Project description:Lipid metabolism and antioxidant system contributed to salt salinity tolerance induced by Na+ accumulation in halophytic grass seashore paspalum
Project description:Neotyphodium coenophialum is an endophytic fungus that infects most tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) pastures that are commonly used in animal grazing systems in the United States. Beef cattle grazing such pastures are impaired in health and production performance, resulting in a large economic loss in US food-animal production systems. Based on the clinical symptoms and laboratory analyses of blood, it was hypothesized that such affected cattle display liver-specific changes in the expression of gene transcripts that are associated with the metabolic enzymes and transporters critical for beef health and performance. Microarray analysis using the GeneChip Bovine Genome Array (Affymetrix, Inc., Santa Clara, CA) was conducted to determine if grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures affects the liver gene expression profiles of growing beef steers. Nineteen steers were assigned to graze either a low toxic endophyte tall fescue-mixed grass (LE treatment, 5.7 ha, n = 9) or a high toxic endophyte infected tall fescue (HE treatment, 5.7 ha, n = 10) pasture located in the University of Kentucky Agricultural Research Center. All steers had ad libitum access to fresh water and an industry standard mineral-vitamin supplement. 88 days grazing on pasture. Approximately 2 g of tissue from the right lobe of the liver of each steer were collected for RNA extraction and microarray analysis.
Project description:Neotyphodium coenophialum is an endophytic fungus that infects most tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) pastures that are commonly used in animal grazing systems in the United States. Beef cattle grazing such pastures are impaired in health and production performance, resulting in a large economic loss in US food-animal production systems. Based on clinical and biochemical blood analyte profiles, hepatic targeted gene and protein analyses, and hepatic transcriptomic profiling, microarray analysis using the WT Btau 4.0 Array (version 1.0, Affymetrix, Inc., Santa Clara, CA) was conducted to determine if grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures affects pituitary gene expression profiles of growing beef steers. The specific overall hypothesis tested was that grazing high endophyte-infected pasture would alter the pituitary genomic expression profiles of the same growing steers, especially genes involved in production and secretion of prolactin, growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, and adrenocorticotropic hormone. Sixteen steers were assigned to graze either a low toxic endophyte tall fescue-mixed grass (LE treatment, 5.7 ha, n = 8) or a high toxic endophyte infected tall fescue (HE treatment, 5.7 ha, n = 8) pasture located in the University of Kentucky Agricultural Research Center. All steers had ad libitum access to fresh water, an industry standard mineral-vitamin supplement, and grazed respective pastures for 89 to 105 days. Whole pituitaries were collected for RNA extraction and microarray analysis.
Project description:Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a major disease of cereal crops caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum (Fg). FHB affects the flowering heads (or spikes). This study compare the gene expression profile in wheat spikelets from the very susceptible spring wheat cultivar Roblin inoculated with either water (H2O), a Fg strain (GZ3639) producing the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (+DON), or a GZ3639-derived Fg strain which has been inactivated at the Tri5 locus (-DON).
Project description:Neotyphodium coenophialum is an endophytic fungus that infects most tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) pastures that are commonly used in animal grazing systems in the United States. Beef cattle grazing such pastures are impaired in health and production performance, resulting in a large economic loss in US food-animal production systems. Based on the clinical symptoms and laboratory analyses of blood, it was hypothesized that such affected cattle display liver-specific changes in the expression of gene transcripts that are associated with the metabolic enzymes and transporters critical for beef health and performance. Microarray analysis using the GeneChip Bovine Genome Array (Affymetrix, Inc., Santa Clara, CA) was conducted to determine if grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures affects the liver gene expression profiles of growing beef steers.
Project description:Fungal secondary metabolites can not only cause toxic effects in animals and humans, but also serve as virulence factors of the producing fungi for causing plant diseases.Thus, the severity of plant diseases associated with mycotoxins depend on the sensitivity towards the toxin. In previous experiments, we have evaluated the phytotoxic effect ofa mycotoxin on root growth of Arabidopsis wild-type and mutant seedlings. Mycotoxin treatment of a new conditional root expansion mutant partially restores the expansion phenotype (JE100; Werner et al., unpublished). AIM: This experiment aims to identify genes, in early and later phases after mycotoxin treatment in wild-type and mutant seedlings. EXPERIMENTAL PLAN: Eight Affymetrix chips are needed for this experiment. RNA preparation will be provided from wild-type, accession Columbia, and mutant seedlings after different time points of mycotoxin treatment. As control, separate seedlings will be treated with the same concentration of solvent (DMSO). Briefly, seeds will be sterilized, stratified for 48 hours and germinated on MS agar plates containing 4.5% sucrose at 22°C and 16h/8h light/dark cycles. 10 days after germination, seedlings will be transferred to liquid MS medium and shaken for another 3 days for acclimatization. Seedlings will be harvested after 2 and 24 hours of treatment with a single concentration (50 µM) of mycotoxin. To account for experimental variations (i.e. time needed for freezing the tissues, circadian clock,...), the experiment will be repeated three times and RNA samples will be pooled. EXPECTED RESULTS: The experiment should identify genes differentially expressed: 1) between wild-type and mutant seedlings, 2) upon mycotoxin treatment in wild-type, 3) upon mycotoxin treatment of mutant seedlings and 4) upon solvent treatment. The results will allow us to pinpoint the mode of action of this mycotoxin. They will also allow us to better understand the function of the mutated gene which affects the sensitivity towards the mycotoxin. Furthermore, we expect to identify the signaling pathway by which the plant responses towards the mycotoxinis triggered.
Project description:Neotyphodium coenophialum is an endophytic fungus that infects most tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) pastures that are commonly used in animal grazing systems in the United States. Beef cattle grazing such pastures are impaired in health and production performance, resulting in a large economic loss in US food-animal production systems. Based on clinical and biochemical blood analyte profiles, hepatic targeted gene and protein analyses, and hepatic transcriptomic profiling, microarray analysis using the BovGene-1_0-v1 array (Affymetrix) was conducted to determine if grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures affects pituitary gene expression profiles of growing beef steers. The specific overall hypothesis tested was that grazing high endophyte-infected pasture would alter the pituitary genomic expression profiles of the same growing steers, especially genes involved in production and secretion of prolactin, growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, and adrenocorticotropic hormone.