Project description:Heat stress is one of the major abiotic stress factor that affects wheat yield. Especially, heat stress during grain filling affects grain yield besides reduced grain quality. So, in our present study, three genotypes with varied levels of tolerance to heat stress were chosen. They were subjected to heat stress at two stages for three days viz., early (11-14days-post-anthesis) and late (27-30dpa) grain filling independently under controlled conditions. At 14 and 30dpa, the spikes were harvested from control and stress conditions from all the three genotypes, grains were isolated and pulverized. Hence pulverized tissues are used for RNA extraction and further for transcriptome sequencing using HiSeq 4000. Data were analyzed to identify the genes involved in imparting heat stress tolerance.
Project description:For many potato cultivars, tuber yield is optimal at average day time temperatures in the range of 14-22 ⁰C. Further rises in ambient temperature can reduce or completely inhibit potato tuber production, with damaging consequences for both producer and consumer. In our previous work we observed that the steady-state expression level of the core circadian clock gene, TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION 1 (TOC1), in potato tubers increased at moderately elevated temperature, whereas expression of the tuberisation signal gene StSP6A decreased along with tuber yield. In this study we investigated the potential roles of StTOC1 in linking environmental signalling and potato tuberisation. We show that transgenic lines with decreased expression of StTOC1 exhibit enhanced StSP6A transcript levels in tuberising stolons, and show changes in gene expression consistent with elevated tuber sink strength.
Project description:The English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae, is a major agricultural pest of wheat, barley and oats, and is a major vector of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) leading to reductions in grain yield. RNA-seq data from a genotype (SA3) was generated from heads and bodies, and from winged and unwinged aphids. The primary goal was to generate evidence for genome annotation, and the secondary goal was to compare expression of genes between head and body, and also between winged and unwinged aphids.
Project description:Recent advances have defined some of the components of photoperiodic signalling that lead to tuberisation in potato including orthologues of FLOWERING LOCUS T (StSP6A) and CYCLING DOF FACTOR (StCDF1). The aim of the current study is to investigate the molecular basis of permissive tuber initiation under long days in Solanum tuberosum Neo-Tuberosum by comparative analysis with an obligate short day Solanum tuberosum ssp. Andigena accession. We show that the Neo-Tuberosum accession, but not the Andigena, contains alleles that encode StCDF1 proteins modified in the C-terminal region, likely to evade long day inhibition of StSP6A expression. We also identify an allele of StSP6A from the Neo-Tuberosum accession, absent in the Andigena, which is expressed under long days. Other leaf transcripts and metabolites that show different abundances in tuberising and non-tuberising samples were identified adding detail to tuberisation-associated processes. Overall, the data presented in this study highlight the subtle interplay between components of the clock-CONSTANS-StSP6A axis which collectively may interact to fine-tune the timing of tuberisation.
Project description:Investigation of genome wide expression level changes during 11 stages of wheat grain development in normal growth conditions (19°C).
Project description:High temperature markedly reduces the yields and quality of rice grains. To identify the mechanisms underlying heat stress-induced responses in rice grains, proteomic technique was used. Khao Dawk Mali 105 rice grains at the milky, doughy, and mature stages of development after flowering were treated at 40 °C for 3 days. Aromatic compounds were decreased in rice grains under heat stress. The protein abundance involved in glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid cycle, including glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and citrate synthase, was changed in milky and doughy grains after heat treatment; however, no changes in mature grains. The abundance involved in amino acid metabolism was increased in doughy grains, but decreased in milky grains. In addition, the abundance involved in starch and sucrose metabolism, such as starch synthase, ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, granule-bound starch synthase, and alpha amylase, was decreased in milky grains, but increased in doughy grains. A number of redox homeostasis-related proteins, such as ascorbate peroxidase and peroxiredoxin, were increased in developing rice grains treated with heat stress. These results suggest that in response to heat stress, the abundance of numerous proteins involved in redox homeostasis and carbohydrate biosynthetic pathways may play a major role in the development of KDML105 rice grains.
Project description:Different wheat cultivars may be classified as either winter or spring varieties depending on whether they require exposure to an extended period of cold in order to become competent to flower. Using a growth regime that mimics the conditions that occur during a typical winter in Britain, we wished to survey the genes that are involved in phase transition as well as those involved in cold-acclimation. Experiment Overall Design: We wished to study the profiles of expression of genes involved in both phase transition (vegetative to reproductive growth transition) and cold-acclimation. To that end we we exposed plants to a gradual, stepped decline in both temperature and light. We sampled plants at three time points (3 weeks post-germination, 5 weeks post germination and 9 weeks post germination). We took samples from two separate tissues (crown and leaf) to se whether responses were different. We used two biological reps for each time point and tissue. Control plants were exposed to a delined in day-length and light intensity, but not in temperature.
Project description:Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a major disease of cereal crops caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum (Fg). FHB affecting the flowering heads (or spikes). A FHB resistance locus has been identified on the chromosome 7E of the wild wheat relative Thinopyrum elongatum (Th.e.). That chromosome (7E) or a long arm fragment of it (7EL) have been transferred as additions in the wheat background 'Chinese Spring' (CS). The two addition lines are resistant to FHB while 'Chinese Spring' is moderately susceptible to it. The mechanism of resistance is not known. The analysis of this work is published in the Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology (Wang et al, 2010). We used the wheat microarray to determine the global expression profil in inoculated spikelets of the addition and parental lines, after water or Fg treatment, with samplings at 2 and 4 days after inoculation (DAI).