BackgroundThe plant-specific gibberellic acid stimulated Arabidopsis (GASA) gene family is critical for plant development. However, little is known about these genes, particularly in fruit tree species.ResultsWe identified 15 putative Arabidopsis thaliana GASA (AtGASA) and 26 apple GASA (MdGASA) genes. The identified genes were then characterized (e.g., chromosomal location, structure, and evolutionary relationships). All of the identified A. thaliana and apple GASA proteins included a conserved GASA domain and exhibited similar characteristics. Specifically, the MdGASA expression levels in various tissues and organs were analyzed based on an online gene expression profile and by qRT-PCR. These genes were more highly expressed in the leaves, buds, and fruits compared with the seeds, roots, and seedlings. MdGASA genes were also responsive to gibberellic acid (GA3) and abscisic acid treatments. Additionally, transcriptome sequencing results revealed seven potential flowering-related MdGASA genes. We analyzed the expression levels of these genes in response to flowering-related treatments (GA3, 6-benzylaminopurine, and sugar) and in apple varieties that differed in terms of flowering (‘Nagafu No. 2’ and ‘Yanfu No. 6’) during the flower induction period. These candidate MdGASA genes exhibited diverse expression patterns. The expression levels of six MdGASA genes were inhibited by GA3, while the expression of one gene was up-regulated. Additionally, there were expression-level differences induced by the 6-benzylaminopurine and sugar treatments during the flower induction stage, as well as in the different flowering varieties.ConclusionThis study represents the first comprehensive investigation of the A. thaliana and apple GASA gene families. Our data may provide useful clues for future studies and may support the hypotheses regarding the role of GASA proteins during the flower induction stage in fruit tree species.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-017-4213-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Summary Although the N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) modification is the most prevalent RNA modification in eukaryotes, the global m6A modification landscape and its molecular regulatory mechanism in response to drought stress remain unclear. Transcriptome‐wide m6A methylome profiling revealed that m6A is mainly enriched in the coding sequence and 3′ untranslated region in response to drought stress in apple, by recognizing the plant‐specific sequence motif UGUAH (H=A, U or C). We identified a catalytically active component of the m6A methyltransferase complex, MdMTA. An in vitro methyl transfer assay, dot blot, LC‐MS/MS and m6A‐sequencing (m6A‐seq) suggested that MdMTA is an m6A writer and essential for m6A mRNA modification. Further studies revealed that MdMTA is required for apple drought tolerance. m6A‐seq and RNA‐seq analyses under drought conditions showed that MdMTA mediates m6A modification and transcripts of mRNAs involved in oxidative stress and lignin deposition. Moreover, m6A modification promotes mRNA stability and the translation efficiency of these genes in response to drought stress. Consistently, MdMTA enhances lignin deposition and scavenging of reactive oxygen species under drought conditions. Our results reveal the global involvement of m6A modification in the drought response of perennial apple trees and illustrate its molecular mechanisms, thereby providing candidate genes for the breeding of stress‐tolerant apple cultivars.
Autophagy is a conserved degradation process crucial to maintaining the primary function of cellular and organismal metabolism. Impaired autophagy could develop numerous diseases, including cancer, cardiomyopathy, neurodegenerative disorders, and aging. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most common RNA modification in eukaryotic cells, and the fate of m6A modified transcripts is controlled by m6A RNA binding proteins. m6A modification influences mRNA alternative splicing, stability, translation, and subcellular localization. Intriguingly, recent studies show that m6A RNA methylation could alter the expression of essential autophagy-related (ATG) genes and influence the autophagy function. Thus, both m6A modification and autophagy could play a crucial role in the onset and progression of various human diseases. In this review, we summarize the latest studies describing the impact of m6A modification in autophagy regulation and discuss the role of m6A modification-autophagy axis in different human diseases, including obesity, heart disease, azoospermatism or oligospermatism, intervertebral disc degeneration, and cancer. The comprehensive understanding of the m6A modification and autophagy interplay may help in interpreting their impact on human diseases and may aid in devising future therapeutic strategies.
Zinc finger-homeodomain (ZHD) proteins constitute a plant-specific transcription factor family that play important roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses. In this study, we investigated a total of 10, 17, and 31 ZHD gene members in the peach, Arabidopsis, and apple genome, respectively. The phylogenetic tree divided the identified ZHD genes into 4 subfamilies based on their domain organization, gene structure, and motif distribution with minor variations. The ZHD gene family members were unevenly distributed throughout in apple, peach, and Arabidopsis genomes. Segmental duplication was observed for 14 pairs of genes in apple. Transcript analysis found that ZHD genes mostly expressed in various tissues, particularly in leaves and flowers. Moreover, the transcript of most ZHD genes was significantly affected at different time points in response to various flowering-related exogenous hormones (sugar, gibberellin [GA], and 6-benzylaminopurine [6-BA]), signifying their possible role in the flowering induction in apple. Furthermore, the transcripts of CaZHD6, CaZHD7, CaZHD3, and CaZHD8 have induced in response to abiotic stresses including heat, drought, salt, and cold, indicating their possible involvement in response to abiotic stresses. Our research work systemically presents the different roles of ZHD genes. We believe that this study will provide a platform for future functional characterization of ZHD genes and to deeply unfold their roles in the regulation of flowering induction in plants.
Background Melatonin (MT) is important for plant growth and development; however, it is not known whether MT is involved in apple adventitious root (AR) development. In this study, we treated Malus prunifolia (MP) at four different stages of AR development, and analyzed the level of the endogenous hormones MT, auxin (IAA), zeatin-riboside (ZR), abscisic acid (ABA), and gibberellins (GA1 + 3) in all four treatment groups and the untreated control group. The expression of MT, IAA biosynthesis, transport and signal transduction, the cell cycle, and root development related genes were quantified by RT-qPCR. The function of MdWOX11 was analyzed in transgenic apple plants. Results The promotion of AR development by MT was dependent on the stage of AR induction between 0 and 2 d in apple rootstocks. MT-treatment increased the level of IAA and crosstalk existed between MT and IAA during AR formation. The expression of MdWOX11 was induced by MT treatment and positively regulated AR formation in apple. Furthermore, transgenic lines that overexpressed MdWOX11 lines produced more ARs than ‘GL3’. Phenotypic analysis indicated that MdWOX11 overexpression lines were more sensitive to exogenous MT treatment than ‘GL3’, suggesting that MdWOX11 regulates AR formation in response to MT in apple rootstock. Conclusions MT promotes AR formation mainly during the AR induction stage by inducing IAA levels and upregulating MdWOX11.
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