异三聚体G蛋白在拟南芥生长过程中的作用

利用拟南芥的野生型和异三聚体G蛋白α亚基基因GPA1缺失突变体(gpα1-1,gpα1-2)和超表达突变体(wGα,cGα)为材料,对植株生长发育的一些形态指标进行了观测比较．结果表明2个缺失突变体的植株高度、叶片宽度、长角果果柄长度都明显超过野生型,而超表达突变体的部分指标与野生型相比也有明显差别．实验结果表明,异三聚体G蛋白参与某些器官生长发育的调节,初步证明G蛋白α亚基在伸长生长过程中可能起负调节作用。     

人工模拟铁氧还蛋白及其研究

用小分子蛋白(核糖核酸酶和绿豆胰蛋白酶抑制剂)为配体合成了两种人工铁氧还蛋白(Fd)。测定了它们的化学组成、紫外光谱、红外光谱和磁化率。实验结果表明,这两种人工Fd都具有2Fe-2S~*(S~*代表无机硫)簇状中心,所以可作为植物型铁氧还蛋白的模型物。     

细菌光敏色素AphA的克隆表达及重组新方法

通过PCR技术，从蓝藻PCC7120中扩增出细菌光敏色素Apha的基因aphA，进而构建aphA的缺失突变体aphA(N-25/C-445)．二者分别转人表达载体pET30a中，在宿主菌中获得高效表达，获得的脱辅基蛋白与CpcA进行体外重组．在本体外重组体系中，以藻蓝蛋白α亚基(CpeA)，在光敏色素自身作用或者藻蓝蛋白裂合酶的帮助下从CpcA上捕获胆色素完成重组．藻蓝蛋白裂合酶CpcE／F能很大程度增强光敏色素脱辅基蛋白从CocA夺取PCB的能力．该结果对于研究细菌光敏色素的色素来源及生理生化机理都具有重要意义．     

光信号途径组分HEMERA调控拟南芥的花药发育

雄蕊是植物的雄性生殖器官,对植物繁衍及作物的产量至关重要.光信号影响拟南芥生殖发育过程,但作用机制知之甚少.HEMERA(HMR)是拟南芥光敏色素途径的主要成员之一,通过介导光敏色素B(PhyB)的定位及光信号途径重要转录因子PIF的降解而在植物光形态建成过程中发挥重要作用,但其在生殖发育中的功能尚不清楚.本研究利用hmr突变体及转基因恢复植物进行研究发现:HMR功能缺失导致花药变小、花粉数目减少、花粉萌发率显著降低,绒毡层部分空泡化并提前降解;并且,其转基因功能互补能恢复这些育性问题,说明HMR可能通过参与绒毡层降解过程而调节植物雄性育性.     

破坏ARF8基因降低拟南芥对红光的敏感性

通过ARF8基因的突变体arf8-1以及arf8-1与红光受体突变体phyB-5所组成的双突变体在红光条件下的表型鉴定,探讨ARF8参与拟南芥对红光的反应以及PhyB与ARF8在红光信号转导中的关系.结果表明,在红光条件下,arf8-1和phyB-5幼苗下胚轴的长度比相应野生型的长,倒伏度比相应野生型的低,而双突变体arf8-1 phyB-5的下胚轴的长度和倒伏度均比两个单突变体的更长和更低.上述结果说明,破坏ARF8基因降低了拟南芥对红光的敏感性,即ARF8参与了拟南芥对红光的反应,但没有介导PhyB所接收的红光信号转导.     

拟南芥atfes1a突变体种子的热敏感性分析

根据基因芯片数据等生物信息学资料,我们锁定一些未知的且被高温诱导的基因,并获得了一个推测编码蛋白含armadillo/beta-catenin repeat(简称ARM)结构域的突变体salk-021784,该突变体缺失AtFes1A基因,该基因编码一种受高温诱导的ARM 蛋白.利用抗体检测了在拟南芥种子发育过程中AtFes1A的热诱导表达特征, 通过表型分析发现,热处理后的突变体种子萌发率明显低于热处理后的野生型,表明AtFes1A蛋白与拟南芥耐热有关.     

一株拟南芥晚花突变体的分子分析

植物的开花时间直接控制植物营养生长期和生育期的长短,在相当程度上决定着繁育的成功与否,也与植物的产量和质量性状密切相关.拟南芥花期改变突变体是植物开花调控机制研究重要的植物材料.研究利用前期研究中获得的一株稳定遗传的、晚花表型的T-DNA插入拟南芥突变体pex2为材料,对其进行开花相关表型分析、T-DNA插入位点鉴定及插入位点基因转录分析等研究,结果表明:pex2突变体中存在单一的T-DNA插入,该插入位点位于PEX2基因下游约1 800 bp处,且该位点的插入引起了PEX2全长转录产物的缺失.该研究为进一步探索pex2突变体晚花机制及拟南芥PEX2基因与晚花表型之间的相关性研究,提供了研究材料.     

拟南芥BLI基因调控植物衰老的研究

BLISTER(BLI)蛋白是多种应激反应的调节因子,可以促进植物对环境的适应性.BLI蛋白通过抑制IRE 1蛋白以维持植物的正常生长,缺失BLI蛋白的拟南芥植株出现多种发育缺陷表型.文章以拟南芥bli突变体为实验材料,通过细胞生物学及遗传学方法检测其衰老相关表征,发现bli突变体植株早期出现叶片黄化、叶绿素含量下降、...     

拟南芥逆境响应蛋白SEP1的初步研究

为了研究拟南芥逆境响应蛋白SEP1的生物学功能,通过CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术获得了SEP1基因缺失的拟南芥突变体sep1-1.和从诺丁汉拟南芥种子库(NASC)购买的SEP1基因敲降突变体sep1-2一样,sep1-1在正常条件下与野生型没有明显差异.但是在1 200μmol photos·m^-2·s^-1高光处理8 h后,两个突变体新生叶片的叶绿体光系统Ⅱ(PSⅡ)的最大量子产量(F_v/F_m)和野生型(WT)相比有着不同程度的下调,说明PSⅡ的活性降低.亚细胞和叶绿体精细定位结果表明,SEP1是叶绿体基质类囊体膜蛋白.通过蓝绿温和凝胶电泳(BN-PAGE)和二向(2D)SDS-PAGE/蛋白免疫印迹分析发现：SEP1与某些未知蛋白结合形成一个分子质量约为100 ku的复合物,它们可能共同参与了PSⅡ的组装或修复.     

拟南芥突变体lac8-2和lac8-3的鉴定

本课题组已通过基因工程方法证实,拟南芥At5g01040的编码蛋白Lac8具有漆酶活性.本研究通过PCR扩增技术,成功筛选出Lac8基因的T-DNA插入突变体lac8-2和lac8-3的纯合子.RT-PCR分析表明,突变体中没有Lac8基因的表达.因此,lac8-2和lac8-3均可作为Lac8基因的功能缺失突变体,这为进一步研究Lac8基因在拟南芥生长发育中的功能奠定了材料基础.     

Phytochrome signalling is mediated through nucleoside diphosphate kinase 2.

Because plants are sessile, they have developed intricate strategies to adapt to changing environmental variables, including light. Their growth and development, from germination to flowering, is critically influenced by light, particularly at red (660 nm) and far-red (730 nm) wavelengths. Higher plants perceive red and far-red light by means of specific light sensors called phytochromes(A-E). However, very little is known about how light signals are transduced to elicit responses in plants. Here we report that nucleoside diphosphate kinase 2 (NDPK2) is an upstream component in the phytochrome signalling pathway in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. In animal and human cells, NDPK acts as a tumour suppressor. We show that recombinant NDPK2 in Arabidopsis preferentially binds to the red-light-activated form of phytochrome in vitro and that this interaction increases the activity of recombinant NDPK2. Furthermore, a mutant lacking NDPK2 showed a partial defect in responses to both red and farred light, including cotyledon opening and greening. These results indicate that NDPK2 is a positive signalling component of the phytochrome-mediated light-signal-transduction pathway in Arabidopsis.     

The ELF3 zeitnehmer regulates light signalling to the circadian clock

The circadian system regulates 24-hour biological rhythms and seasonal rhythms, such as flowering. Long-day flowering plants like Arabidopsis thaliana, measure day length with a rhythm that is not reset at lights-off, whereas short-day plants measure night length on the basis of circadian rhythm of light sensitivity that is set from dusk, early flowering 3 (elf3) mutants of Arabidopsis are aphotoperiodic and exhibit light-conditional arrhythmias. Here we show that the elf3-7 mutant retains oscillator function in the light but blunts circadian gating of CAB gene activation, indicating that deregulated phototransduction may mask rhythmicity. Furthermore, elf3 mutations confer the resetting pattern of short-day photoperiodism, indicating that gating of phototransduction may control resetting. Temperature entrainment can bypass the requirement for normal ELF3 function for the oscillator and partially restore rhythmic CAB expression. Therefore, ELF3 specifically affects light input to the oscillator, similar to its function in gating CAB activation, allowing oscillator progression past a light-sensitive phase in the subjective evening. ELF3 provides experimental demonstration of the zeitnehmer ('time-taker') concept.     

Functional interaction of phytochrome B and cryptochrome 2

Light is a crucial environmental signal that controls many photomorphogenic and circadian responses in plants. Perception and transduction of light is achieved by at least two principal groups of photoreceptors, phytochromes and cryptochromes. Phytochromes are red/far-red light-absorbing receptors encoded by a gene family of five members (phyA to phyE) in Arabidopsis. Cryptochrome 1 (cry1), cryptochrome 2 (cry2) and phototropin are the blue/ultraviolet-A light receptors that have been characterized in Arabidopsis. Previous studies showed that modulation of many physiological responses in plants is achieved by genetic interactions between different photoreceptors; however, little is known about the nature of these interactions and their roles in the signal transduction pathway. Here we show the genetic interaction that occurs between the Arabidopsis photoreceptors phyB and cry2 in the control of flowering time, hypocotyl elongation and circadian period by the clock. PhyB interacts directly with cry2 as observed in co-immunoprecipitation experiments with transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing cry2. Using fluorescent resonance energy transfer microscopy, we show that phyB and cry2 interact in nuclear speckles that are formed in a light-dependent fashion.     

FKF1 is essential for photoperiodic-specific light signalling in Arabidopsis

Adaptation to seasonal change is a crucial component of an organism's survival strategy. To monitor seasonal variation, organisms have developed the capacity to measure day length (photoperiodism). Day-length assessment involves the photoperiodic control of flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana, whereby the coincidence of light and high expression of CONSTANS (CO) induces the expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), leading to flowering in long-day conditions. Although controlling CO expression is clearly a key step in day-length discrimination, the mechanism that generates day-length-dependent CO expression remains unknown. Here we show that the clock-controlled FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX (FKF1) protein has an essential role in generating the diurnal CO peak and that this function is dependent on light. We show that a recombinant FKF1 LIGHT, OXYGEN OR VOLTAGE (LOV) domain binds the chromophore flavin mononucleotide and undergoes light-induced photochemistry, indicating that FKF1 may function as a photoperiodic blue-light receptor. It is likely that the circadian control of FKF1 expression and the light regulation of FKF1 function coincide to control the daytime CO waveform precisely, which in turn is crucial for day-length discrimination by Arabidopsis.     

Regulation of flowering time by light quality

The transition to flowering in plants is regulated by environmental factors such as temperature and light. Plants grown under dense canopies or at high density perceive a decrease in the ratio of red to far-red incoming light. This change in light quality serves as a warning of competition, triggering a series of responses known collectively as the 'shade-avoidance syndrome'. During shade avoidance, stems elongate at the expense of leaf expansion, and flowering is accelerated. Of the five phytochromes-a family of red/far-red light photoreceptors-in Arabidopsis, phytochrome B (phyB) has the most significant role in shade-avoidance responses, but the mechanisms by which phyB regulates flowering in response to altered ratios of red to far-red light are largely unknown. Here we identify PFT1 (PHYTOCHROME AND FLOWERING TIME 1), a nuclear protein that acts in a phyB pathway and induces flowering in response to suboptimal light conditions. PFT1 functions downstream of phyB to regulate the expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), providing evidence for the existence of a light-quality pathway that regulates flowering time in plants.     

Cyclic electron flow around photosystem I is essential for photosynthesis

Photosynthesis provides at least two routes through which light energy can be used to generate a proton gradient across the thylakoid membrane of chloroplasts, which is subsequently used to synthesize ATP. In the first route, electrons released from water in photosystem II (PSII) are eventually transferred to NADP+ by way of photosystem I (PSI). This linear electron flow is driven by two photochemical reactions that function in series. The cytochrome b6f complex mediates electron transport between the two photosystems and generates the proton gradient (DeltapH). In the second route, driven solely by PSI, electrons can be recycled from either reduced ferredoxin or NADPH to plastoquinone, and subsequently to the cytochrome b6f complex. Such cyclic flow generates DeltapH and thus ATP without the accumulation of reduced species. Whereas linear flow from water to NADP+ is commonly used to explain the function of the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis, the role of cyclic flow is less clear. In higher plants cyclic flow consists of two partially redundant pathways. Here we have constructed mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana in which both PSI cyclic pathways are impaired, and present evidence that cyclic flow is essential for efficient photosynthesis.     

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.     

CONSTANS-LIKE 7基因对拟南芥开花的调控分析

为研究CONSTANS-LIKE 7(COL7)在调控植物开花方面的功能,以定量PCR,GUS染色等方法,研究光及生物钟对COL7表达的影响,以及COL7对拟南芥开花的影响.实验结果显示:光及生物钟参与调控COL7的表达;过表达COL7在长日照条件下抑制CONSTANS(CO)以及FLOWERING LOCUS T(FT)的表达,进而抑制拟南芥开花;col7突变体不论是在长日照下还是短日照下都没有明显的开花表型,说明COL7在调控拟南芥开化方面可能与其家族基因中的其它成员存在功能冗余.     

Vernalization in Arabidopsis thaliana is mediated by the PHD finger protein VIN3

In biennials and winter annuals, flowering is typically blocked in the first growing season. Exposure to the prolonged cold of winter, through a process called vernalization, is required to alleviate this block and permit flowering in the second growing season. In winter-annual types of Arabidopsis thaliana, a flowering repressor, FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), is expressed at levels that inhibit flowering in the first growing season. Vernalization promotes flowering by causing a repression of FLC that is mitotically stable after return to warm growing conditions. Here we identify a gene with a function in the measurement of the duration of cold exposure and in the establishment of the vernalized state. We show that this silencing involves changes in the modification of histones in FLC chromatin.