigators of soluble carbohydrates.

Raffinose positively regulates maize drought tolerance by reducing leaf transpiration.

Drought stress is one of the major constraints of global crop production. Raffinose, a non-reducing trisaccharide, has been considered to regulate positively the plant drought stress tolerance; however, evidence that augmenting raffinose production in leaves results in enhanced plant drought stress tolerance is lacking. The biochemical mechanism through which raffinose might act to mitigate plant drought stress remains unidentified. ZmRAFS encodes Zea mays RAFFINOSE SYNTHASE, a key enzyme that transfers galactose from the galactoside galactinol to sucrose for raffinose production. Overexpression of ZmRAFS in maize increased the RAFS protein and the raffinose content and decreased the water loss of leaves and enhanced plant drought stress tolerance. The biomass of the ZmRAFS overexpressing plants was similar to that of non-transgenic control plants when grown under optimal conditions, but was significantly greater than that of non-transgenic plants when grown under drought stress conditions. In contrast, the percentage of water loss of the detached leaves from two independent zmrafs mutant lines, incapable of synthesizing raffinose, was greater than that from null segregant controls and this phenomenon was partially rescued by supplementation of raffinose to detached zmrafs leaves. In addition, while there were differences in water loss among different maize lines, there was no difference in stomata density or aperture. Taken together, our work demonstrated that overexpression of the ZmRAFS gene in maize, in contrast to Arabidopsis, increased the raffinose content in leaves, assisted the leaf to retain water, and enhanced the plant drought stress tolerance without causing a detectable growth penalty.

WATER-SOAKED SPOT1 Controls Chloroplast Development and Leaf Senescence via Regulating Reactive Oxygen Species Homeostasis in Rice.

Transmembrane kinases (TMKs) play important roles in plant growth and signaling cascades of phytohormones. However, its function in the regulation of early leaf senescence (ELS) of plants remains unknown. Here, we report the molecular cloning and functional characterization of the WATER-SOAKED SPOT1 gene which encodes a protein belongs to the TMK family and controls chloroplast development and leaf senescence in rice (Oryza sativa L.). The water-soaked spot1 (oswss1) mutant displays water-soaked spots which subsequently developed into necrotic symptoms at the tillering stage. Moreover, oswss1 exhibits slightly rolled leaves with irregular epidermal cells, decreased chlorophyll contents, and defective stomata and chloroplasts as compared with the wild type. Map-based cloning revealed that OsWSS1 encodes transmembrane kinase TMK1. Genetic complementary experiments verified that a Leu396Pro amino acid substitution, residing in the highly conserved region of leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain, was responsible for the phenotypes of oswss1. OsWSS1 was constitutively expressed in all tissues and its encoded protein is localized to the plasma membrane. Mutation of OsWSS1 led to hyper-accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), more severe DNA fragmentation, and cell death than that of the wild-type control. In addition, we found that the expression of senescence-associated genes (SAGs) was significantly higher, while the expression of genes associated with chloroplast development and photosynthesis was significantly downregulated in oswss1 as compared with the wild type. Taken together, our results demonstrated that OsWSS1, a member of TMKs, plays a vital role in the regulation of ROS homeostasis, chloroplast development, and leaf senescence in rice.

Long non-coding RNA MRPS30 divergent transcript can be detected in the cytoplasm of triple-negative breast cancer cells and is targeted by microRNA-130b.

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) MRPS30 divergent transcript (also known as BRCAT54) is recently reported to promote lung cancer. The involvement of BRCAT54 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is unknown. This study investigated the role of BRCAT54 in TNBC. The expression of BRCAT54 and microRNA(miR)-130b was detected by RT-qPCR. The subcellular location of BRCAT54 in TNBC cells was analyzed by nuclear fractionation assay. Overexpression of BRCAT54 and miR-130b was achieved in TNBC cells to explore the interaction between then. The role of BRCAT54 and miR-130b in TNBC cell proliferation was evaluated by BrdU assay. BRCAT54 was downregulated in TNBC, while miR-130b was upregulated in TNBC tissues. BRCAT54 and miR-130b were inversely correlated across both TNBC and normal tissues. BRCAT54 was detected in cytoplasm and was predicted to be targeted by miR-130b. In TNBC cells, downregulation of BRCAT54 was observed after the overexpression of miR-130b. Moreover, BRCAT54 decreased cell proliferation and miR-130b increased cell proliferation. Besides, BRCAT54 suppressed the role of miR-130b in increasing cell proliferation. Therefore, BRCAT54 can be detected in cytoplasm and was targeted by miR-130b to increase cell proliferation.

ZmAGA1 Hydrolyzes RFOs Late during the Lag Phase of Seed Germination, Shifting Sugar Metabolism toward Seed Germination Over Seed Aging Tolerance.

Raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) are accumulated during the late stage of seed development and hydrolyzed during seed germination. The process of raffinose hydrolysis during seed germination and how this process affects seed vigor remains unknown. We report here that maize alkaline α-galactosidase 1 (ZmAGA1) protein is translationally induced and is capable of hydrolyzing RFOs as well as a precursor, galactinol, during seed germination. Constitutively overexpressing ZmAGA1 in Arabidopsis decreased both RFOs and galactinol contents of mature, desiccated, and 30 hours after imbibition (HAI) seeds, yet enhanced the seed germination percentage under either salt or somewhat osmotic-stress conditions at earlier times during the time course. However, ZmAGA1 overexpression also decreased the seed aging tolerance of mature, desiccated seeds as compared with wild type (WT) or those overexpressing GFP. Compared to that of WT control seeds, the atsip2 (mutant of Arabidopsis AtSIP2 (seed imbibition protein 2, encoding alkaline α-galactosidase)) seeds have similar RFOs and galactinol contents in mature, desiccated seeds but significantly increased the amount of these metabolites at 30 HAI. This retention of RFOs and galactinol in atsip2 results in seeds that exhibit lowered seed germination percentage under either salt or osmotic stress conditions, and yet, increased seed aging tolerance relative to WT. Similarly, when maize seeds were imbibed in the presence of a specific α-galactosidase inhibitor (1-deoxygalactonojirimycin) as compared to those imbibed in water, greater amounts of raffinose and galactinol were detected; the seeds exhibited decreased seed germination percentages but increased seed aging tolerance. Taken together, these data suggest that both maize seed germination and seed aging tolerance can be simultaneously regulated through careful temporal manipulation of ZmAGA1 expression.

ZmDREB2A regulates ZmGH3.2 and ZmRAFS, shifting metabolism towards seed aging tolerance over seedling growth.

Seed aging tolerance and rapid seedling growth are important agronomic traits for crop production; however, how these traits are controlled at the molecular level remains largely unknown. The unaged seeds of two independent maize DEHYDRATION-RESPONSIVE ELEMENT-BINDING2A mutant (zmdreb2a) lines, with decreased expression of GRETCHEN HAGEN3.2 (ZmGH3.2, encoding indole-3-acetic acid [IAA] deactivating enzyme), and increased IAA in their embryo, produced longer seedling shoots and roots, than the null segregant (NS) controls. However, the zmdreb2a seeds, with decreased expression of RAFFINOSE SYNTHASE (ZmRAFS) and less raffinose in their embryo, exhibit decreased seed aging tolerance, than the NS controls. Overexpression of ZmDREB2A in maize protoplasts increased the expression of ZmGH3.2, ZmRAFS genes and that of a Rennila LUCIFERASE reporter (Rluc) gene, which was controlled by either the ZmGH3.2- or ZmRAFS-promoter. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that ZmDREB2A directly binds to the DRE motif of the promoters of both ZmGH3.2 and ZmRAFS. Exogenous supplementation of IAA to the unaged, germinating NS seeds increased subsequent seedling growth making them similar to the zmdreb2a seedlings from unaged seeds. These findings provide evidence that ZmDREB2A regulates the longevity of maize seed by stimulating the production of raffinose while simultaneously acting to limit auxin-mediated cell expansion.

Raffinose synthase enhances drought tolerance through raffinose synthesis or galactinol hydrolysis in maize and Arabidopsis plants.

Raffinose and its precursor galactinol accumulate in plant leaves during abiotic stress. RAFFINOSE SYNTHASE (RAFS) catalyzes raffinose formation by transferring a galactosyl group of galactinol to sucrose. However, whether RAFS contributes to plant drought tolerance and, if so, by what mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we report that expression of RAFS from maize (or corn, Zea mays) (ZmRAFS) is induced by drought, heat, cold, and salinity stresses. We found that zmrafs mutant maize plants completely lack raffinose and hyper-accumulate galactinol and are more sensitive to drought stress than the corresponding null-segregant (NS) plants. This indicated that ZmRAFS and its product raffinose contribute to plant drought tolerance. ZmRAFS overexpression in Arabidopsis enhanced drought stress tolerance by increasing myo-inositol levels via ZmRAFS-mediated galactinol hydrolysis in the leaves due to sucrose insufficiency in leaf cells and also enhanced raffinose synthesis in the seeds. Supplementation of sucrose to detached leaves converted ZmRAFS from hydrolyzing galactinol to synthesizing raffinose. Taken together, we demonstrate that ZmRAFS enhances plant drought tolerance through either raffinose synthesis or galactinol hydrolysis, depending on sucrose availability in plant cells. These results provide new avenues to improve plant drought stress tolerance through manipulation of the raffinose anabolic pathway.

ZmDREB1A Regulates RAFFINOSE SYNTHASE Controlling Raffinose Accumulation and Plant Chilling Stress Tolerance in Maize.

Raffinose accumulation is positively correlated with plant chilling stress tolerance; however, the understanding of the function and regulation of raffinose metabolism under chilling stress remains in its infancy. RAFFINOSE SYNTHASE (RAFS) is the key enzyme for raffinose biosynthesis. In this study, we report that two independent maize (Zea mays) zmrafs mutant lines, in which raffinose was completely abolished, were more sensitive to chilling stress and their net photosynthetic product (total soluble sugars and starch) accumulation was significantly decreased compared with controls after chilling stress. A similar characterization of the maize dehydration responsive element (DRE)-binding protein 1A mutant (zmdreb1a) showed that ZmRAFS expression and raffinose content were significantly decreased compared with its control under chilling stress. Overexpression of maize ZmDREB1A in maize leaf protoplasts increased ZmDREB1A amounts, which consequently upregulated the expression of maize ZmRAFS and the Renilla LUCIFERASE (Rluc), which was controlled by the ZmRAFS promoter. Deletion of the single dehydration-responsive element (DRE) in the ZmRAFS promoter abolished ZmDREB1A's influence on Rluc expression, while addition of three copies of the DRE in the ZmRAFS promoter dramatically increased Rluc expression when ZmDREB1A was simultaneously overexpressed. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR demonstrated that ZmDREB1A directly binds to the DRE motif in the promoter of ZmRAFS both in vitro and in vivo. These data demonstrate that ZmRAFS, which was directly regulated by ZmDREB1A, enhances both raffinose biosynthesis and plant chilling stress tolerance.

Maize HSFA2 and HSBP2 antagonistically modulate raffinose biosynthesis and heat tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Raffinose is thought to play an important role in plant tolerance of abiotic stress. We report here that maize HEAT SHOCK FACTOR A2 (ZmHSFA2) and HEAT SHOCK BINDING PROTEIN 2 (ZmHSBP2) physically interact with each other and antagonistically modulate expression of GALACTINOL SYNTHASE2 (ZmGOLS2) and raffinose biosynthesis in transformed maize protoplasts and Arabidopsis plants. Overexpression of ZmHSFA2 in Arabidopsis increased the expression of Arabidopsis AtGOLS1, AtGOLS2 and AtRS5 (RAFFINOSE SYNTHASE), increased the raffinose content in leaves and enhanced plant heat stress tolerance. Contrary to ZmHSFA2, overexpression of ZmHSBP2 in Arabidopsis decreased expression of AtGOLS1, AtGOLS2 and AtRS5, decreased the raffinose content in leaves and reduced plant heat stress tolerance. ZmHSFA2 and ZmHSBP2 also interact with their Arabidopsis counterparts AtHSBP and AtHSFA2 as determined using bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. Furthermore, endogenous ZmHSBP2 and Rluc, controlled by the ZmHSBP2 promoter, are transcriptionally activated by ZmHSFA2 and inhibited by ZmHSBP2 in maize protoplasts. These findings provide insights into the transcriptional regulation of raffinose biosynthetic genes, and the tolerance their product confers to plant heat stress.

Maize VIVIPAROUS1 Interacts with ABA INSENSITIVE5 to Regulate GALACTINOL SYNTHASE2 Expression Controlling Seed Raffinose Accumulation.

Raffinose, an oligosaccharide found in many seeds, plays an important role in seed vigor; however, the regulatory mechanism governing raffinose biosynthesis remains unclear. We report here that maize W22 wild type (WT) seeds, but not W22 viviparous1 ( zmvp1) mutant seeds, start accumulating galactinol and raffinose 28 days after pollination (DAP). Transcriptome analysis of the zmvp1 embryo showed that the expression of GALACTINOL SYNTHASE2 ( GOLS2) was down-regulated relative to WT. Further experiments showed that the expression of ZmGOLS2 was up-regulated by ZmABI5 but not by ZmVP1, and it was further increased by the coexpression of ZmABI5 and ZmVP1 in maize protoplasts. ZmABI5 interacted with ZmVP1, while ZmABI5, but not ZmVP1, directly binds to the ZmGOLS2 promoter. Together, all of the findings suggest that ZmVP1 interacts with ZmABI5 and regulates ZmGOLS2 expression and raffinose accumulation in maize seeds.

Regulation of Seed Vigor by Manipulation of Raffinose Family Oligosaccharides in Maize and Arabidopsis thaliana.

Raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) accumulate in seeds during maturation desiccation in many plant species. However, it remains unclear whether RFOs have a role in establishing seed vigor. GALACTINOL SYNTHASE (GOLS), RAFFINOSE SYNTHASE (RS), and STACHYOSE SYNTHASE (STS) are the enzymes responsible for RFO biosynthesis in plants. Interestingly, only raffinose is detected in maize seeds, and a unique maize RS gene (ZmRS) was identified. In this study, we found that two independent mutator (Mu)-interrupted zmrs lines, containing no raffinose but hyperaccumulating galactinol, have significantly reduced seed vigor, compared with null segregant controls. Unlike maize, Arabidopsis thaliana seeds contain several RFOs (raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose). Manipulation of A. thaliana RFO content by overexpressing ZmGOLS2, ZmRS, or AtSTS demonstrated that co-overexpression of ZmGOLS2 and ZmRS, or overexpression of ZmGOLS2 alone, significantly increased the total content of RFOs and enhanced Arabidopsis seed vigor. Surprisingly, while overexpression of ZmRS increased seed raffinose content, its overexpression dramatically decreased seed vigor and reduced the seed amounts of galactinol, stachyose, and verbascose. In contrast, the atrs5 mutant seeds are similar to those of the wild type with regard to seed vigor and RFO content, except for stachyose, which accumulated in atrs5 seeds. Total RFOs, RFO/sucrose ratio, but not absolute individual RFO amounts, positively correlated with A. thaliana seed vigor, to which stachyose and verbascose contribute more than raffinose. Taken together, these results provide new insights into regulatory mechanisms of seed vigor and reveal distinct requirement for RFOs in modulating seed vigor in a monocot and a dicot.

ZmGOLS2, a target of transcription factor ZmDREB2A, offers similar protection against abiotic stress as ZmDREB2A.

GALACTINOL SYNTHASE is the first committed enzyme in the raffinose biosynthetic pathway. We have previously characterized the maize (Zea mays) GALACTINOL SYNTHASE2 gene (ZmGOLS2) as abiotic stress induced. To further investigate the regulation of ZmGOLS2 gene expression, individual luciferase expression vectors,in which the luciferase gene was controlled by different lengths of the ZmGOLS2 promoter, were co-transfected into maize protoplasts with either a ZmDREB2A- or a GFP-expression vector. Over-expression of ZmDREB2A up-regulated both the expression of the luciferase gene controlled by the ZmGOLS2 promoter and the endogenous ZmGOLS2 gene in protoplasts. Only one of the two DRE elements in the ZmGOLS2 promoter was identified as necessary for this up-regulation. Expression vectors of GFP, ZmGOLS2 or ZmDREB2A were stably transformed into Arabidopsis. Expression of ZmDREB2A up-regulated the AtGOLS3 gene but only over-expression of ZmGOLS2 resulted in hyper-accumulation of galactinol and raffinose. Regardless, under drought-, heat shock-, high osmotic- or salinity-stress conditions, both the ZmGOLS2- and the ZmDREB2A- expressing plants had greater germination percentages, greater percentages of seedlings becoming autotropic, and/or greater survival percentages during/after stress than the control plants. Under normal growing conditions, transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing the ZmGOLS2 gene had similar growth to that of untransformed wild type or GFP-expressing control plants, whereas ZmDREB2A over-expressing plants exhibited retarded growth relative to either of the controls. These data suggest that over-expression of ZmGOLS2, rather than the transcription factor ZmDREB2A, is a more practical target for generation of abiotic-stress tolerant crops.

HIV-1 Tat regulates the expression of the dcw operon and stimulates the proliferation of bacteria.

Infections of pathogenic bacteria are very common in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. However, the biological effects of HIV-1 Tat on bacteria are incompletely understood. In this study, HIV-1 Tat was expressed in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA01) to investigate its biological effects on bacteria. Bacterial cells expressing either HIV-1 Tat1-86 (Tat1-86) or HIV-1 Tat1-72 (Tat1-72) grow significantly faster than those with either only an empty vector or an unrelated control (GFP or Rluc). Supplementation of purified HIV-1 Tat1-86 or Tat1-101 protein into bacterial culture medium stimulated the growth of both E. coli and PA01. The expression profile of certain cell division-associated genes, such as those in the division cell wall (dcw) operon (ftsA, ftsQ, ftsW and ftsZ), yafO and zipA, was altered in HIV-1 Tat1-86 expressing E. coli BL21(DE3). Furthermore, the expression of firefly luciferase (Fluc) reporter gene, when engineered for control by the dcw promoter and terminator, was enhanced by HIV-1 Tat in E. coli, confirming that HIV-1 Tat transcriptionally regulates the expression of the dcw operon. The finding that HIV-1 Tat stimulates bacterial growth whether it is produced intracellularly or applied extracellularly may have relevance for HIV patients who are highly susceptible to opportunistic bacterial infections. Contents category: Viruses -Retroviruses. The GenBank accession number for the sequence of HIV-1 Tat1-86 is AF324439.1.

Engineering an enhanced, thermostable, monomeric bacterial luciferase gene as a reporter in plant protoplasts.

The application of the luxCDABE operon of the bioluminescent bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens as a reporter has been published for bacteria, yeast and mammalian cells. We report here the optimization of fused luxAB (the bacterial luciferase heterodimeric enzyme) expression, quantum yield and its application as a reporter gene in plant protoplasts. The fused luxAB gene was mutated by error prone PCR or chemical mutagenesis and screened for enhanced luciferase activity utilizing decanal as substrate. Positive luxAB mutants with superior quantum yield were subsequently shuffled by DNase I digestion and PCR assembly for generation of recombinants with additional increases in luciferase activity in bacteria. The coding sequence of the best recombinant, called eluxAB, was then optimized further to conform to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) codon usage. A plant expression vector of the final, optimized eluxAB gene (opt-eluxAB) was constructed and transformed into protoplasts of Arabidopsis and maize (Zea mays). Luciferase activity was dramatically increased for opt-eluxAB compared to the original luxAB in Arabidopsis and maize cells. The opt-eluxAB driven by two copies of the 35S promoter expresses significantly higher than that driven by a single copy. These results indicate that the eluxAB gene can be used as a reporter in plant protoplasts. To our knowledge, this is the first report to engineer the bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens luciferase luxAB as a reporter by directed evolution which paved the way for further improving the luxAB reporter in the future.

The identification and characterization of nucleic acid chaperone activity of human enterovirus 71 nonstructural protein 3AB.

Human enterovirus 71 (EV71) belongs to the genus Enterovirus in the family Picornaviridae and has been recognized as one of the most important pathogens that cause emerging infectious disease. Despite of the importance of EV71, the nonstructural protein 3AB from this virus is little understood for its function during EV71 replication. Here we expressed EV71 3AB protein as recombinant protein in a eukaryotic expression system and uncovered that this protein possesses a nucleic acid helix-destabilizing and strand annealing acceleration activity in a dose-dependent manner, indicating that EV71 3AB is a nucleic acid chaperone protein. Moreover, we characterized the RNA chaperone activity of EV71 3AB, and revealed that divalent metal ions, such as Mg(2+) and Zn(2+), were able to inhibit the RNA helix-destabilizing activity of 3AB to different extents. Moreover, we determined that 3B plus the last 7 amino acids at the C-terminal of 3A (termed 3B+7) possess the RNA chaperone activity, and five amino acids, i.e. Lys-80, Phe-82, Phe-85, Tyr-89, and Arg-103, are critical and probably the active sites of 3AB for its RNA chaperone activity. This report reveals that EV71 3AB displays an RNA chaperone activity, adds a new member to the growing list of virus-encoded RNA chaperones, and provides novel knowledge about the virology of EV71.