Project description:Transient genetic modification of plant protoplasts is a straightforward and rapid technique for the analysis of numerous aspects of plant biology. One drawback in the analysis of transformed protoplast suspensions is that they are a heterogeneous mix of cells that have and have not been successfully transfected. To overcome this problem, we have developed a system that employs a fluorescent positive selection marker in combination with flow cytometric analysis as well as fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate responses in the transfected protoplasts exclusively. This recombinase-compatible system enables high-throughput screening of genetic circuitry. Moreover, the use of FACS allows in depth downstream analysis. Lastly, over-expression is an effective means to dissect regulatory networks, especially where redundancy exists. Here, this system has been applied to the study of auxin signaling in order to investigate reporter gene activation and genome-wide transcriptional changes in response to manipulation of the auxin-response network. We have transiently over-expressed dominant negative mutant isoforms of Aux/IAA transcription factors (IAA7mII and IAA19mII; Tiwari et al., 2001) in Arabidopsis Pwer::GFP root protoplasts, making use of a RFP fluorescent positive selection marker and FACS to isolate the dually labeled (IAAnmII expressing and Pwer::GFP-positive) cells. We have compared the transcriptional differences between an empty vector control, IAA7mII and IAA19mII protoplasts that had either been treated with 5microM IAA or mock-treated for 3 hours. Keywords: hormone treatment, genetic modification
Project description:Transient genetic modification of plant protoplasts is a straightforward and rapid technique for the analysis of numerous aspects of plant biology. One drawback in the analysis of transformed protoplast suspensions is that they are a heterogeneous mix of cells that have and have not been successfully transfected. To overcome this problem, we have developed a system that employs a fluorescent positive selection marker in combination with flow cytometric analysis as well as fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate responses in the transfected protoplasts exclusively. This recombinase-compatible system enables high-throughput screening of genetic circuitry. Moreover, the use of FACS allows in depth downstream analysis. Lastly, over-expression is an effective means to dissect regulatory networks, especially where redundancy exists. Here, this system has been applied to the study of auxin signaling in order to investigate reporter gene activation and genome-wide transcriptional changes in response to manipulation of the auxin-response network. We have transiently over-expressed dominant negative mutant isoforms of Aux/IAA transcription factors (IAA7mII and IAA19mII; Tiwari et al., 2001) in Arabidopsis Pwer::GFP root protoplasts, making use of a RFP fluorescent positive selection marker and FACS to isolate the dually labeled (IAAnmII expressing and Pwer::GFP-positive) cells. We have compared the transcriptional differences between an empty vector control, IAA7mII and IAA19mII protoplasts that had either been treated with 5microM IAA or mock-treated for 3 hours. Experiment Overall Design: 18 samples with 3 replicates for each condition and transformation vector: 3x empty vector mock treated, 3x empty vector IAA treated, 3x IAA7mII over-expressor mock treated, 3x IAA7mII over-expressor IAA treated, 3x IAA19mII over-expressor mock treated and 3x IAA19mII over-expressor IAA treated.
Project description:This work studies the impact of AtNIGT1/HRS1-GR entrance in the nucleus upond DEX treatment in protoplasts. AtNIGT1/HRS1 TARGET. The whole procedure has been performed as previously described in Bargmann et al Mol Plant 2013. In brief, the protoplasts were transfected with the plasmid pBeaconRFP_GR-HRS1 that trigger the expression of HRS1 protein fused with the glucocorticoid receptor under control of CaMV35S promoter. Protoplasts were treated with 35µM cycloheximide (CHX) to inhibit translation and to select only direct target genes and 10µM dexamethasone (DEX) to induce HRS1-GR entry in the nucleus. Nitrate is maintained during the whole TARGET procedure. The Red Fluorescent Protein was used as marker selection for fluorescent-activated cell sorting (FACS) of successfully transformed protoplasts. RNA were extracted and amplified in order to be tested with ATH1 Affymetrix™ chips.
Project description:Multicellular organisms such as plants contain different types of cells with specialized functions. Analyzing the characteristics of each type of cells will reveal specific cell functions and enhance understanding of how an organism organizes and works. Here we report a high-sensitive and efficient cell-type-specific multi-omics pipeline, combining simplified flow cytometry-based fluorescent cell-sorting for fluorescent protoplasts and optimized nano-scale proteomics and metabolomics methods, which allow us to in-depth analyze the proteomics and metabolomics of a particular type of cells. By this method, we quantitatively compared the proteomics and metabolomics between guard cells and mesophyll cells and revealed that the enrichment of signal transduction-related proteins enables guard cells to respond to various environmental stimuli quickly. We uncovered a guard-cell-specific kinase cascade consisting of RAF15 and OST1 mediates the ABA-induced stomatal closure in guard cells. This pipeline is applicable to various types of cells in plant or non-plant systems to acquire systemic knowledge of how cells work specifically and in highly organized multiple cell organisms.
Project description:Multicellular organisms such as plants contain different types of cells with specialized functions. Analyzing the characteristics of each type of cells will reveal specific cell functions and enhance understanding of how an organism organizes and works. Here we report a high-sensitive and efficient cell-type-specific multi-omics pipeline, combining simplified flow cytometry-based fluorescent cell-sorting for fluorescent protoplasts and optimized nano-scale proteomics and metabolomics methods, which allow us to in-depth analyze the proteomics and metabolomics of a particular type of cells. By this method, we quantitatively compared the proteomics and metabolomics between guard cells and mesophyll cells and revealed that the enrichment of signal transduction-related proteins enables guard cells to respond to various environmental stimuli quickly. We uncovered a guard-cell-specific kinase cascade consisting of RAF15 and OST1 mediates the ABA-induced stomatal closure in guard cells. This pipeline is applicable to various types of cells in plant or non-plant systems to acquire systemic knowledge of how cells work specifically and in highly organized multiple cell organisms.
Project description:Antibody affinity maturation occurs in secondary lymphoid organs within germinal centers (GCs) where B cells mutate their antibody-encoding genes in the dark zone (DZ) followed by a selection of the high-affinity variants in the light zone (LZ) by T cells. The amount of the T cell-derived selection signals is proportional to the BCR affinity and the magnitude of Myc expression. However, since the lifetimes of Myc mRNA and protein are extremely short, it is unclear how high levels of Myc are maintained in the GC B cell to allow positive selection. Here, by measuring Myc transcripts in situ at the single-cell level, we find that T cell help promotes the frequency of Myc transcriptional bursts. T cell help primarily increases the number of Myc-positive cells rather than the amount of Myc per cell. Measurement of Myc intronic and exonic transcripts in situ demonstrates that positive selection is mediated by Myc transcriptional bursts through a rapid increase in the active transcription sites rather than an elevation in transcription rate or gene accessibility. Thus, the amount of Myc transcriptional bursts over time in the LZ, rather than Myc abundance, dictates B cell selection in germinal centers.
Project description:Plant cells exhibit remarkable plasticity of their differentiation states, enabling regeneration of whole plants from differentiated somatic cells. How they revert cell fate and express pluripotency, however, remains unclear. In this study we demonstrate that transcriptional activation of auxin biosynthesis is crucial for reprogramming differentiated Arabidopsis leaf cells. We demonstrate that interfering with the activity of histone acetyltransferases dramatically reduces callus formation from leaf mesophyll protoplasts. Histone acetylation permits the transcriptional activation of PLETHORAs (PLTs), leading to the induction of their downstream target gene YUCCA1 (YUC1) encoding an enzyme for auxin biosynthesis. Auxin biosynthesis is in turn required to accomplish initial cell division through the activation of G2/M phase genes mediated by MYB DOMAIN PROTEIN 3-RELATED (MYB3Rs). We further show that the AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR 7 (ARF7)/ARF19 and INDOLE-3-ACETIC ACID INDUCIBLE 3 (IAA3)/IAA18-mediated auxin signaling pathway is responsible for cell cycle reactivation by transcriptionally upregulating MYB3R4. These findings provide a mechanistic model of how differentiated plant cells revert their fate and reinitiate the cell cycle to become pluripotent.
Project description:T cell development relies on the precise developmental control of various cellular functions for appropriate positive and negative selection. Previously, gene expression profiling of peptide-driven negative selection events in the N15 TCR class I MHC-restricted mouse and D011.10 TCR class II MHC-restricted mouse has offered insights into the coordinate engagement of biological processes affecting thymocyte development. However, there has been little comparable detailed in vivo global genome expression analysis reported for positive selection. We used microarrays to identify the genes differentially expressed during CD8 single positive T cell development in N15 TCR transgenic Rag2 deficient mice.
Project description:The evolution and diversification of proteins capable of remodelling domains has been critical for transcriptional reprogramming during cell fate determination in multicellular eukaryotes. Chromatin remodelling proteins of the CHD3 family have been shown to have important and antagonistic impacts on seed development in the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, yet the basis of this functional divergence remains unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that genes encoding the CHD3 proteins PICKLE (PKL) and PICKLE-RELATED 2 (PKR2) originated from a duplication event during the diversification of crown Brassicaceae, and that these homologues have undergone distinct evolutionary trajectories since this duplication, with PKR2 fast-evolving under positive selection, while PKL is evolving under purifying selection. We find that the rapid evolution of PKR2 under positive selection reduces the encoded protein’s intrinsic disorder, possibly suggesting a tertiary structure configuration which differs from that of PKL. Our whole genome transcriptome analysis of gene expression in seeds of pkr2 and pkl mutants reveals that they act antagonistically on the expression of specific sets of genes, providing a basis for their differing roles in seed development. Our results provide insights on gene duplication and neofunctionalization can lead to differing and antagonistic selective pressures on transcriptomes during plant reproduction, as well as on the evolutionary diversification of the CHD3 family within seed plants.