Myoung Ryoul Park

Transcriptional regulatory network triggered by oxidative signals configures the early response mechanisms of japonica rice to chilling stress.

BackgroundThe transcriptional regulatory network involved in low temperature response leading to acclimation has been established in Arabidopsis. In japonica rice, which can only withstand transient exposure to milder cold stress (10°C), an oxidative-mediated network has been proposed to play a key role in configuring early responses and short-term defenses. The components, hierarchical organization and physiological consequences of this network were further dissected by a systems-level approach.ResultsRegulatory clusters responding directly to oxidative signals were prominent during the initial 6 to 12 hours at 10°C. Early events mirrored a typical oxidative response based on striking similarities of the transcriptome to disease, elicitor and wounding induced processes. Targets of oxidative-mediated mechanisms are likely regulated by several classes of bZIP factors acting on as1/ocs/TGA-like element enriched clusters, ERF factors acting on GCC-box/JAre-like element enriched clusters and R2R3-MYB factors acting on MYB2-like element enriched clusters.Temporal induction of several H2O2-induced bZIP, ERF and MYB genes coincided with the transient H2O2 spikes within the initial 6 to 12 hours. Oxidative-independent responses involve DREB/CBF, RAP2 and RAV1 factors acting on DRE/CRT/rav1-like enriched clusters and bZIP factors acting on ABRE-like enriched clusters. Oxidative-mediated clusters were activated earlier than ABA-mediated clusters.ConclusionGenome-wide, physiological and whole-plant level analyses established a holistic view of chilling stress response mechanism of japonica rice. Early response regulatory network triggered by oxidative signals is critical for prolonged survival under sub-optimal temperature. Integration of stress and developmental responses leads to modulated growth and vigor maintenance contributing to a delay of plastic injuries.

Resveratrol accumulation and resveratrol synthase gene expression in response to abiotic stresses and hormones in peanut plants

Abstract The peanut is one of the limited number of plant species that synthesize resveratrol, which is both a phytoalexin with antifungal activity and a phytochemical associated with reduced cancer risk and reduced cardiovascular disease. We investigated resveratrol content and resveratrol synthase gene expression in response to various stresses and hormones in order to understand the mode of resveratrol synthesis in peanut plants. Resveratrol was present in substantial amounts (1.2–2.6 μg/g FW) in leaves, roots and shells, but very little (0.05–0.06 μg/g FW) was found in developing seeds and seed coats of field-grown peanuts. Accumulation of resveratrol in leaves increased over 200-fold in response to UV light, over 20-fold in response to paraquat, and between two- and ninefold in response to wounding, H2O2, salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid and ethephon, 24 h after treatment. No accumulation of resveratrol was induced by abscisic acid. Changes in resveratrol content were correlated with levels of RS mRNA, indicating a transcriptional control of resveratrol synthase activity. The results suggest that resveratrol synthesis is induced by biotic and abiotic factors through the regulation of RS transcription, and that stress hormones such as SA and ethylene are involved in the RS gene expression in peanut.

Transcriptome profiling characterizes phosphate deficiency effects on carbohydrate metabolism in rice leaves

Phosphorus (P) is a structural component of nucleic acids and phospholipids and plays important roles in plant growth and development. P accumulation was significantly reduced (about 35%) in rice leaves from plants grown under low (32 μM) P compared to 320 μM P grown plants. Genome response to low P was examined using the rice 60K oligonucleotide DNA microarrays. At the threshold significance of |log₂| fold>2.0, 21,033 genes (about 33.7% of all genes on the microarray) were affected by P deficiency. Among all genes on the microarray, 4271 genes were sorted into 51 metabolic pathways. Low P affected 1494 (35.0%) genes and the largest category of genes was related to sucrose degradation to ethanol and lactate pathway. To survey the role of P in rice, 25 pathways were selected based on number of affected genes. Among these pathways, cytosolic glycolysis contained the least number of upregulated but most down-regulated genes. Low P decreased glucose, pyruvate and chlorophyll, and genes related to carbon metabolism and chlorophyllide a biosynthesis. However, sucrose and starch levels increased. These results indicate that P nutrition affects diverse metabolic pathways mostly related to glucose, pyruvate, sucrose, starch, and chlorophyll a.

Phenotypic, Physiological, and Molecular Evaluation of Rice Chilling Stress Response at the Vegetative Stage

Rice is a chilling-sensitive plant that is particularly prone to injury during the early stages of seedling development and during flowering. Significant variation exists between subspecies with japonica cultivars generally being less sensitive than most indica cultivars. In most temperate and subtropical countries where rice is grown, crop damage often occurs during the early stages of seedling development due to occasional cold snaps coinciding with the first few weeks after direct seeding in late spring to early summer. Irreversible injuries often result in seedling mortality or if the crop survives a stress episode, plant vigor and resistance to pests and diseases are severely compromised. Recent physiological and molecular studies have shown that oxidative stress is the primary cause of early chilling injuries in rice and the differential responses of indica and japonica cultivars are defined to a large extent by gene expression related to oxidative signaling and defenses. In this chapter, we summarize basic phenotypic, physiological, and molecular procedures that can be adopted for routine evaluation of differential responses between cultivars as well as for functional genomics studies.

Oxygen dependency of germinating Brassica seeds

Establishing plants in space, Moon or Mars requires adaptation to altered conditions, including reduced pressure and composition of atmospheres. To determine the oxygen requirements for seed germination, we imbibed Brassica rapa seeds under varying oxygen concentrations and profiled the transcription patterns of genes related to early metabolism such as starch degradation, glycolysis, and fermentation. We also analyzed the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), and measured starch degradation. Partial oxygen pressure (pO2) greater than 10% resulted in normal germination (i.e., protrusion of radicle about 18 hours after imbibition) but lower pO2 delayed and reduced germination. Imbibition in an oxygen-free atmosphere for three days resulted in no germination but subsequent transfer to air initiated germination in 75% of the seeds and the root growth rate was transiently greater than in roots germinated under ambient pO2. In hypoxic seeds soluble sugars degraded faster but the content of starch after 24 h was higher than at ambient oxygen. Transcription of genes related to starch degradation, α-amylase (AMY) and Sucrose Synthase (SUS), was higher under ambient O2 than under hypoxia. Glycolysis and fermentation pathway-related genes, glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI), 6-phosphofructokinase (PFK), fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (ALD), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC), LDH, and ADH, were induced by low pO2. The activity of LDH and ADH was the highest in anoxic seeds. Germination under low O2 conditions initiated ethanolic fermentation. Therefore, sufficient oxygen availability is important for germination before photosynthesis provides necessary oxygen and the determination of an oxygen carrying capacity is important for uniform growth in space conditions.