Conserved factors regulate signalling in Arabidopsis thaliana shoot and root stem cell organizers

Throughout the lifespan of a plant, which in some cases can last more than one thousand years, the stem cell niches in the root and shoot apical meristems provide cells for the formation of complete root and shoot systems, respectively. Both niches are superficially different and it has remained unclear whether common regulatory mechanisms exist. Here we address whether root and shoot meristems use related factors for stem cell maintenance. In the root niche the quiescent centre cells, surrounded by the stem cells, express the homeobox gene WOX5 (WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX 5), a homologue of the WUSCHEL (WUS) gene that non-cell-autonomously maintains stem cells in the shoot meristem. Loss of WOX5 function in the root meristem stem cell niche causes terminal differentiation in distal stem cells and, redundantly with other regulators, also provokes differentiation of the proximal meristem. Conversely, gain of WOX5 function blocks differentiation of distal stem cell descendents that normally differentiate. Importantly, both WOX5 and WUS maintain stem cells in either a root or shoot context. Together, our data indicate that stem cell maintenance signalling in both meristems employs related regulators.     

SERRATE coordinates shoot meristem function and leaf axial patterning in Arabidopsis

Leaves of flowering plants are determinate organs produced by pluripotent structures termed shoot apical meristems. Once specified, leaves differentiate an adaxial (upper) side specialized for light capture, and an abaxial (lower) side specialized for gas exchange. A functional relationship between meristem activity and the differentiation of adaxial leaf fate has been recognized for over fifty years, but the molecular basis of this interaction is unclear. In Arabidopsis thaliana, activity of the class I KNOX (KNOTTED1-like homeobox) genes SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (STM) and BREVIPEDICELLUS (BP) is required for meristem function but excluded from leaves, whereas members of the HD-Zip III (class III homeodomain leucine zipper) protein family function to promote both meristem activity and adaxial leaf fate. Here we show that the zinc-finger protein SERRATE acts in a microRNA (miRNA) gene-silencing pathway to regulate expression of the HD-Zip III gene PHABULOSA (PHB) while also limiting the competence of shoot tissue to respond to KNOX expression. Thus, SERRATE acts to coordinately regulate meristem activity and leaf axial patterning.     

小麦花和花序分化过程中细胞内含物的变化

本文对小麦茎生长锥分化及花和花序发育过程中细胞内物质的变化进行了研究。其变化规律可总结为以下两方面:(1)DNA,RNA 和蛋白质分布的细胞区域基本一致,且都在发生新器官和迅速生长发育的原分生组织细胞中含量最丰富。(2)淀粉物质的大量积累都是向着迅速生长与发育的新器官方面转移,而且积累淀粉的细胞区域总是紧靠在原分生组织的后面,但不在原分生组织细胞中,穗轴上不同部位小穗及小穗上不同部位小花的发育状况与所获得的营养物质(主要是多糖)成正相关。     

蔺草的生物学特性

原套由２层细胞组成．包围着内部细胞群—原体．叶原基发生的最初标志是苗端侧面下表皮层细胞的平周分裂。苗中有１个轴及６个节，每节上有１张具鞘的叶．苗中有两个芽，“主芽”由第２叶的叶腋产生，另１个是侧芽由第３叶叶腋产生．合轴分枝．第１—２节是匍匐状，第３—６节直立．茎杆仲长是因居间分生组织活动及细胞增宽与延长的结果．茎杆的不同部位结构有差异．维管束数目自基部向顶部逐渐减少，而髓部空腔宽度则是下部狭，上部宽．割梢及设网支撑可获丰产．     

Evidence that stem cells reside in the adult Drosophila midgut epithelium

Adult stem cells maintain organ systems throughout the course of life and facilitate repair after injury or disease. A fundamental property of stem and progenitor cell division is the capacity to retain a proliferative state or generate differentiated daughter cells; however, little is currently known about signals that regulate the balance between these processes. Here, we characterize a proliferating cellular compartment in the adult Drosophila midgut. Using genetic mosaic analysis we demonstrate that differentiated cells in the epithelium arise from a common lineage. Furthermore, we show that reduction of Notch signalling leads to an increase in the number of midgut progenitor cells, whereas activation of the Notch pathway leads to a decrease in proliferation. Thus, the midgut progenitor's default state is proliferation, which is inhibited through the Notch signalling pathway. The ability to identify, manipulate and genetically trace cell lineages in the midgut should lead to the discovery of additional genes that regulate stem and progenitor cell biology in the gastrointestinal tract.     

Deregulation of a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase leads to spontaneous nodule development

Induced development of a new plant organ in response to rhizobia is the most prominent manifestation of legume root-nodule symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Here we show that the complex root-nodule organogenic programme can be genetically deregulated to trigger de novo nodule formation in the absence of rhizobia or exogenous rhizobial signals. In an ethylmethane sulphonate-induced snf1 (spontaneous nodule formation) mutant of Lotus japonicus, a single amino-acid replacement in a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CCaMK) is sufficient to turn fully differentiated root cortical cells into meristematic founder cells of root nodule primordia. These spontaneous nodules are genuine nodules with an ontogeny similar to that of rhizobial-induced root nodules, corroborating previous physiological studies. Using two receptor-deficient genetic backgrounds we provide evidence for a developmentally integrated spontaneous nodulation process that is independent of lipochitin-oligosaccharide signal perception and oscillations in Ca2+ second messenger levels. Our results reveal a key regulatory position of CCaMK upstream of all components required for cell-cycle activation, and a phenotypically divergent series of mutant alleles demonstrates positive and negative regulation of the process.     

Dystrophin expression in the mdx mouse restored by stem cell transplantation.

The development of cell or gene therapies for diseases involving cells that are widely distributed throughout the body has been severely hampered by the inability to achieve the disseminated delivery of cells or genes to the affected tissues or organ. Here we report the results of bone marrow transplantation studies in the mdx mouse, an animal model of Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, which indicate that the intravenous injection of either normal haematopoietic stem cells or a novel population of muscle-derived stem cells into irradiated animals results in the reconstitution of the haematopoietic compartment of the transplanted recipients, the incorporation of donor-derived nuclei into muscle, and the partial restoration of dystrophin expression in the affected muscle. These results suggest that the transplantation of different stem cell populations, using the procedures of bone marrow transplantation, might provide an unanticipated avenue for treating muscular dystrophy as well as other diseases where the systemic delivery of therapeutic cells to sites throughout the body is critical. Our studies also suggest that the inherent developmental potential of stem cells isolated from diverse tissues or organs may be more similar than previously anticipated.     

HAR1 mediates systemic regulation of symbiotic organ development

Symbiotic root nodules are beneficial to leguminous host plants; however, excessive nodulation damages the host because it interferes with the distribution of nutrients in the plant. To keep a steady balance, the nodulation programme is regulated systemically in leguminous hosts. Leguminous mutants that have lost this ability display a hypernodulating phenotype. Through the use of reciprocal and self-grafting studies using Lotus japonicus hypernodulating mutants, har1 (also known as sym78), we show that the shoot genotype is responsible for the negative regulation of nodule development. A map-based cloning strategy revealed that HAR1 encodes a protein with a relative molecular mass of 108,000, which contains 21 leucine-rich repeats, a single transmembrane domain and serine/threonine kinase domains. The har1 mutant phenotype was rescued by transfection of the HAR1 gene. In a comparison of Arabidopsis receptor-like kinases, HAR1 showed the highest level of similarity with CLAVATA1 (CLV1). CLV1 negatively regulates formation of the shoot and floral meristems through cell-cell communication involving the CLV3 peptide. Identification of hypernodulation genes thus indicates that genes in leguminous plants bearing a close resemblance to CLV1 regulate nodule development systemically, by means of organ-organ communication.     

竹芋和三色竹芋的试管繁殖研究

本研究对竹芋和三色竹芋作了试管繁殖试验，以两种植物的不同器官作为外植体，以ＭＳ作基本培养基，附加不同的植生长调节物６－苄基腺嘌呤和萘乙酸诱导再生植株。     

Hela细胞中突变PSF蛋白对细胞增殖迁移及可变剪接的影响

PSF作为真核细胞中的抑癌蛋白,在Hela细胞发生基因突变导致其蛋白功能改变.为了阐明突变体PSF蛋白在肿瘤细胞的作用,本文分别采用siRNA干扰、细胞生长曲线、细胞划痕等实验检测muPSF对Hela细胞增殖及迁移的影响,半定量PCR实验分析PSF调控的下游靶基因的可变剪切情况.研究结果显示,当通过siRNA干扰muPSF的表达后Hela细胞的增殖迁移能力下降,高表达突变体PSF可增强Hela细胞的增殖与迁移,半定量PCR实验分析PSF下游调控基因显示muPSF可以改变增殖和迁移相关基因的可变剪接形式.因此,我们的实验证明,Hela细胞中muPSF通过调控下游靶基因的可变剪切影响Hela细胞的增殖和迁移能力.     

Intrinsic segmental identity of segmental founder cells of the leech embryo

Segmentation occurs in several animal phyla, and the cellular mechanisms generating this structural periodicity vary considerably. In the leech, an annelid worm, segmental founder cells arise through a fixed cell lineage (Fig. 1), and come together in a longitudinally repeating array through a stereotyped pattern of morphogenesis. In this paper we demonstrate that founder cells forced to differentiate in a foreign segmental environment give rise to their normal, segment-specific clones of neuronal descendants, even in segments in which those neuronal phenotypes would not normally be observed. These findings indicate that the individual founder cells possess segmental identity at or shortly after the time of their birth, and further suggest that such identities are established by a mechanism in which the parent stem cell 'counts' mitotic cycles.     

遮阴条件下杉木幼苗生长和C、N、P化学计量特征的变化

【目的】比较不同强度遮阴条件下杉木(Cunninghamia lanceolata)幼苗生长、生物量积累与分配,以及不同器官碳(C)、氮(N)、磷(P)积累、分配及化学计量特征的差异,探讨杉木幼苗在不同遮阴条件下的C、N、P元素积累及分配的响应策略,揭示遮阴处理对杉木幼苗C、N、P元素变化规律的影响,为杉木苗木繁育、林分光照环境调控管理等提供参考。【方法】选取当年生杉木幼苗为研究对象,通过人工遮阴方式设置5个遮阴梯度,即0%(对照,不遮阴)、遮阴强度40%(透光率60%)、60%(透光率40%)、85%(透光率15%)和95%(透光率5%),持续观测1 a。试验结束后测定幼苗株高与地径增量、各器官生物量、根冠比、各器官C、N、P含量、积累量,并分析C、N、P化学计量特征(以C/N、C/P,N/P表示元素质量比)等指标。【结果】①随遮阴强度的增大,杉木幼苗株高增量总体呈现上升趋势,而地径增量则显著降低(P<0.05)。根、茎、叶及总生物量、根生物量占比和根冠比降低,茎、叶生物量比增大;②根、茎、叶中及总的C、N、P积累量随遮阴强度的增大而降低。随着遮阴强度的增大,杉木地上部分(茎和叶)C和N分配比例增加,而地下部分(根)C和N分配比例则降低。③杉木幼苗C/N和C/P变化趋势相同,随着遮阴强度的增大先增加后减少。杉木幼苗各器官N/P低于14,表明杉木幼苗在不同遮阴下的生长受到N限制。【结论】杉木幼苗生长和生理特性对不同遮阴强度响应有差异,主要表现在随着遮阴强度的增加,株高生长加快,地径粗生长减缓,生物量分配倾向于地上部分,幼苗由“矮粗”逐渐转变为“细高”。但是过度遮阴不利于杉木幼苗的生长,导致幼苗生物量积累减少,C、N、P积累量降低。     

B and C floral organ identity functions require SEPALLATA MADS-box genes

Abnormal flowers have been recognized for thousands of years, but only in the past decade have the mysteries of flower development begun to unfold. Among these mysteries is the differentiation of four distinct organ types (sepals, petals, stamens and carpels), each of which may be a modified leaf. A landmark accomplishment in plant developmental biology is the ABC model of flower organ identity. This simple model provides a conceptual framework for explaining how the individual and combined activities of the ABC genes produce the four organ types of the typical eudicot flower. Here we show that the activities of the B and C organ-identity genes require the activities of three closely related and functionally redundant MADS-box genes, SEPALLATA1/2/3 (SEP1/2/3). Triple mutant Arabidopsis plants lacking the activity of all three SEP genes produce flowers in which all organs develop as sepals. Thus SEP1/2/3 are a class of organ-identity genes that is required for development of petals, stamens and carpels.     

蒲菜营养器官的解剖学研究

研究了蒲菜营养器官的形态结构。蒲菜不定根根冠、皮怃、维管柱起源于顶端分组织中各自大独立的３层原始细胞，表皮与皮层起源于共同的原始细胞，不定根具根毛，维管束为多原型。生长锥原套为２层，茎的维管束均分散在基本组织中，分为中央维管束和周围维管束，蒲叶两面均具栅栏组织，为等面叶，两表皮气孔器密度相似。     

人间充质干细胞成骨分化早期HOX家族基因转录的表观遗传调控

人间充质干细胞(human mesenchymal stem cells,hMSCs)是一类具有多分化潜能的成体干细胞,在体内外可以被人工定向诱导分化成多种不同的细胞.有报道表明,在干细胞分化的过程中,细胞核内染色质发生重塑.HOX家族基因作为一类转录因子,在胚胎发育以及细胞分化过程中发挥着十分重要作用.通过体外定向诱导骨髓间充质干细胞向成骨细胞分化,对比分化前后细胞中HOX家族基因的表达状况,发现HOX家族基因的表达水平在hMSCs早期成骨分化过程中显著下降.进一步的研究发现,HOX家族基因的这种表达变化是由其启动子区的组蛋白H3-Lys9乙酰化和二甲基化水平发生变化而导致的.一系列实验证据表明,在间充质干细胞的成骨分化过程中,HOX家族基因表达受到抑制,而这种抑制作用是与其分化过程中发生的染色质重塑事件密切相关的.