Project description:Plants aquire nitrogen from the soil, most commonly in the form of either nitrate or ammonium. Unlike ammonium, nitrate must be reduced (with NADH and ferredoxin as electron donors) prior to assimilation. Thus, nitrate nutrition imposes a substantially greater energetic cost than ammonium nutrition. Our goal was to compare the transcriptomes of nitrate-supplied and ammonium-supplied plants, with a particular interest in characterizing the differences in redox metabolism elicited by different forms of inorganic nitrogen. We used microarrays to compare the short-term transcriptional response to either nitrogen supply or ammonium supply in Arabidopsis roots. Genes upregulated or downregulated by nitrate only, ammonium only, or both ammonium and nitrate were identified and analyzed. Arabidopsis thaliana (Col-0) plants were grown hydroponically until they reached growth stage 5.10. They were then transferred to a nitrogen-free medium for 26 hr and then supplied with 1 mM nitrate or 1 mM ammonium. RNA isolation (and subsequent microarray analysis) was performed on root tissue isolated just before nitrogen supply (time 0) and at 1.5 hr and 8 hr after nitrogen supply (1.5 hr nitrate, 8 hr nitrate, 1.5 hr ammonium, 8 hr ammonium).
Project description:Plants aquire nitrogen from the soil, most commonly in the form of either nitrate or ammonium. Unlike ammonium, nitrate must be reduced (with NADH and ferredoxin as electron donors) prior to assimilation. Thus, nitrate nutrition imposes a substantially greater energetic cost than ammonium nutrition. Our goal was to compare the transcriptomes of nitrate-supplied and ammonium-supplied plants, with a particular interest in characterizing the differences in redox metabolism elicited by different forms of inorganic nitrogen. We used microarrays to compare the short-term transcriptional response to either nitrogen supply or ammonium supply in Arabidopsis roots. Genes upregulated or downregulated by nitrate only, ammonium only, or both ammonium and nitrate were identified and analyzed.
Project description:Identification of the earliest transcriptional responses of adult Arabidopsis plant roots towards N-deprivation. Hydroponically grown Plants (35 days old) were 5 days adapted to nitrate or ammonium,respectively, as sole N-source to detect N-form specific transcripts.
Project description:In this study we explain the physiological, biochemical and gene expression mechanisms adopted by ammonium nitrate-fed Arabidopsis thaliana plants growing under elevated [CO2], highlighting the importance of root-to-shoot interactions in these responses A transcriptomic analysis enabled the identification of photoassimilate allocation and remobilization as fundamental process used by the plants to maintain the outstanding photosynthetic performance. Moreover, based on the relationship between plant carbon status and hormone functioning, the transcriptomic analyses provided an explanation of why phenology accelerates in elevated [CO2] conditions.
Project description:In this study we explain the physiological, biochemical and gene expression mechanisms adopted by ammonium nitrate-fed Arabidopsis thaliana plants growing under elevated [CO2], highlighting the importance of root-to-shoot interactions in these responses A transcriptomic analysis enabled the identification of photoassimilate allocation and remobilization as fundamental process used by the plants to maintain the outstanding photosynthetic performance. Moreover, based on the relationship between plant carbon status and hormone functioning, the transcriptomic analyses provided an explanation of why phenology accelerates in elevated [CO2] conditions.
Project description:Auxin is a key phytohormone regulating central processes in plants that include embryo development, lateral root growth and flower maturation among others. Auxin is sensed by a set of F-Box proteins of the TIR1/AFB3 family triggering auxin dependent responses by a pathway that involves an interplay between the Aux/IAA transcription repressors and the ARF transcription factors. We have previously shown that the AFB3 auxin receptor has a specific role in coordinating primary and lateral root growth to external and internal nitrate availability (Vidal et al., 2010). In this work, we used an integrated genomics, bioinformatics and molecular genetics approach to dissect regulatory networks acting downstream AFB3 that are activated by a transient nitrate treatment in Arabidopsis roots. Our systems approach unraveled key components of the AFB3 regulatory network leading to changes in lateral root growth in response to nitrate. Arabidopsis seedlings of the Ws and afb3-1 genotypes were grown on hydroponic medium containing 1X MS salts without Nitrogen, supplemented with 0.5 mM ammonium succinate as Nitrogen source and 3 mM sucrose on a Percival chamber under a photoperiod of 16 hours of light (100 μE/m2/sec) and 8 hours of dark at 22°C for 14 days. The plants were treated at the onset of the light cycle with 5 mM KNO3 or 5 mM KCl as control for 2 hours. Whole roots were cut from seedlings and frozen on liquid Nitrogen. Total RNA was extracted using the TriZol reagent. 3 independent biological replicates were performed.
Project description:Purpose: Analyze changes in the transcriptome of Arabidopsis thaliana in response to chronic exposure to silver nitrate at 4 μg/mL concentration. Methods: mRNA was extracted from non-treated and silver nitrate-treated 14-day old Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings using the RNAeasy extraction kit (Qiagen). RNA-seq libraries (3 rep/treatment and 3 reps/control) constructed with the TruSeq Stranded mRNA Sample Preparation kit (Illumina) were paired-end sequenced (100-nt read length) on an Illumina Nova Seq6000 system. Reads were mapped to the A. thaliana TAIR10 reference genome sequence and transcript levels were analyzed using the softare CLC Genomics Workbench (version 20.0.4, Qiagen). Results: Chronic exposure of A. thaliana plants to silver nitrate caused a change in the abundance of transcripts: AT2G01520 and AT4G12550, but no measureable impact on the rest of the transcriptome. Conclusions: Exposure of A. thaliana to silver nitrate at 4 μg/mL has minor impact on the transcriptome.
Project description:Nitrate and other nitrogen metabolites can act as signals that regulate global gene expression in plants. Adaptive changes in plant morphology and physiology triggered by changes in nitrate availability are partly explained by these changes in gene expression. Despite several genome-wide efforts to identify nitrate-regulated genes, no comprehensive study of the Arabidopsis root transcriptome under contrasting nitrate conditions has been carried out. In this work, we employed the Illumina high throughput sequencing technology to perform an integrated analysis of the poly-A+ enriched and the small RNA fractions of the Arabidopsis thaliana root transcriptome in response to nitrate treatments. Our sequencing strategy identified new nitrate-regulated genes including 40 genes not represented in the ATH1 Affymetrix GeneChip, a novel nitrate-responsive antisense transcript and a new nitrate responsive miRNA/TARGET module consisting of a novel microRNA, miR5640 and its target, AtPPC3. This nitrate-responsive miRNA/target module might be involved in controlling carbon flux to assimilate nitrate into amino acids, suggesting that microRNAs can have both developmental and metabolic functions in the nitrate response of Arabidopsis roots. Arabidopsis thaliana wild-type Col-0 plants were grown in hydroponic nitrate-free medium with 0.5 mM ammonium succinate as the only N-source for two weeks and were treated with 5 mM KNO3, or 5 mM KCl as control, for 2 hours. Total RNA from two independent sets of plants (biological replicates) was extracted from roots, and poly-A+ enriched and sRNA fractions were used to construct libraries for Illumina sequencing.