A. V. Chemeris

Changes in expansin gene expression, IAA content, and extension growth of leaf cells in maize plants subjected to salinity

Effects of salinity of nutrient solution on expression of ZmEXPA1 expansin gene and leaf growth were studied on maize plants (Zea mays L.). Rapid activation of the gene transcription was shown to precede the resumption of extension growth in leaf cells under water deficit induced by NaCl salinity. Auxins were found to accumulate in leaves during salinity treatment, the accumulation being faster than activation of ZmEXPA1 transcription. In addition, exogenous IAA was shown to enhance the gene expression. Our results indicate that the hormone is involved in regulation of cell extension growth at high salinity through the expression of expansin gene.

The Phylogeny of Triticum L. and Aegilops L. Inferred from Comparative Analysis of Nucleotide Sequences in rDNA Promoter Regions

The process of accumulation of knowledge on wheat and related wild species during the 20th century is briefly reviewed with special reference to the evidence of the recent years on evolution of polyploid wheats and the role of diploid species. The latter serve as potential donors of the genomes, detection of which is particularly important because of the continuing speciation in the tribe Triticeae and artificial development of synthetic forms. The arguments in favor of the donor role for various diploid wheat and aegilops species from the section Sitopsis are compared. It is stated that in the formation of the both lines of polyploid wheats turgidum–aestivumand timopheevi,diploid Aegilops speltoides acted as a maternal form. In addition to cytoplasmic genomes, this aegilops species introduced into them also the B and G nuclear subgenomes. A comparison of nucleotide sequences in the variable part of the promoter of evolutionary conserved rRNA genes in polyploid wheats with their counterparts in diploid wheats and aegilops species confirmed the accepted wheat phylogenies.

NOR Activity in Wheat Species with Different Ploidy Levels Treated with Phytohormones

The effects of the phytohormones 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 24-epibrassinolide (EB) on the sizes of nucleoli in the interphase nuclei of root meristem were studied using the silver-staining procedure in wheat species with different ploidy levels (a polyploid series). In addition, the effects of the phytohormones on the cell mitotic activity in the roots of 5-day-old seedlings were studied. The higher the wheat species ploidy level, the higher its sensitivities to BAP and EB were. In diploid wheat, the maximum increase in the nucleolar organizing region (NOR) activity was observed after treatment with considerably higher phytohormone concentrations compared to tetra- and hexaploid wheat species. The phytohormone treatment increased both the sizes and the number of nucleoli in meristematic cells of seedling roots in all wheat species studied. It was assumed that the differences between the responses of wheat species with three different ploidy levels to different concentrations of phytohormones were related to their effects on the methylation/demethylation of cytosine residues in the rDNA promoter region.

Expression profiles and hormonal regulation of tobacco NtEXGT gene and its involvement in abiotic stress response

Despite the intensive study of xyloglucan endotransglucosylases/hydrolases, their multifaceted role in plant growth regulation in changing environmental conditions is not yet clarified. The functional role of the large number of genes encoding this group of enzymes is also still unclear. NtEXGT gene encodes one of xyloglucan endotransglucosylases/hydrolases (XTHs) of Nicotiana tabacum L. The highest level of NtEXGT gene expression was detected in young flowers and leaves near the shoot apex. Expression of the NtEXGT gene in leaves was induced by cytokinins, auxins, brassinosteroids and gibberellins. NtEXGT gene was also up-regulated by salinity, drought, cold, cadmium and 10xa0μM abscisic acid treatments and down-regulated in response to 0xa0°C and 100xa0μM abscisic acid. Pretreatment of leaves with fluridone contributed to smaller increase in the level of NtEXGT transcripts in response to drought stress. These data suggest that NtEXGT gene is ABA-regulated and probably implicated in ABA-dependent signaling in response to stress factors. 35S::NtEXGT plants of tobacco showed higher rate of root growth under salt-stress conditions, greater frost and heat tolerance as compared with the wild type tobacco plants.

Initial Stages of Low-Temperature Induction of Cabbage Cold Shock Protein Gene csp5

Some stages of low-temperature signal transduction causing appropriate cold stress response in plants are considered. The effects of Ca2+ chelators, Ca2+ channel blockers, and protein kinase inhibitors on protoplasts and plants of cabbage suggest that the initial stages of cold signal transduction are the change in membrane fluidity followed by the activation of calcium channels and elevation of Ca2+ influx into the cytoplasm. Increased concentration of Ca2+ in cytoplasm activates calcium-dependent protein kinase most likely participating in induction of transcription factors necessary for the expression of cold-regulated genes, in particular csp5. The protein kinase inhibitors staurosporine and wortmannin insignificantly repress the expression of csp5.

Effect of constitutive expression of Arabidopsis CLAVATA3 on cell growth and possible role of cytokinins in leaf size control in transgenic tobacco plants

We generated transgenic tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L.) with overexpression of the Arabidopsis thaliana CLAVATA3 (CLV3) gene which is known to be a negative regulator of cell division. Surprisingly, most of the 35S::CLV3 transgenic plants showed no phenotypic differences with the wild type plants. However, there were considerable changes in the morphological parameters between 35S::CLV3 overexpressors and wild type plants. As expected, the number of meristematic cells in the shoot apical meristem was reduced in 35S::CLV3 plants as compared to the wild type plants. Moreover, overexpression of CLV3 exerted morphological changes not only to shoot apical meristem but also to leaves and flowers. Thus, transgenic plants were characterized by reduced number of epidermal and mesophyll cells as well as stomatal pores in mature leaves. However, there was a compensatory increase in leaf cell size of 35S::CLV3 plants that contributed to maintenance of organ size within the normal range. We observed that expression of cell expansion-promoted genes, expansin NtEXPA4 and endo-xyloglucan transferase NtEXGT, were elevated in mature leaves. In contrast, there was a decrease in the transcript level of the cell division-related AINTEGUMENTA-like (NtANTL) gene in 35S::CLV3 transgenic plants. In addition, we detected an increase in cytokinin level without any changes in the contents of IAA and ABA in 35S::CLV3 overexpressors. Interestingly, cytokinin treatment was shown to stimulate the expression of NtEXPA4 and NtEXGT genes in 35S::CLV3 transgenic plants. We propose that observed compensatory cell expansion in leaves of 35S::CLV3 transgenic plants may be due, at least in part, to a possible link between cytokinin signalling and cell expansion-related genes.

Effect of benzyladenine on the extent of methylation of cytosine residues of the intergenic spacers in rDNA promoter regions of Triticum aestivum and Triticum urartu

The effect of benzyladenine (BA) on the activation of rRNA gene transcription was studied in wheat (Triticum aestivum and T. urartu) as related to the phenomenon of nucleolar dominance and the changes in the extent of methylation of the intergenic spacers in the subgenome A. The method of polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was used to analyze the fragments of rDNA promoter regions amplified with the primers designed to recognize the sites of DNA isolated from BA-treated seedlings of diploid T. urartu and hexaploid T. aestivum and desaminated with metabisulfite. The subsequent genomic bisulfite sequencing of the amplification products was used to evaluate the level of methylation/demethylation of the particular cytosine residues. BA diminished methylation of cytosine residues in rDNA promoter regions to the level, which was different in two wheat species; these data presume that the transcriptional activities of rRNA genes in various wheat subgenomes depend on the extent of their methylation.