Yoshitaka Azumi

BIN4, a Novel Component of the Plant DNA Topoisomerase VI Complex, Is Required for Endoreduplication in Arabidopsis

How plant organs grow to reach their final size is an important but largely unanswered question. Here, we describe an Arabidopsis thaliana mutant, brassinosteroid-insensitive4 (bin4), in which the growth of various organs is dramatically reduced. Small organ size in bin4 is primarily caused by reduced cell expansion associated with defects in increasing ploidy by endoreduplication. Raising nuclear DNA content in bin4 by colchicine-induced polyploidization partially rescues the cell and organ size phenotype, indicating that BIN4 is directly and specifically required for endoreduplication rather than for subsequent cell expansion. BIN4 encodes a plant-specific, DNA binding protein that acts as a component of the plant DNA topoisomerase VI complex. Loss of BIN4 triggers an ATM- and ATR-dependent DNA damage response in postmitotic cells, and this response coincides with the upregulation of the cyclin B1;1 gene in the same cell types, suggesting a functional link between DNA damage response and endocycle control.

The Arabidopsis SDG4 contributes to the regulation of pollen tube growth by methylation of histone H3 lysines 4 and 36 in mature pollen

Plant SET domain proteins are known to be involved in the epigenetic control of gene expression during plant development. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis SET domain protein, SDG4, contributes to the epigenetic regulation of pollen tube growth, thus affecting fertilization. Using an SDG4-GFP fusion construct, the chromosomal localization of SDG4 was established in tobacco BY-2 cells. In Arabidopsis, sdg4 knockout showed reproductive defects. Tissue-specific expression analyses indicated that SDG4 is the major ASH1-related gene expressed in the pollen. Immunological analyses demonstrated that SDG4 was involved in the methylation of histone H3 in the inflorescence and pollen grains. The significant reduction in the amount of methylated histone H3 K4 and K36 in sdg4 pollen vegetative nuclei resulted in suppression of pollen tube growth. Our results indicate that SDG4 is capable of modulating the expression of genes that function in the growth of pollen tube by methylation of specific lysine residues of the histone H3 in the vegetative nuclei.

Homologous chromosome pairing is completed in crossover defective atzip4 mutant.

In transposon-tagged lines of Arabidopsis, we found a mutant that was defective in meiotic chromosome segregation. This mutant, named atzip4-4, was due to a novel mutant allele of AtZIP4, which has sequence similarity to yeast ZIP4/SPO22, which codes a ZMM protein that is a proposed unit of the synapsis initiation complex. The chiasma distribution in atzip4-4 differed from that in the wild-type, involved in a deficiency of interfering crossovers in the mutant genome. On the other hand, FISH staining of loci on two independent chromosomes in mutant meiocytes indicated that homologous chromosome pairing to synapse progresses normally until the pachytene stage, yet homologous chromosomes often separated abruptly at diplotene and diakinesis. These results suggest that AtZIP4 plays an important role in normal crossover formation and meiotic chromosome segregation, but not in homolog search. The relationship of AtZIP4 and other related proteins in meiotic events is discussed and compared with that in yeast.

DC-driven thermoelectric Peltier device for precise DNA amplification

Using a DC-driven Peltier device, we fabricated a DNA amplification system [polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system] with the aim of increasing its speed and precision. The Peltier device had a well block sandwiched by Bi2Se0.37Te2.36 as an N-type thermoelectric material and Bi0.59Sb1.30Te3 as a P-type material. The well block was directly controlled by the electric current, leading to a high thermal response. Using the Peltier device with the well block, we performed thermal cycles of a PCR, and we demonstrated that our PCR system produces a smaller amount of nonspecific products for the genome DNA (gDNA) of Arabidopsis thaliana, leading to a more precise DNA amplification system.

Expression of genes for chloroplast proteins in pine yellow cotyledons grown at low temperature

Cotyledons of most gymnosperms synthesize chlorophylls in complete darkness at 25°C under standard germination conditions and differentiated stromal and granal lamellae are evident in their chloroplasts. The protein components of the two photosystems and the Cyt b/f complex are expressed and accumulate in the thylakoids of dark-grown cotyledons but the O2-evolving enzyme remains latent. Genes for chloroplast proteins are expressed in the dark-grown cotyledons of gymnosperms. Cotyledons of Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii) were yellow when they developed in darkness at 8°C since the light-independent synthesis of chlorophyll was almost completely inhibited in these cotyledons. The level of chlorophyll in dark-grown cotyledons was less than one-twentieth of that in light-grown cotyledons at the same temperature. In the yellow cotyledons, levels of transcripts of cab, rbcS, rbcL and psbA genes were quite high. The large and small subunits of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase were also detected at relatively high levels in yellow cotyledons. However, the accumulation of the two apoproteins of the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding protein of PSII was limited because of the limited supply of chlorophyll. In conclusion, light and chlorophyll appear not to be necessary for the expression of some members of cab and rbcS in the nuclear genome and the expression of rbcL and psbA in the chloroplast genome in pine cotyledons