Project description:• Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs), in addition to attracting natural enemies of herbivores, can serve a signaling function within plants by acting as wound signals that induce or prime defenses. However, particularly in woody plants, which compounds within HIPV blends are capable of acting as signaling molecules are largely unknown. • Leaves of hybrid poplar (Populus deltoides x nigra) saplings were exposed in vivo to naturally wound-emitted concentrations of the green leaf volatile (GLV) cis-3-hexenyl acetate (z3HAC) and then subsequently fed upon by gypsy moth larvae (Lymantria dispar L.). Volatiles were collected throughout the experiments, and leaf tissue was collected to measure phytohormone levels and expression of defense-related genes. • Relative to controls, z3HAC-exposed leaves had higher levels of jasmonic acid and linolenic acid following gypsy moth feeding. Further, z3HAC primed transcripts of phytohormone signaling (lipoxygenase 1) and direct defense (a Kunitz proteinase inhibitor) genes. These qRT-PCR results were supported by microarray analysis using the AspenDB 7K EST microarray containing ~5400 unique gene models. Moreover, z3HAC also primed the release of herbivore-induced terpene volatiles. • The widespread priming response suggests an adaptive benefit to detecting z3HAC as a wound signal. Thus, woody plants can detect and use z3HAC as a signaling cue to prime defenses before actually experiencing damage. GLVs may therefore have important ecological functions in arboreal ecosystems.
Project description:Chromatin insulators are DNA-protein complexes situated throughout the genome that contribute to higher order organization and demarcation into distinct transcriptional domains. Mounting evidence in different species implicates RNA and RNA-binding proteins as regulators of chromatin insulator activities. Here we identify the Drosophila hnRNP M homolog Rumpelstiltskin (Rump) as an antagonist of gypsy chromatin insulator enhancer-blocking and barrier activities. Despite ubiquitous expression of Rump, improvement of barrier activity is detected only in tissue outside of the central nervous system (CNS) when Rump levels are reduced. Furthermore, rump mutants restore insulator complex localization in an otherwise compromised genetic background only in non-CNS tissues. Rump associates physically with core gypsy insulator proteins, and ChIP-Seq analysis of Rump demonstrates extensive colocalization with a subset of gypsy insulator sites across the genome. The genome-wide binding profile and tissue-specificity of Rump contrast with that of Shep, a recently identified RNA-binding protein that antagonizes gypsy insulator activity exclusively in the CNS. Our findings indicate parallel roles for RNA-binding proteins in mediating tissue-specific regulation of chromatin insulator activity. ChIP-seq of Rump, Mod(mdg4)2.2, Shep, Su(Hw), and CP190 in Drosophila Kc167 cells
Project description:Chromatin insulators organize the genome into distinct transcriptional domains and contribute to cell type-specific chromatin organization. However, factors regulating tissue-specific insulator function have not yet been discovered. Here we identify the RNA recognition motif-containing protein, Shep, as a direct interactor of two individual components of the gypsy insulator complex in Drosophila. Mutation of shep improves gypsy-dependent enhancer blocking, indicating a role as a negative regulator of insulator activity. Unlike ubiquitously expressed core gypsy insulator proteins, Shep is highly expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) with lower expression in other tissues. We developed a novel, quantitative tissue-specific barrier assay to demonstrate that Shep functions as a negative regulator of insulator activity in the CNS but not in muscle tissue. Additionally, mutation of shep alters insulator complex nuclear localization in the CNS but not other tissues. Consistent with negative regulatory activity, ChIP-seq analysis of Shep in a CNS-derived cell line indicates substantial genome-wide colocalization with a single gypsy insulator component but limited overlap with intact insulator complexes. Taken together, these data reveal a novel, tissue-specific mode of regulation of a chromatin insulator. ChIP-seq of Shep, Su(Hw), and Mod(mdg4)2.2 in Drosophila BG3 cells along with alternate antibodies
Project description:Chromatin insulators are DNA-protein complexes that can prevent the spread of repressive chromatin and block communication between enhancers and promoters to regulate gene expression. In Drosophila, the gypsy chromatin insulator complex consists of three core proteins: CP190, Su(Hw), and Mod(mdg4)67.2. These factors concentrate at nuclear foci termed insulator bodies, and their normal localization is correlated with proper insulator function. Here, we identified NURF301/E(bx), a nucleosome remodeling factor, as a novel regulator of gypsy insulator body localization through a high-throughput RNAi imaging screen. NURF301 promotes gypsy-dependent insulator barrier activity and physically interacts with gypsy insulator proteins. Using ChIP-seq, we found that NURF301 co-localizes with insulator proteins genome-wide, and NURF301 promotes chromatin association of Su(Hw) and CP190 at gypsy insulator binding sites. These effects correlate with NURF301-dependent nucleosome repositioning. At the same time, CP190 and Su(Hw) are also required for recruitment of NURF301 to chromatin. Finally, Oligopaint FISH combined with immunofluorescence revealed that NURF301 promotes 3D contact between insulator bodies and gypsy binding site DNA, and NURF301 is required for proper nuclear positioning of gypsy binding sites. Our data provide new insights into how a nucleosome remodeling factor and insulator proteins cooperatively contribute to nuclear organization.
Project description:Chromatin insulators are DNA-protein complexes that establish higher order independent DNA domains to influence transcriptional regulation. Insulators are defined by two different functions: they can block communication between an enhancer and a promoter and also act as a barrier between heterochromatin and euchromatin. In Drosophila, the gypsy-insulator complex contains three core components: Su(Hw), CP190 and Mod(mdg4)67.2. Here we identify a novel role for Chromatin-linked adaptor for MSL proteins (CLAMP) in promoting gypsy chromatin insulator function. When Clamp is depleted by RNAi, gypsy-dependent enhancer blocking activity decreases and barrier activity is reduced in all tissues. Furthermore, Clamp RNAi knockdowns and mutation result in disorganized insulator complex localization in the nucleus. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments showed that CLAMP physically associates with core gypsy-insulator proteins. Co-localization of CLAMP with gypsy components on polytene chromosomes and ChIP-seq analysis demonstrates co-localization of CLAMP with a subset of insulator sites across the genome. Thus, our findings suggest a ubiquitous, genome-wide role for CLAMP in promoting gypsy-dependent chromatin insulator activity.