Project description:In this study we analyzed the effects of CRY2 over-expression on chloroplast genome transcription of tomato, by developing and using a tiling array. This array containing about 90,000 overlapping probes (5-nt resolution) is a versatile tool for global functional studies of tomato cp genome. We profiled transcription in leaves of wild-type (WT) and CRY2-overexpressing (CRY2-OX) plants grown in a diurnal cycle, to generate a comprehensive map of plastid transcription and to monitor potential specific modulations of chloroplast transcriptome induced by the overexpression of CRY2.
Project description:The goal of the RNA seq was to investigate the transcriptome changes induced by Pseudmonas syringae pv. tomato J4 in wild-type tomato 'Moneymaker' and transgenic 'Moneymaker' overexpressing the Arabidopsis ELP4 (AtELP4) gene. Results showed that P. syringae pv. tomato J4 induced dramatic transcriptional changes in both the wild-type and transgenic tomato plants. Interestingly, a group of defense genes including PR-5x, Pti5, PR1b1, and CHI3/9/14/17, which are associated with resistance to the hemibiotrophic bacterial pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, were induced to higher levels in the AtELP4 transgenic tomato than in the wild type at 8 and 24 hr after P. syringae pv. tomato J4 infection. These results indicate that overexpression of AtELP4 in tomato leads to faster and/or stronger induction of some defense genes.
Project description:Plant pathogens with a broad host range are able to infect plant lineages that diverged over 100 million years ago. They exert similar and recurring constraints on the evolution of unrelated plant populations. Plants generally respond with quantitative disease resistance (QDR), a form of immunity relying on complex genetic determinants. In most cases, the molecular determinants of QDR and how they evolve is unknown. Here we identify in Arabidopsis thaliana a gene mediating QDR against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, agent of the white mold disease, and provide evidence of its convergent evolution in multiple plant species. Using genome wide association mapping in A. thaliana, we associated the gene encoding the POQR prolyl-oligopeptidase with QDR against S. sclerotiorum. Loss of this gene compromised QDR against S. sclerotiorum but not against a bacterial pathogen. Natural diversity analysis associated POQR sequence with QDR. Remarkably, the same amino acid changes occurred after independent duplications of POQR in ancestors of multiple plant species, including A. thaliana and tomato. Genome-scale expression analyses revealed that parallel divergence in gene expression upon S. sclerotiorum infection is a frequent pattern in genes, such as POQR, that duplicated both in A. thaliana and tomato. Our study identifies a previously uncharacterized gene mediating QDR against S. sclerotiorum. It shows that some QDR determinants are conserved in distantly related plants and have emerged through the repeated use of similar genetic polymorphisms at different evolutionary time scales.
Project description:The tomato SlWRKY3 transcription factor was overexpressed in cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)and transgenic plants transcriptome was compared to that of wild-type plants.
