Project description:Flowering of Arabidopsis thaliana is accelerated by several environmental cues, including exposure to long days. The photoperiod-dependent promotion of flowering involves the transcriptional induction of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) in the phloem of the leaf. FT encodes a mobile protein that is transported from the leaves to the shoot apical meristem, where it forms part of a regulatory complex that induces flowering. Whether FT also has biological functions in leaves of wild-type plants remains unclear. In order to address this issue, we first studied the leaf transcriptomic changes associated with its over expression in the companion cells of the phloem. To this end, transgenic A. thaliana plants that misexpress FT from the pGAS1 promoter in a ft-10 tsf-1 double mutant background were employed (pGAS1:FT ft-10 tsf-1). In these transgenic plants, the use of the pGAS1 promoter ensures that the FT transgene is expressed in phloem companion cells of the minor veins, recreating the spatial pattern of expression described for the native gene. In this studuy, the transcriptome of leaves of pGAS1:FT ft-10 tsf-1 transgenic plants was compared to that of ft-10 tsf-1 and Col-0 plants using Tiling Arrays.
Project description:The precise onset of flowering is crucial to ensure successful plant reproduction. The gene FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) encodes florigen, a mobile signal that is produced in leaves and initiates flowering in the shoot apical meristem. FT is highly expressed in phloem companion cells that reside in distal leaf regions. Thus far, a detailed molecular characterization of the FT-expressing phloem companion cells has been lacking. Here, we used single-nuclei RNA-seq to investigate gene expression in FT-expressing cells and other phloem companion cells. We discovered that companion cells with high FT expression form a unique cluster and express other genes encoding small proteins, including the anti-florigen BROTHER OF FT (BFT). The promoters of FT and the genes co-expressed with FT were enriched for the consensus binding motif of NITRATE-INDUCIBLE GARP-TYPE TRANSCRIPTIONAL REPRESSOR1 (NIGT1). Overexpression of the paralogs NIGT1.2 and NIGT1.4 in transgenic Arabidopsis lines significantly delayed flowering under nitrogen-rich conditions, consistent with NIGT1s acting as nitrogen-dependent FT repressors. Taken together, our results demonstrate that FT-expressing cells show a distinct expression profile that suggests that these cells produce multiple systemic signals to regulate plant growth and development.
Project description:Background: It has been shown previously that administration of Francisella tularensis (Ft) LVS lipopolysaccharide (LPS) protects mice against subsequent challenge with Ft LVS and blunts the pro-inflammatory cytokine response. Methods: To investigate further the molecular mechanisms that underlie Ft LVS LPS-mediated protection, we profiled global hepatic gene expression following Ft LVS LPS or saline pretreatment and subsequent Ft LVS challenge using Affymetrix arrays. Results: A large number of genes (> 3000) were differentially expressed at 48 hours post-infection. The degree of modulation of inflammatory genes by infection was clearly attenuated by LPS-pretreatment in the surviving mice. However, LPS alone had a subtle but significant effect on the gene expression profile of the uninfected mice. By employing gene set enrichment analysis, we discovered significant up-regulation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) and their target genes in LPS-treated liver. Conclusions: We hypothesize that the LPS-induced blunting of pro-inflammatory response in mouse is, in part, mediated by PPARs (alpha and gamma). Experiment Overall Design: Two groups of 9 mice each were used for this experiment. 48 hours prior to Ft LVS challenge, mice were injected i.p. with either 100 ng of Ft LVS LPS or an equivalent volume of saline. On the day of challenge, 3 saline- and 3 Ft LVS LPS-pretreated animals were sacrificed (uninfected controls), while all remaining mice were challenged i.p. with ~4-5 X 105 Ft LVS. Ft LVS-challenged mice were sacrificed (in groups of 3) at 24 and 48 hours post-infection.
Project description:Background: It has been shown previously that administration of Francisella tularensis (Ft) LVS lipopolysaccharide (LPS) protects mice against subsequent challenge with Ft LVS and blunts the pro-inflammatory cytokine response. Methods: To investigate further the molecular mechanisms that underlie Ft LVS LPS-mediated protection, we profiled global hepatic gene expression following Ft LVS LPS or saline pretreatment and subsequent Ft LVS challenge using Affymetrix arrays. Results: A large number of genes (> 3000) were differentially expressed at 48 hours post-infection. The degree of modulation of inflammatory genes by infection was clearly attenuated by LPS-pretreatment in the surviving mice. However, LPS alone had a subtle but significant effect on the gene expression profile of the uninfected mice. By employing gene set enrichment analysis, we discovered significant up-regulation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) and their target genes in LPS-treated liver. Conclusions: We hypothesize that the LPS-induced blunting of pro-inflammatory response in mouse is, in part, mediated by PPARs (alpha and gamma).