Project description:BACKGROUND: Polar environments are characterized by extreme seasonal changes in day length, light intensity and spectrum, the extent of sea ice during the winter, and food availability. A key species of the Southern Ocean ecosystem, the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) has evolved rhythmic physiological and behavioral mechanisms to adapt to daily and seasonal changes. The molecular organization of the clockwork underlying these biological rhythms is, nevertheless, still only partially understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:The genome sequence of the Antarctic krill is not yet available. A normalized cDNA library was produced and pyrosequenced in the attempt to identify large numbers of transcripts. All available E. superba sequences were then assembled to create the most complete existing oligonucleotide microarray platform with a total of 32,217 probes. Gene expression signatures of specimens collected in the Ross Sea at five different time points over a 24-hour cycle were defined, and 1,308 genes differentially expressed were identified. Of the corresponding transcripts, 609 showed a significant sinusoidal expression pattern; about 40% of these exibithed a 24-hour periodicity while the other 60% was characterized by a shorter (about 12-hour) rhythm. We assigned the differentially expressed genes to functional categories and noticed that those concerning translation, proteolysis, energy and metabolic process, redox regulation, visual transduction and stress response, which are most likely related to daily environmental changes, were significantly enriched. Two transcripts of peroxiredoxin, thought to represent the ancestral timekeeping system that evolved about 2.5 billion years ago, were also identified as were two isoforms of the EsRh1 opsin and two novel arrestin1 sequences involved in the visual transduction cascade. CONCLUSIONS: Our work represents the first characterization of the krill diurnal transcriptome under natural conditions and provides a first insight into the genetic regulation of physiological changes, which occur around the clock during an Antarctic summer day

Project description:Seasonal cycles of light, temperature and precipitation provide signals that set the timing of gene expression and growth for trees. Conifers possess evergreen needles to sense and respond to year-round external signals. We monitored gene activity in Douglas-fir needles for one year and found that gene expression is dependent on light at daily and annual scales. The majority of rhythmic genes achieve maximum activity +/- 2 hours from sunrise and sunset, and +/- 20 days from the winter and summer solstices. Remarkably, the dormant period is characterized by significant gene activation, with thousands of genes achieving peak activity. This study identifies annual gene rhythms in conifers needles, and provides a framework for identifying genes that respond to other environmental cues. Background: Perennial growth in plants is the product of interdependent cycles of daily and annual stimuli that induce cycles of growth and dormancy. In conifers, needles are the key perennial organ that integrates daily and seasonal signals from light, temperature, and water availability. To understand the relationship between seasonal rhythms and seasonal gene expression responses in conifers, we examined diurnal and circannual needle mRNA accumulation in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) needles at diurnal and circannual scales. Using mRNA sequencing, we sampled 6.1x10^9 microreads from 19 trees and constructed a de novo pan-transcriptome reference that includes 173,882 tree-derived transcripts. Using this reference, we mapped RNA-Seq reads from 179 samples that capture daily, seasonal, and annual variation. Results: We identified 12,042 diurnally-cyclic transcripts, 9,299 of which showed homology to annotated genes from other plant genomes, including angiosperm core clock genes. Annual analysis revealed 21,225 annually-cyclic transcripts, 17,335 of which showed homology to annotated genes from other plant genomes. The timing of maximum gene expression is associated with light quality at diurnal and photoperiod at annual scales, with two-thirds of transcripts reaching maximum expression +/- 2 hours from sunrise and sunset, and half reaching maximum expression +/- 20 days from winter and summer solstices. Comparison to published microarray-based gene expression studies in spruce (Picea) show that the rank order of expression for 760 putatively orthologous genes was significantly preserved, highlighting the generality of our findings. Conclusions: This finding highlights the extensive annual and seasonal transcriptome variability demonstrated in conifer needles. At these temporal scales, 29% of expressed transcripts showed a significant diurnal rhythm, and 58.7% showed a significant circannual rhythm. Remarkably, thousands of genes reach their annual peak activity during winter dormancy, a time of metabolic stasis. Photoperiod appears to be a dominant driver of annual transcription patterns in Douglas-fir, and these results may be general for predicting rhythmic transcription patterns in emerging gymnosperm models.

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Seasonal changes in the transcriptome of bat eyes reveal adaptive changes to exploit summer twilight

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