Project description:We present results from deep sequencing of small RNA populations from several genotypes of soybean and demonstrate that the CHS siRNAs accumulated only in the seed coats of the yellow varieties having either the dominant I or i-i alleles and not in the pigmented seed coats with homozygous recessive i genotypes. However, the diagnostic CHS siRNAs did not accumulate in the cotyledons of genotypes with the dominant I or i-i alleles thus demonstrating the novelty of an endogenous inverted repeat region of CHS genes driving RNA silencing in trans of non-linked CHS family members in a tissue-specific manner. The phenomenon results in inhibition of a metabolic pathway by siRNAs in one tissue allowing expression of the flavonoid pathway and synthesis of secondary metabolites in other organs as the chalcone synthase small RNAs are found in the seed coats of yellow seeded soybean varieties but not in the cotyledons of the same genotype. In order to compare the population of chalcone synthase related small RNAs, we sequenced 3 to 6 million small RNAs using the Illumina Genome Analyzer from the following four soybean cultivars and tissues with specific genotypes at the I locus: Richland immature seed coats (homozygous for the dominant I allele that specifies yellow seed coat); Williams immature seed coats (homozygous for the dominant i-i allele that specifies yellow seed coat with pigmented hilum) Williams (i-i/i-i yellow) immature cotyledons (homozygous for the dominant i-i allele that specifies yellow seed coat with pigmented hilum); Williams 55 immature seed coats (a Williams isogenic line homozygous for the recessive i allele that specifics pigmented seed coats. All seed coats and cotyledons were dissected from green stage immature seeds within the fresh weight range of 50-75 mg.
Project description:The soybean (Glycine max) seed coat has distinctive, genetically programmed patterns of pigmentation and the recessive k1 mutation can epistatically overcome the dominant I and i-i alleles, which inhibit seed color by producing small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting chalcone synthase (CHS) mRNAs. Small RNA sequencing of dissected regions of immature seed coats demonstrated that CHS siRNA levels cause the patterns produced by the i-i and i-k alleles of the I locus, which restrict pigment to the hilum or saddle region of the seed coat, respectively. To identify the K1 locus, we compared RNA-Seq data from dissected regions of two Clark isolines having similar saddle phenotypes mediated by CHS siRNAs but different genotypes (homozygous i-k K1 versus homozygous i-i k1). By examining differentially expressed genes, mapping information, and genome resequencing, we identified a 129-bp deletion in Glyma.11G190900 encoding Argonaute5 (AGO5), a member of the Argonaute family. Amplicon sequencing of several independent saddle pattern mutants from different genetic backgrounds revealed independent lesions affecting AGO5, thus establishing Glyma.11G190900 as the K1 locus. Non-functional AGO5 from k1 alleles leads to altered distributions of CHS siRNAs, thus explaining how the k1 mutation reverses the phenotype of the seed coat regions from yellow to pigmented, even in the presence of the normally dominant I or i-i alleles.
Project description:The soybean (Glycine max) seed coat has distinctive, genetically programmed patterns of pigmentation and the recessive k1 mutation can epistatically overcome the dominant I and i-i alleles, which inhibit seed color by producing small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting chalcone synthase (CHS) mRNAs. Small RNA sequencing of dissected regions of immature seed coats demonstrated that CHS siRNA levels cause the patterns produced by the i-i and i-k alleles of the I locus, which restrict pigment to the hilum or saddle region of the seed coat, respectively. To identify the K1 locus, we compared RNA-Seq data from dissected regions of two Clark isolines having similar saddle phenotypes mediated by CHS siRNAs but different genotypes (homozygous i-k K1 versus homozygous i-i k1). By examining differentially expressed genes, mapping information, and genome resequencing, we identified a 129-bp deletion in Glyma.11G190900 encoding Argonaute5 (AGO5), a member of the Argonaute family. Amplicon sequencing of several independent saddle pattern mutants from different genetic backgrounds revealed independent lesions affecting AGO5, thus establishing Glyma.11G190900 as the K1 locus. Non-functional AGO5 from k1 alleles leads to altered distributions of CHS siRNAs, thus explaining how the k1 mutation reverses the phenotype of the seed coat regions from yellow to pigmented, even in the presence of the normally dominant I or i-i alleles.
Project description:We present results from deep sequencing of small RNA populations from several genotypes of soybean and demonstrate that the CHS siRNAs accumulated only in the seed coats of the yellow varieties having either the dominant I or i-i alleles and not in the pigmented seed coats with homozygous recessive i genotypes. However, the diagnostic CHS siRNAs did not accumulate in the cotyledons of genotypes with the dominant I or i-i alleles thus demonstrating the novelty of an endogenous inverted repeat region of CHS genes driving RNA silencing in trans of non-linked CHS family members in a tissue-specific manner. The phenomenon results in inhibition of a metabolic pathway by siRNAs in one tissue allowing expression of the flavonoid pathway and synthesis of secondary metabolites in other organs as the chalcone synthase small RNAs are found in the seed coats of yellow seeded soybean varieties but not in the cotyledons of the same genotype.
Project description:22-nucleotide (nt) microRNAs (miRNAs) derived from asymmetric duplexes trigger trans-acting phased small interfering RNA (tphasiRNA) production from complementary targets. Here we investigate the efficacy of 22-nt artificial miRNA (amiRNA) mediated RNA silencing relative to conventional hairpin RNA (hpRNA) and 21-nt amiRNA mediated RNA silencing. CHALCONE SYNTHASE (CHS) was selected as a target in Arabidopsis thaliana due to the obvious and non-lethal loss of anthocyanin accumulation upon widespread RNA silencing. Over-expression of CHS in the pap1-D background facilitated visual detection of both local and systemic RNA silencing. RNA silencing was initiated in leaf tissues from hpRNA and amiRNA plant expression vectors under the control of an Arabidopsis RuBisCo small subunit 1A promoter (SSU). In this system, hpRNA expression triggered CHS silencing in most leaf tissues but not in roots or seed coats. Similarly, 21-nt amiRNA expression from symmetric miRNA/miRNA* duplexes triggered CHS silencing in all leaf tissues but not in roots or seed coats. However, 22-nt amiRNA expression from an asymmetric duplex triggered CHS silencing in all tissues, including roots and seed coats, in the majority of plant lines. This widespread CHS silencing required RNA DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE6 mediated accumulation of phasiRNAs from the endogenous CHS transcript. These results demonstrate the efficacy of asymmetric 22-nt amiRNA-directed RNA silencing and associated phasiRNA production and activity, in mediating widespread RNA silencing of an endogenous target gene. Asymmetric 22-nt amiRNA directed RNA silencing requires little modification of existing amiRNA technology and is expected to be effective in suppressing other genes and/or members of gene families. sRNA sequencing from aerial tissues of 3-week old plants grown on MS media
Project description:The I locus is a 27-kb inverted repeat cluster of chalcone synthase genes CHS1-3-4 that mediates siRNA down-regulation of CHS7 and CHS8 target mRNAs during seed development leading to yellow seed coats lacking anthocyanin pigments. Here, we report small RNA sequencing of ten stages of seed development from a few days post fertilization through maturity, revealing the amplification from primary to secondary short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) occurring during development. The young seed populations had a higher proportion of siRNAs representing the CHS1-3-4 gene family members, consistent with this region as the origin of the primary siRNAs. More intriguingly, the very young seed had a higher proportion of 22-nt CHS siRNAs than did the mid-maturation seed. We infer that the primary CHS siRNAs increase during development to levels sufficient to trigger amplification of secondary CHS siRNAs from the CHS7/8 target mRNAs, enabling the total levels of 21-nt CHS siRNAs to rise dramatically. Further, we demonstrate that the soybean system exhibits tissue-specific CHS siRNA production because primary CHS siRNA levels are not sufficient to trigger secondary amplification in tissues other than the seed coat. High-throughput sequencing using Genome Analyzer II and Illumina HiSeq 2000 was performed with two biological replicates (Some stages don't have replicate).
Project description:The I locus is a 27-kb inverted repeat cluster of chalcone synthase genes CHS1-3-4 that mediates siRNA down-regulation of CHS7 and CHS8 target mRNAs during seed development leading to yellow seed coats lacking anthocyanin pigments. Here, we report small RNA sequencing of ten stages of seed development from a few days post fertilization through maturity, revealing the amplification from primary to secondary short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) occurring during development. The young seed populations had a higher proportion of siRNAs representing the CHS1-3-4 gene family members, consistent with this region as the origin of the primary siRNAs. More intriguingly, the very young seed had a higher proportion of 22-nt CHS siRNAs than did the mid-maturation seed. We infer that the primary CHS siRNAs increase during development to levels sufficient to trigger amplification of secondary CHS siRNAs from the CHS7/8 target mRNAs, enabling the total levels of 21-nt CHS siRNAs to rise dramatically. Further, we demonstrate that the soybean system exhibits tissue-specific CHS siRNA production because primary CHS siRNA levels are not sufficient to trigger secondary amplification in tissues other than the seed coat.
Project description:22-nucleotide (nt) microRNAs (miRNAs) derived from asymmetric duplexes trigger trans-acting phased small interfering RNA (tphasiRNA) production from complementary targets. Here we investigate the efficacy of 22-nt artificial miRNA (amiRNA) mediated RNA silencing relative to conventional hairpin RNA (hpRNA) and 21-nt amiRNA mediated RNA silencing. CHALCONE SYNTHASE (CHS) was selected as a target in Arabidopsis thaliana due to the obvious and non-lethal loss of anthocyanin accumulation upon widespread RNA silencing. Over-expression of CHS in the pap1-D background facilitated visual detection of both local and systemic RNA silencing. RNA silencing was initiated in leaf tissues from hpRNA and amiRNA plant expression vectors under the control of an Arabidopsis RuBisCo small subunit 1A promoter (SSU). In this system, hpRNA expression triggered CHS silencing in most leaf tissues but not in roots or seed coats. Similarly, 21-nt amiRNA expression from symmetric miRNA/miRNA* duplexes triggered CHS silencing in all leaf tissues but not in roots or seed coats. However, 22-nt amiRNA expression from an asymmetric duplex triggered CHS silencing in all tissues, including roots and seed coats, in the majority of plant lines. This widespread CHS silencing required RNA DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE6 mediated accumulation of phasiRNAs from the endogenous CHS transcript. These results demonstrate the efficacy of asymmetric 22-nt amiRNA-directed RNA silencing and associated phasiRNA production and activity, in mediating widespread RNA silencing of an endogenous target gene. Asymmetric 22-nt amiRNA directed RNA silencing requires little modification of existing amiRNA technology and is expected to be effective in suppressing other genes and/or members of gene families.
Project description:Transformation of Glycine max with seed-targeted expression vectors via Agrobacterium causes measurable unscripted gene expression changes in the seed transcriptome
Project description:To understand the molecular events underlying seed maturation, quiescence and germination, we performed transcriptome analysis of soybean (Glycine max) embryos at four seed developmental stages (cotyledon, early, mid and late maturation), mature dry seeds, and seedlings, eight days after seed sowing.