Conifers have dominated forests for more than 200 million years and are of huge ecological and economic importance. Here we present the draft assembly of the 20-gigabase genome of Norway spruce (Picea abies), the first available for any gymnosperm. The number of well-supported genes (28,354) is similar to the .100 times smaller genome of Arabidopsis thaliana, and there is no evidence of a recent whole-genome duplication in the gymnosperm lineage. Instead, the large genome size seems to result from the slow and steady accumulation of a diverse set of long-terminal repeat transposable elements, possibly owing to the lack of an efficient elimination mechanism. Comparative sequencing of Pinus sylvestris, Abies sibirica, Juniperus communis, Taxus baccata and Gnetum gnemon reveals that the transposable element diversity is shared among extant conifers. Expression of 24-nucleotide small RNAs, previously implicated in transposable element silencing, is tissue-specific and much lower than in other plants. We further identify numerous long (.10,000 base pairs) introns, gene-like fragments, uncharacterized long non-coding RNAs and short RNAs. This opens up new genomic avenues for conifer forestry and breeding.

A previously unknown maltose transporter is essential for the conversion of starch to sucrose in Arabidopsis leaves at night. The transporter was identified by isolating two allelic mutants with high starch levels and very high maltose, an intermediate of starch breakdown. The mutations affect a gene of previously unknown function, MEX1. We show that MEX1is a maltose transporter that is unrelated to other sugar transporters. The severe mex1 phenotype demonstrates that MEX1is the predominant route of carbohydrate export from chloroplasts at night. Homologous genes in plants including rice and potato indicate that maltose export is of widespread significance.

Sucrose is the main product of photosynthesis and the most common transport form of carbon in plants. In addition, sucrose is a compound that serves as a signal affecting metabolic flux and development. Here we provide first results of externally induced phosphorylation changes of plasma membrane proteins in Arabidopsis. In an unbiased approach, seedlings were grown in liquid medium with sucrose and then depleted of carbon before sucrose was resupplied. Plasma membranes were purified, and phosphopeptides were enriched and subsequently analyzed quantitatively by mass spectrometry. In total, 67 phosphopeptides were identified, most of which were quantified over five time points of sucrose resupply. Among the identified phosphorylation sites, the well described phosphorylation site at the C terminus of plasma membrane H ؉ -ATPases showed a relative increase in phosphorylation level in response to sucrose. This corresponded to a significant increase of proton pumping activity of plasma membrane vesicles from sucrose-supplied seedlings. A new phosphorylation site was identified in the plasma membrane H ؉ -ATPase AHA1 and/or AHA2. This phosphorylation site was shown to be crucial for ATPase activity and overrode regulation via the well known C-terminal phosphorylation site. Novel phosphorylation sites were identified for both receptor kinases and cytosolic kinases that showed rapid increases in relative intensities after short times of sucrose treatment. Seven response classes were identified including non-responsive, rapid increase (within 3 min), slow increase, and rapid decrease. Relative quantification of phosphorylation changes by phosphoproteomics provides a means for identification of fast responses to external stimuli in plants as a basis for further functional characterization.

Trees represent the largest terrestrial carbon sink and a renewable source of ligno-cellulose. There is significant scope for yield and quality improvement in these largely undomesticated species, and efforts to engineer elite varieties will benefit from improved understanding of the transcriptional network underlying cambial growth and wood formation. We generated highspatial-resolution RNA sequencing data spanning the secondary phloem, vascular cambium, and wood-forming tissues of Populus tremula. The transcriptome comprised 28,294 expressed, annotated genes, 78 novel protein-coding genes, and 567 putative long intergenic noncoding RNAs. Most paralogs originating from the Salicaceae whole-genome duplication had diverged expression, with the exception of those highly expressed during secondary cell wall deposition. Coexpression network analyses revealed that regulation of the transcriptome underlying cambial growth and wood formation comprises numerous modules forming a continuum of active processes across the tissues. A comparative analysis revealed that a majority of these modules are conserved in Picea abies. The high spatial resolution of our data enabled identification of novel roles for characterized genes involved in xylan and cellulose biosynthesis, regulators of xylem vessel and fiber differentiation and lignification. An associated web resource (AspWood, http://aspwood.popgenie.org) provides interactive tools for exploring the expression profiles and coexpression network.

We report that protein phosphorylation is involved in the control of starch metabolism in Arabidopsis leaves at night. sex4 (starch excess 4) mutants, which have strongly reduced rates of starch metabolism, lack a protein predicted to be a dual specificity protein phosphatase. We have shown that this protein is chloroplastic and can bind to glucans and have presented evidence that it acts to regulate the initial steps of starch degradation at the granule surface. Remarkably, the most closely related protein to SEX4 outside the plant kingdom is laforin, a glucanbinding protein phosphatase required for the metabolism of the mammalian storage carbohydrate glycogen and implicated in a severe form of epilepsy (Lafora disease) in humans.Starch, the main storage carbohydrate of plants, accumulates as a product of photosynthesis in leaves during the day and is converted to sucrose for export from the leaves at night. This conversion of starch to sucrose is one of the largest daily carbon fluxes on the planet, but nothing is known about how the process is initiated and controlled. The amounts of enzymes on the pathway change very little through the diurnal cycle in leaves of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, hence flux must be controlled by modulation of their activities (1).Much progress in understanding the pathway has been made through the selection of Arabidopsis mutants impaired in starch degradation at night. All such mutations identified thus far are in genes encoding enzymes of the pathway, rather than proteins likely to be involved in modulation of the activities of these enzymes (2-11). However, a mutation at a locus not yet identified, the starch excess 4 (or SEX4) locus, gives rise to a phenotype indicative of a regulatory defect rather than a defect in a structural enzyme. Mature sex4 leaves contain three to four times more starch than those of wild-type plants, apparently because a reduced capacity for starch degradation at night leads to progressive accumulation of starch over the life of the leaf (12, 13). Starch granules in leaves of the sex4 mutant are much larger and more rounded than those of wild-type plants (14). Measurements of activity and protein of enzymes known to be involved in starch degradation revealed only one significant reduction in the sex4 mutant in the chloroplastic ␣-amylase AMY3 (12, 15). However, although both the activity and amount of protein of AMY3 are strongly reduced, this is not the cause of the deficiency in starch degradation in the sex4 mutant. T-DNA insertion lines lacking AMY3 protein have normal rates of starch degradation (15). The aim of the work described in this paper was to discover the nature of the gene at the SEX4 locus and thus shed light on the regulation of starch degradation. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURESPositional Identification of the SEX4 Locus-F2 plants from a cross between sex4-2 (Col-0 background) and Landsberg erecta showing the mutant phenotype were used for mapping. The mapping population (562 plants) was genotyped using SSLP and SNP markers availabl...

Trees represent the largest terrestrial carbon sink and a renewable source of ligno-cellulose. There is significant scope for yield and quality improvement in these largely undomesticated species, however, efforts to engineer new, elite varieties are constrained by the lack of a comprehensive understanding of the transcriptional network underlying cambial growth and wood formation. We generated RNA Sequencing transcriptome data for four mature, wild-growing aspens (Populus tremula) from high-spatial-resolution tangential cryosection series spanning the secondary phloem, vascular cambium, expanding and secondary cell wall forming xylem cells, cell death zone and the previous year's annual ring. The transcriptome comprised 28,294 expressed, previously annotated protein-coding genes, 78 novel protein-coding genes and 567 long intergenic non-coding RNAs. Most paralogs originating from the Salicaceae whole genome duplication had diverged expression, with the notable exception of those with high expression during secondary cell wall deposition. We performed coexpression network analysis to identify central transcriptional modules and associated several of these with known biological processes. This revealed previously uncharacterized complexity underlying the regulation of cambial growth and wood formation, with modules forming a continuum of activated processes across the tissues. The high spatial resolution suggested novel roles for known genes involved in xylan and cellulose biosynthesis, regulators of xylem vessel and fiber differentiation and components of lignification. The associated web resource (AspWood, http://aspwood.popgenie.org) integrates the data within a set of interactive tools for exploring the co-expression network of cambial growth and wood formation.

The evolution of the plant vasculature was essential for the emergence of terrestrial life. Xylem vessels are solutetransporting elements in the vasculature that possess secondary wall thickenings deposited in intricate patterns. Evenly dispersed microtubule (MT) bands support the formation of these wall thickenings, but how the MTs direct cell wall synthesis during this process remains largely unknown. Cellulose is the major secondary wall constituent and is synthesized by plasma membrane-localized cellulose synthases (CesAs) whose catalytic activity propels them through the membrane. We show that the protein CELLULOSE SYNTHASE INTERACTING1 (CSI1)/POM2 is necessary to align the secondary wall CesAs and MTs during the initial phase of xylem vessel development in Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa). Surprisingly, these MT-driven patterns successively become imprinted and sufficient to sustain the continued progression of wall thickening in the absence of MTs and CSI1/POM2 function. Hence, two complementary principles underpin wall patterning during xylem vessel development.

SUMMARYSucrose is the main transported form of carbon in several plant species, including Populus species. Sucrose metabolism in developing wood has therefore a central role in carbon partitioning to stem biomass. Half of the sucrose-derived carbon is in the form of fructose, but metabolism of fructose has received little attention as a factor in carbon partitioning to walls of wood cells. We show that RNAi-mediated reduction of FRK2 activity in developing wood of hybrid aspen (Populus tremula · tremuloides) led to the accumulation of soluble neutral sugars and a decrease in hexose phosphates and UDP-glucose, indicating that carbon flux to cell-wall polysaccharide precursors is decreased. Reduced FRK2 activity also led to thinner fiber cell walls with a reduction in the proportion of cellulose. No pleiotropic effects on stem height or diameter were observed. The results establish a central role for FRK2 activity in carbon flux to wood cellulose.