Metabolomics,Unknown,Transcriptomics,Genomics,Proteomics

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Differential expression of genes in the leaves of sugarcane in response to sugar accumulation

ABSTRACT: In C4 sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids), photosynthetic activity has been shown to be regulated by the demand for carbon from sink tissues. There is evidence, from other plant species, that sink-limitation of photosynthesis is facilitated by sugar-signaling mechanisms in the leaf that affect photosynthesis through regulation of gene expression. In this work, we manipulated leaf sugar levels by cold-girdling leaves (5oC) for 80 h to examine the mechanisms whereby leaf sugar accumulation affects photosynthetic activity and assess whether signaling mechanisms reported for other species operate in sugarcane. During this time, sucrose and hexose concentrations above the girdle increased by 77% and 81%, respectively. Conversely, leaf photosynthetic activity (A) and electron transport rates (ETR) decreased by 66% and 54%, respectively. Quantitative expression profiling by means of an Affymetrix GeneChip Sugarcane Genome Array was used to identify genes responsive to cold-girdling (56 h). A number of genes (74) involved in primary and secondary metabolic pathways were identified as being differentially expressed. Decreased expression of genes related to photosynthesis and increased expression of genes involved in assimilate partitioning, cell wall synthesis, phosphate metabolism and stress were observed. Furthermore four probe sets homologous to trehalose 6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP; EC 5.3.1.1) and trehalose 6-phosphate synthase (TPS; EC 2.4.1.15) were up- and down-regulated, respectively, indicating a possible role for trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) as a putative sugar-sensor in sugarcane leaves. Twelve month-old field grown Saccharum spp. (L.) hybrid cv. N19 (N19) cultivated at Mount Edgecombe, KwaZulu-Natal (SASRI) were used in the study, which was conducted in November, 2006. Plants were grown on a 5 x 15 m plot located on a north-east facing slope with a gradient of ca. 10o. Cold-girdles were attached to sugarcane leaves (n=4) for a period of 56 h prior to harvest. The girdle consisted of 0.75 cm (diameter) soft plastic tubing, firmly clamped around each leaf, approximately 30 cm from the leaf base. Cooled water maintained at 5oC was then pumped through the tubing using a Grant LTD6G cooling bath (Grant Instruments, Barrington, Cambridge, UK). At harvest, leaf samples were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen (–196oC) and subsequently milled in an A11 Basic Analysis Mill (IKA, Staufen, Germany). Ground leaf tissue was stored at –80oC in 50 ml centrifuge tubes prior to analysis.

ORGANISM(S): Saccharum officinarum

SUBMITTER: Alistair McCormick

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-11934 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress

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Project description:Knowledge about an organismâs cell and tissue-specific transcriptional repertoire is essential for understanding the gene regulatory circuits that control key developmental events. The shoot apical meristem (SAM) is responsible for development of all the above ground parts of plants. Our understanding of SAM at the molecular level is far from complete. The present work investigates the global gene expression repertoire of SAMs in the garden pea (Pisum sativum). To this end, 10,346 EST sequences representing 7611 unique genes were generated from pea SAM cDNA libraries. These sequences, together with previously reported ESTs, were used to construct a 12K oligonucleotide array used to identify genes exhibiting differential SAM expression, as compared to the axillary meristem, root apical meristem, and non-meristematic tissues. We identified a number of genes that are predominantly expressed in specific cell layers or domains of the SAM, and thus are likely components of the gene networks involved in stem cell maintenance and initiation of lateral organ primordial cells. In situ hybridization confirmed the spatial localisation of some of these key genes within the SAM. Our data also indicate the diversification of some gene expression patterns and functions in legume crop plants. RNA samples were hybridized to two-colour Combimatrix arrays manufactured with a custom library of 11958 probes. The limma software package for R (Smyth, 2005) was used in subsequent statistical analysis of the data generated. On examination of the data during quality control assessment, it became evident that the Cy3 channel showed little dynamic range and background correction and normalisation could not correct for this. Therefore only the Cy5 channel was used in the subsequent analysis. This resulted in somewhat unbalanced sample sizes with six replicates of SAM and one each of RAM, AM and NM. Nevertheless, linear modelling and empirical Bayes moderated t-statistics (Smyth, 2004) used in the statistical analysis allows variance information to be borrowed across both samples and genes, resulting in reliable statistical inference even for the groups with only one sample.

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Differential expression of genes in the leaves of sugarcane in response to sugar accumulation

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