Project description:Current understanding of floral developmental genetics comes primarily from the core-eudicot model Arabidopsis thaliana. Here we explore the floral transcriptome of the basal angiosperm, Nuphar advena (water lily), for insights into the ancestral developmental program of flowers. Several thousand Nuphar genes with significantly up-regulated floral expression are identified, including homologs of the well-known ABCE floral regulators. However, strong similarities in the expression profiles of different organ categories contradict the organ-specific spatial expression domains predicted by the ABCE model. The broadly overlapping transcriptional programs observed among floral organs in Nuphar are shared with the magnoliid Persea americana (avocado), supporting the inference that this is the ancestral condition in angiosperms. Consequently, the predominantly organ-specific transcriptional programs that characterize Arabidopsis flowers (and perhaps other eudicots) are derived. The transcriptional landscapes in Arabidopsis correlate with a shift toward morphologically distinct floral organs, including differentiated sepals and petals, and a perianth distinct from stamens and carpels. In contrast to most eudicots, perianth organs are weakly differentiated in Nuphar and Persea, with staminodial intermediates between stamens and perianth in Nuphar, and between stamens and carpels in Persea. Our findings suggest that genetic regulation of more spatially discrete transcriptional programs underlies the evolution of floral morphology. Custom microarrays targeting 6,220 unique Nuphar floral transcripts were used to measure expression levels in eight tissues using an interwoven double-loop design for 16 arrays.
Project description:Current understanding of floral developmental genetics comes primarily from the core-eudicot model Arabidopsis thaliana. Here we explore the floral transcriptome of the basal angiosperm, Nuphar advena (water lily), for insights into the ancestral developmental program of flowers. Several thousand Nuphar genes with significantly up-regulated floral expression are identified, including homologs of the well-known ABCE floral regulators. However, strong similarities in the expression profiles of different organ categories contradict the organ-specific spatial expression domains predicted by the ABCE model. The broadly overlapping transcriptional programs observed among floral organs in Nuphar are shared with the magnoliid Persea americana (avocado), supporting the inference that this is the ancestral condition in angiosperms. Consequently, the predominantly organ-specific transcriptional programs that characterize Arabidopsis flowers (and perhaps other eudicots) are derived. The transcriptional landscapes in Arabidopsis correlate with a shift toward morphologically distinct floral organs, including differentiated sepals and petals, and a perianth distinct from stamens and carpels. In contrast to most eudicots, perianth organs are weakly differentiated in Nuphar and Persea, with staminodial intermediates between stamens and perianth in Nuphar, and between stamens and carpels in Persea. Our findings suggest that genetic regulation of more spatially discrete transcriptional programs underlies the evolution of floral morphology.
Project description:Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands (Pc) is a hemibiotrophic oomycete and the causal agent of Phytophthora root rot (PRR) of the commercially important fruit crop avocado (Persea americana Mill.). Plant defense against pathogens is modulated by phytohormone signaling pathways such as salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), ethylene (ET), auxin and abscisic acid. The role of specific signaling pathways induced and regulated during hemibiotroph-plant interactions has been widely debated. Some studies report SA mediated defense while others hypothesize that JA responses restrict the spread of pathogens. This study aimed to identify the role of SA- and JA- associated genes in the defense strategy of a resistant avocado rootstock, Dusa® in response to Pc infection. Transcripts associated with SA-mediated defense pathways and lignin biosynthesis were upregulated at 6 hours post-inoculation (hpi). Results suggest that auxin, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Ca2+ signaling was also important during this early time point, while JA signaling was absent. Both SA and JA defense responses were shown to play a role during defense at 18 hpi. Induction of genes associated with ROS detoxification and cell wall digestion (β-1-3-glucanase) was also observed. Most genes induced at 24 hpi were linked to JA responses. Other processes at play in avocado at 24 hpi include cell wall strengthening, the formation of phenolics and induction of arabinogalactan, a gene linked to Pc zoospore immobility. This study represents the first transcriptome wide analysis of a resistant avocado rootstock treated with SA and JA compared to Pc infection. The results provide evidence of a biphasic defense response against the hemibiotroph, which initially involves SA-mediated gene expression followed by the enrichment of JA-mediated defense from 18 to 24 hpi. Genes and molecular pathways linked to Pc resistance are highlighted and may serve as future targets for manipulation in the development of PRR resistant avocado rootstocks.
Project description:In plants, juvenile to adult phase transition is regulated by the sequential activity of two microRNAs: miR156 and miR172. A decline in miR156 and increase in miR172 abundance is associated with phase transition. There is very limited information on phase transition in economically important horticultural tree crops, which have a significantly long vegetative phase affecting fruit bearing. Here we profiled various molecular cues known to be involved in phase transition and flowering, including the microRNAs miR156 and miR172, in three horticultural tree crops avocado (Persea americana), mango (Mangifera indica) and macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia). We observed that miR156 expression decreases as these trees age and can potentially be used as a juvenility marker. Consistent with findings in annual plants, we also observed conserved regulation of the miR156-SPL3/4/5 regulatory module in these genetically distant tree crops, suggesting that this pathway may play a highly conserved role in vegetative identity. Meanwhile, the abundance of miR172 and its target AP2-like genes, as well as the accumulation level of SPL9 transcripts, were not related with plant age in these crops except in avocado where miR172 expression increased steadily. Finally, we demonstrate that various floral genes, including AP1 and SOC1 were upregulated in the reproductive phase and can be used as potential markers for the reproductive phase transition. Overall, this study provides an insight into the molecular associations of juvenility and phase transition in horticultural trees where crop breeding and improvement is encumbered by long juvenile phases.
Project description:The debate on the origin and evolution of flowers has recently entered the field of developmental genetics, with focus on the design of the ancestral floral regulatory program. Flowers can differ dramatically among angiosperm lineages, but in general, sterile perianth organs surrounding stamens (male reproductive organs) and carpels (female reproductive organs) constitute the basic floral structure. However, the basal angiosperm lineages exhibit spectacular diversity in the number, arrangement, and structure, of floral organs, while the evolutionarily derived monocot and eudicot lineages share a far more uniform floral ground plan. As such, regulatory mechanisms underlying the archetypal floral plan, for instance that of the eudicot genetic model Arabidopsis thaliana, are unlikely to apply to the original flowers. Here we show that broadly overlapping transcriptional programs characterise the floral transcriptome of the basal angiosperm Persea americana (avocado), while floral gene expression domains are typically organ-specific in Arabidopsis. Our findings extend the “fading borders” model for basal angiosperms from organ identity genes to the downstream floral transcriptome, and suggest that the combinatorial mechanism for organ identity may not operate in basal angiosperms as it does in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, fading expression of components of the stamen transcriptome in central and peripheral regions of Persea flowers resembles the developmental program of the hypothesized gymnosperm “floral progenitor”. Accordingly, in contrast to the canalized organ-specific regulatory apparatus of Arabidopsis, floral development may have been originally regulated by overlapping transcriptional cascades with fading gradients of influence from focal to bordering organs.
Project description:Embryogenic cultures derived from a zygotic embryo of the avocado cv. Anaheim, were selected for resistance to the culture filtrate (CF) of Rosellinia necatrix, the causal agent of avocado white root rot. Cultures were obtained through recurrent selections in progressively increasing concentrations of fungal CF (from 20% up to 80%).