Transcript profiling in M. truncatula lss and sunn-1 mutants reveals different expression profiles despite disrupted
Elise Schnabel1, Lucinda Smith, Sharon Long
1Department of Genetics & Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA.
Plant Signaling & Behavior
|December 15, 2010
Summary
A novel autoregulation of nodulation locus, lss, silences the SUNN gene in Medicago truncatula via cis-acting mechanisms. This finding reveals how gene regulation impacts plant development, even before nodulation occurs.
Area of Science:
- Plant molecular biology
- Genetics
- Gene regulation
Background:
- The autoregulation of nodulation (AON) pathway controls symbiotic interactions in legumes.
- The SUNN gene is crucial for regulating nodule formation in Medicago truncatula.
- Understanding cis-acting regulatory mechanisms is key to deciphering gene expression control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the function of the novel autoregulation of nodulation locus, lss.
- To elucidate the cis-acting mechanism by which lss silences the SUNN gene.
- To analyze the impact of lss and sunn-1 mutations on gene expression profiles.
Main Methods:
- Microarray analysis using the Affymetrix Gene Chip® Medicago Genome Array.
- Comparative gene expression profiling of wild type, sunn-1, and lss mutant Medicago truncatula seedlings.
- Analysis of gene expression differences in the absence of nodulation.
Main Results:
- The lss mutation leads to cis-acting silencing of the SUNN gene.
- In lss plants, only a few dozen genes show significant expression changes compared to wild type.
- In sunn-1 plants, hundreds of genes (over 800 probe sets) exhibit altered expression, indicating a broader regulatory role for SUNN.
- These expression differences are evident even in non-nodulating seedlings.
Conclusions:
- The lss locus represents a novel autoregulation mechanism that silences the SUNN gene through a cis-acting process.
- The kinase domain modification in sunn-1 significantly alters the receptor's influence on gene expression.
- The study highlights the importance of SUNN in regulating gene expression independently of nodulation status.
Related Concept Videos
02:24Ribosome Profiling
Ribosome profiling or ribo-sequencing is a deep sequencing technique that produces a snapshot of active translation in a cell. It selectively sequences the mRNAs protected by ribosomes to get an insight into a cell’s translation landscape at any given point in time.
Applications of ribosome profiling
Ribosome profiling has many applications, including in vivo monitoring of translation inside a particular organ or tissue type and quantifying new protein synthesis levels.
The technique helps...
Applications of ribosome profiling
Ribosome profiling has many applications, including in vivo monitoring of translation inside a particular organ or tissue type and quantifying new protein synthesis levels.
The technique helps...
03:18Non-LTR Retrotransposons
As the name suggests, non-LTR retrotransposons lack the long terminal repeats characteristic of the LTR retrotransposons. Additionally, both LTR and non-LTR retrotransposons use distinct mechanisms of mobilization. Non-LTR retrotransposons are further divided into two classes - Long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) and short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs), both of which occur abundantly in most mammals, including humans. Some of the active non-LTR retrotransposons in humans are L1...
01:32RNA Splicing
Splicing is the process by which eukaryotic RNA is edited before its translation into protein. The RNA strand transcribed from eukaryotic DNA is called the primary transcript. The primary transcripts that become mRNAs are called precursor messenger RNAs (pre-mRNAs). Eukaryotic pre-mRNA contains alternating sequences of exons and introns. Exons are nucleotide sequences that code for proteins, whereas introns are the non-coding regions. In RNA splicing, introns are removed and exons are bonded...