Project description:PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTORs (PIFs) regulate growth-related gene expression in response to environmental conditions. Among their diverse functions in regulating signal responses, PIFs play an important role in thermomorphogenesis (the response to increased ambient temperature) and in the shade-avoidance response. While numerous studies have examined the varied roles of PIFs in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis Thaliana), their roles in crop plants remain poorly investigated. This study delves into the conservation of PIFs activity among species by examining their functions in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and comparing them to known PIF functions in Arabidopsis using single and higher-order mutants of tomato PIF genes (SlPIFs). We demonstrate that, in contrast to Arabidopsis, PIFs are not required for thermomorphogenesis-induced stem elongation in tomato. In addition, whereas Arabidopsis PIF8 has a minor effect on plant growth, tomato SlPIF8a plays a key role in the low red/far-red (R/FR) response. In contrast, SlPIF4 and SlPIF7s play minor roles in this process. We also investigated the tissue-specific low R/FR response in tomato seedlings and demonstrate that the aboveground organs exhibit a conserved response to low R/FR, which is regulated by SlPIFs. Our findings provide insights into PIF-mediated responses in crop plants, which may guide future breeding strategies to enhance yield under high planting densities.
Project description:In this study we analyzed the effects of CRY2 over-expression on chloroplast genome transcription of tomato, by developing and using a tiling array. This array containing about 90,000 overlapping probes (5-nt resolution) is a versatile tool for global functional studies of tomato cp genome. We profiled transcription in leaves of wild-type (WT) and CRY2-overexpressing (CRY2-OX) plants grown in a diurnal cycle, to generate a comprehensive map of plastid transcription and to monitor potential specific modulations of chloroplast transcriptome induced by the overexpression of CRY2.
Project description:Plant pathogens with a broad host range are able to infect plant lineages that diverged over 100 million years ago. They exert similar and recurring constraints on the evolution of unrelated plant populations. Plants generally respond with quantitative disease resistance (QDR), a form of immunity relying on complex genetic determinants. In most cases, the molecular determinants of QDR and how they evolve is unknown. Here we identify in Arabidopsis thaliana a gene mediating QDR against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, agent of the white mold disease, and provide evidence of its convergent evolution in multiple plant species. Using genome wide association mapping in A. thaliana, we associated the gene encoding the POQR prolyl-oligopeptidase with QDR against S. sclerotiorum. Loss of this gene compromised QDR against S. sclerotiorum but not against a bacterial pathogen. Natural diversity analysis associated POQR sequence with QDR. Remarkably, the same amino acid changes occurred after independent duplications of POQR in ancestors of multiple plant species, including A. thaliana and tomato. Genome-scale expression analyses revealed that parallel divergence in gene expression upon S. sclerotiorum infection is a frequent pattern in genes, such as POQR, that duplicated both in A. thaliana and tomato. Our study identifies a previously uncharacterized gene mediating QDR against S. sclerotiorum. It shows that some QDR determinants are conserved in distantly related plants and have emerged through the repeated use of similar genetic polymorphisms at different evolutionary time scales.
Project description:The tomato SlWRKY3 transcription factor was overexpressed in cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)and transgenic plants transcriptome was compared to that of wild-type plants.
Project description:The goal of the RNA seq was to investigate the transcriptome changes induced by Pseudmonas syringae pv. tomato J4 in wild-type tomato 'Moneymaker' and transgenic 'Moneymaker' overexpressing the Arabidopsis ELP4 (AtELP4) gene. Results showed that P. syringae pv. tomato J4 induced dramatic transcriptional changes in both the wild-type and transgenic tomato plants. Interestingly, a group of defense genes including PR-5x, Pti5, PR1b1, and CHI3/9/14/17, which are associated with resistance to the hemibiotrophic bacterial pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, were induced to higher levels in the AtELP4 transgenic tomato than in the wild type at 8 and 24 hr after P. syringae pv. tomato J4 infection. These results indicate that overexpression of AtELP4 in tomato leads to faster and/or stronger induction of some defense genes.