Gating of the rapid shade-avoidance response by the circadian clock in plants

The phytochromes are a family of plant photoreceptor proteins that control several adaptive developmental strategies. For example, the phytochromes perceive far-red light (wavelengths between 700 and 800 nm) reflected or scattered from the leaves of nearby vegetation. This provides an early warning of potential shading, and triggers a series of 'shade-avoidance' responses, such as a rapid increase in elongation, by which the plant attempts to overgrow its neighbours. Other, less immediate, responses include accelerated flowering and early production of seeds. However, little is known about the molecular events that connect light perception with increased growth in shade avoidance. Here we show that the circadian clock gates this rapid shade-avoidance response. It is most apparent around dusk and is accompanied by altered expression of several genes. One of these rapidly responsive genes encodes a basic helix-loop-helix protein, PIL1, previously shown to interact with the clock protein TOC1 (ref. 4). Furthermore PIL1 and TOC1 are both required for the accelerated growth associated with the shade-avoidance response.     

转录物组学解析植物生长发育的生物钟调控模

基于拟南芥的时间序列的基因组芯片数据,分析了植物生长的昼夜调节模式相关的基因表达规律,发现有2.4%的基因的日振幅达到了显著差异水平.从整体基因转录组水平分析,白天诱导表达的基因主要参与调控植物与环境之间的相互作用,而夜晚表达上调的基因主要参与调节植物的生长发育.此外,植物叶绿素和血红素的生物合成也受到了生物钟的调控.对整个基因组水平上生物钟核心震荡调节子CCA1/LHY和TOC1的共表达基因做了基因组水平上的扫描鉴定,得到了一些新的潜在的生物节律调节因子.这些结果为今后更为系统地完善植物的生物节律的调控网络提供了参考.     

The ELF4 gene controls circadian rhythms and flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana

Many plants use day length as an environmental cue to ensure proper timing of the switch from vegetative to reproductive growth. Day-length sensing involves an interaction between the relative length of day and night, and endogenous rhythms that are controlled by the plant circadian clock. Thus, plants with defects in circadian regulation cannot properly regulate the timing of the floral transition. Here we describe the gene EARLY FLOWERING 4 (ELF4), which is involved in photoperiod perception and circadian regulation. ELF4 promotes clock accuracy and is required for sustained rhythms in the absence of daily light/dark cycles. elf4 mutants show attenuated expression of CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1 (CCA1), a gene that is thought to function as a central oscillator component. In addition, elf4 plants transiently show output rhythms with highly variable period lengths before becoming arrhythmic. Mutations in elf4 result in early flowering in non-inductive photoperiods, which is probably caused by elevated amounts of CONSTANS (CO), a gene that promotes floral induction.     

Resilient circadian oscillator revealed in individual cyanobacteria

Circadian oscillators, which provide internal daily periodicity, are found in a variety of living organisms, including mammals, insects, plants, fungi and cyanobacteria. Remarkably, these biochemical oscillators are resilient to external and internal modifications, such as temperature and cell division cycles. They have to be 'fluctuation (noise) resistant' because relative fluctuations in the number of messenger RNA and protein molecules forming the intracellular oscillators are likely to be large. In multicellular organisms, the strong temporal stability of circadian clocks, despite molecular fluctuations, can easily be explained by intercellular interactions. Here we study circadian rhythms and their stability in unicellular cyanobacteria Synechoccocus elongatus. Low-light-level microscopy has allowed us to measure gene expression under circadian control in single bacteria, showing that the circadian clock is indeed a property of individual cells. Our measurements show that the oscillators have a strong temporal stability with a correlation time of several months. In contrast to many circadian clocks in multicellular organisms, this stability seems to be ensured by the intracellular biochemical network, because the interactions between oscillators seem to be negligible.     

粗糙脉孢菌中几丁质合酶1缺失突变体的构建及表型分析

在丝状真菌中,几丁质是真菌细胞壁的主要成分之一,对维持细胞形态和结构起到了重要的作用.几丁质是由几丁质合酶(chitin synthase,CHS)催化合成的,几丁质合酶参与生物钟调节的生理活动.本文以丝状真菌粗糙脉孢菌几丁质合酶1(CHS-1)为研究对象,通过同源重组基因敲除技术、电转化、分生孢子过膜以及PCR鉴定的方法,获得了chs-1缺失突变菌株CHS-1KO.通过竞争性生长管(racetube)培养分析发现:对照Ku70RIP和突变菌株CHS-1KO(Ku70RIP背景)均具有明显的分生孢子带,但分生孢子带昼夜节律周期缩短,直线生长速率显著减慢,ku70RIP菌丝生长长度是3.4±0.31 cm/24 h,而突变菌株CHS-1KO(Ku70RIP背景)菌丝生长长度是2.07±0.19 cm/24 h.并进一步结合细胞壁染色对细胞形态分析发现:变菌株CHS-1KO菌丝沿生长方向膨胀、分支变短.这些结果表明:几丁质合酶1在粗糙脉孢菌分生孢子带昼夜节律形成和菌丝生长中发挥重要的作用.     

Stress response genes protect against lethal effects of sleep deprivation in Drosophila

Sleep is controlled by two processes: a homeostatic drive that increases during waking and dissipates during sleep, and a circadian pacemaker that controls its timing. Although these two systems can operate independently, recent studies indicate a more intimate relationship. To study the interaction between homeostatic and circadian processes in Drosophila, we examined homeostasis in the canonical loss-of-function clock mutants period (per(01)), timeless (tim(01)), clock (Clk(jrk)) and cycle (cyc(01)). cyc(01) mutants showed a disproportionately large sleep rebound and died after 10 hours of sleep deprivation, although they were more resistant than other clock mutants to various stressors. Unlike other clock mutants, cyc(01) flies showed a reduced expression of heat-shock genes after sleep loss. However, activating heat-shock genes before sleep deprivation rescued cyc(01) flies from its lethal effects. Consistent with the protective effect of heat-shock genes, was the observation that flies carrying a mutation for the heat-shock protein Hsp83 (Hsp83(08445)) showed exaggerated homeostatic response and died after sleep deprivation. These data represent the first step in identifying the molecular mechanisms that constitute the sleep homeostat.