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Vollen K, Zhao C, Alonso JM, Stepanova AN. Sourcing DNA parts for synthetic biology applications in plants. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2024; 87:103140. [PMID: 38723389 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2024] [Revised: 04/17/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
Transgenic approaches are now standard in plant biology research aiming to characterize gene function or improve crops. Recent advances in DNA synthesis and assembly make constructing transgenes a routine task. What remains nontrivial is the selection of the DNA parts and optimization of the transgene design. Early career researchers and seasoned molecular biologists alike often face difficult decisions on what promoter or terminator to use, what tag to include, and where to place it. This review aims to inform about the current approaches being employed to identify and characterize DNA parts with the desired functionalities and give general advice on basic construct design. Furthermore, we hope to share the excitement about new experimental and computational tools being developed in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie Vollen
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Chengsong Zhao
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Jose M Alonso
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Anna N Stepanova
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
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2
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Kanaris M, Poulin J, Shahinas D, Johnson D, Crowley VM, Fucile G, Provart N, Christendat D. Elevated tyrosine results in the cytosolic retention of 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase in Arabidopsis thaliana. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2022; 109:789-803. [PMID: 34797933 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Revised: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The shikimate pathway plays a central role in the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids and specialized metabolites in plants. The first enzyme, 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase (DAHPS) serves as a key regulatory point for the pathway in various organisms. These enzymes are important in regulating the shikimate pathway in multiple microbial systems. The mechanism of regulation of DAHPS is poorly understood in plants, and the role of tyrosine (Tyr) with respect to the three DAHPS isozymes from Arabidopsis thaliana was investigated. In vitro enzymatic analyses established that Tyr does not function as an allosteric regulator for the A. thaliana DAHPS isozymes. In contrast, Arabidopsis T-DNA insertional mutants for the DAHPS1 locus, dahps1, are hypersensitive to elevated Tyr. Tyr hypersensitivity can be reversed with tryptophan and phenylalanine supplementation, indicating that Tyr is affecting the shikimate pathway flux in the dahps1 mutant. Tyr treatment of Arabidopsis seedlings showed reduced accumulation of overexpressed DAHPS2 in the chloroplast. Further, bimolecular fluorescence complementation studies revealed that DAHPS2 interacts with a 14-3-3 protein in the cytosol, and this interaction is enhanced with Tyr treatment. This interaction with 14-3-3 may retain DAHPS2 in the cytosol, which prevents its ability to function in the chloroplast with elevated Tyr.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Kanaris
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B, Canada
| | - Jimmy Poulin
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B, Canada
| | - Dea Shahinas
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B, Canada
| | - Daniel Johnson
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B, Canada
| | - Valerie M Crowley
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B, Canada
| | - Geoffrey Fucile
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B, Canada
| | - Nicholas Provart
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B, Canada
- Center for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B2, Canada
| | - Dinesh Christendat
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B, Canada
- Center for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B2, Canada
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Hu Z, Ghosh A, Koncz C. Plant Gene Modification by BAC Recombineering. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2479:71-84. [PMID: 35583733 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2233-9_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Recombineering approaches exploiting the bacteriophage λ Red recombination functions are widely used for versatile modification of eukaryotic genes carried by bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) in E. coli. Whereas BAC transformation provides a simple means for integration of modified genes into the genomes of animal cells to generate knock-in and knockout lines, successful application of this strategy is hampered by low frequency of homologous recombination in higher plants. However, plant cells can be transformed at a high frequency using the transferred DNA (T-DNA) of Agrobacterium, which is stably and randomly integrated into the plant genome. The function of plant genes that are modified by recombineering and transferred by Agrobacterium T-DNA vectors into plant cells can thus be suitably studied using genetic complementation of knockout mutations induced by either T-DNA insertions or genome editing with T-DNA-based Crisp/Cas9 constructs. Here we describe two recombineering protocols for modification and transfer of plant genes from BACs into Agrobacterium T-DNA plant transformation vectors. The first protocol uses a conditional suicide ccdB gene cassette to assist the genetic complementation assays by generation of point mutations, deletions, and insertions at any gene position. The second "turbo"-recombineering protocol exploits various I-SceI insertion cassettes for fusing of fluorescent protein tags to the plant gene products to facilitate the characterization of their in vivo interacting partners by affinity purification, mass spectrometry, and cellular localization studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhoubo Hu
- Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany
| | - Ajit Ghosh
- Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh
| | - Csaba Koncz
- Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.
- Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Center of Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
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Brumos J, Zhao C, Gong Y, Soriano D, Patel AP, Perez-Amador MA, Stepanova AN, Alonso JM. An Improved Recombineering Toolset for Plants. THE PLANT CELL 2020; 32:100-122. [PMID: 31666295 PMCID: PMC6961616 DOI: 10.1105/tpc.19.00431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2019] [Revised: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Gene functional studies often rely on the expression of a gene of interest as transcriptional and translational fusions with specialized tags. Ideally, this is done in the native chromosomal contexts to avoid potential misexpression artifacts. Although recent improvements in genome editing have made it possible to directly modify the target genes in their native chromosomal locations, classical transgenesis is still the preferred experimental approach chosen in most gene tagging studies because of its time efficiency and accessibility. We have developed a recombineering-based tagging system that brings together the convenience of the classical transgenic approaches and the high degree of confidence in the results obtained by direct chromosomal tagging using genome-editing strategies. These simple, scalable, customizable recombineering toolsets and protocols allow a variety of genetic modifications to be generated. In addition, we developed a highly efficient recombinase-mediated cassette exchange system to facilitate the transfer of the desired sequences from a bacterial artificial chromosome clone to a transformation-compatible binary vector, expanding the use of the recombineering approaches beyond Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We demonstrated the utility of this system by generating more than 250 whole-gene translational fusions and 123 Arabidopsis transgenic lines corresponding to 62 auxin-related genes and characterizing the translational reporter expression patterns for 14 auxin biosynthesis genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Brumos
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Program in Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
| | - Chengsong Zhao
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Program in Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
| | - Yan Gong
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Program in Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
| | - David Soriano
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Program in Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708
| | - Arjun P Patel
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Program in Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
| | - Miguel A Perez-Amador
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Program in Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 46022 Valencia, Spain
| | - Anna N Stepanova
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Program in Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
| | - Jose M Alonso
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Program in Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
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Hu Z, Ghosh A, Stolze SC, Horváth M, Bai B, Schaefer S, Zündorf S, Liu S, Harzen A, Hajheidari M, Sarnowski TJ, Nakagami H, Koncz Z, Koncz C. Gene modification by fast-track recombineering for cellular localization and isolation of components of plant protein complexes. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2019; 100:411-429. [PMID: 31276249 PMCID: PMC6852550 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.14450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 06/26/2019] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
To accelerate the isolation of plant protein complexes and study cellular localization and interaction of their components, an improved recombineering protocol is described for simple and fast site-directed modification of plant genes in bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs). Coding sequences of fluorescent and affinity tags were inserted into genes and transferred together with flanking genomic sequences of desired size by recombination into Agrobacterium plant transformation vectors using three steps of E. coli transformation with PCR-amplified DNA fragments. Application of fast-track recombineering is illustrated by the simultaneous labelling of CYCLIN-DEPENDENT KINASE D (CDKD) and CYCLIN H (CYCH) subunits of kinase module of TFIIH general transcription factor and the CDKD-activating CDKF;1 kinase with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and mCherry (green and red fluorescent protein) tags, and a PIPL (His18 -StrepII-HA) epitope. Functionality of modified CDKF;1 gene constructs is verified by complementation of corresponding T-DNA insertion mutation. Interaction of CYCH with all three known CDKD homologues is confirmed by their co-localization and co-immunoprecipitation. Affinity purification and mass spectrometry analyses of CDKD;2, CYCH, and DNA-replication-coupled HISTONE H3.1 validate their association with conserved TFIIH subunits and components of CHROMATIN ASSEMBLY FACTOR 1, respectively. The results document that simple modification of plant gene products with suitable tags by fast-track recombineering is well suited to promote a wide range of protein interaction and proteomics studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhoubo Hu
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Ajit Ghosh
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyShahjalal University of Science and TechnologySylhet3114, Bangladesh
| | - Sara C. Stolze
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Mihály Horváth
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Bing Bai
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Sabine Schaefer
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Simone Zündorf
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Shanda Liu
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Anne Harzen
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Mohsen Hajheidari
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
- Botanical InstituteCologne Biocenter, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, University of CologneD‐50674CologneGermany
| | - Tomasz J. Sarnowski
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
- Institute of Biochemistry and BiophysicsPolish Academy of SciencesPawińskiego 5A02‐106WarsawPoland
| | - Hirofumi Nakagami
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Zsuzsa Koncz
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
| | - Csaba Koncz
- Max‐Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCarl‐von‐Linné‐Weg 10D‐50829CologneGermany
- Institute of Plant BiologyBiological Research Center of Hungarian Academy of SciencesTemesvári krt. 62H‐6726SzegedHungary
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Salehin M, Li B, Tang M, Katz E, Song L, Ecker JR, Kliebenstein DJ, Estelle M. Auxin-sensitive Aux/IAA proteins mediate drought tolerance in Arabidopsis by regulating glucosinolate levels. Nat Commun 2019. [PMID: 31492889 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12002-12001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2023] Open
Abstract
A detailed understanding of abiotic stress tolerance in plants is essential to provide food security in the face of increasingly harsh climatic conditions. Glucosinolates (GLSs) are secondary metabolites found in the Brassicaceae that protect plants from herbivory and pathogen attack. Here we report that in Arabidopsis, aliphatic GLS levels are regulated by the auxin-sensitive Aux/IAA repressors IAA5, IAA6, and IAA19. These proteins act in a transcriptional cascade that maintains expression of GLS levels when plants are exposed to drought conditions. Loss of IAA5/6/19 results in reduced GLS levels and decreased drought tolerance. Further, we show that this phenotype is associated with a defect in stomatal regulation. Application of GLS to the iaa5,6,19 mutants restores stomatal regulation and normal drought tolerance. GLS action is dependent on the receptor kinase GHR1, suggesting that GLS may signal via reactive oxygen species. These results provide a novel connection between auxin signaling, GLS levels and drought response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Salehin
- Section of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla CA., 92093, USA
| | - Baohua Li
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Michelle Tang
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Ella Katz
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Liang Song
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Joseph R Ecker
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | | | - Mark Estelle
- Section of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla CA., 92093, USA.
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Salehin M, Li B, Tang M, Katz E, Song L, Ecker JR, Kliebenstein DJ, Estelle M. Auxin-sensitive Aux/IAA proteins mediate drought tolerance in Arabidopsis by regulating glucosinolate levels. Nat Commun 2019; 10:4021. [PMID: 31492889 PMCID: PMC6731224 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12002-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
A detailed understanding of abiotic stress tolerance in plants is essential to provide food security in the face of increasingly harsh climatic conditions. Glucosinolates (GLSs) are secondary metabolites found in the Brassicaceae that protect plants from herbivory and pathogen attack. Here we report that in Arabidopsis, aliphatic GLS levels are regulated by the auxin-sensitive Aux/IAA repressors IAA5, IAA6, and IAA19. These proteins act in a transcriptional cascade that maintains expression of GLS levels when plants are exposed to drought conditions. Loss of IAA5/6/19 results in reduced GLS levels and decreased drought tolerance. Further, we show that this phenotype is associated with a defect in stomatal regulation. Application of GLS to the iaa5,6,19 mutants restores stomatal regulation and normal drought tolerance. GLS action is dependent on the receptor kinase GHR1, suggesting that GLS may signal via reactive oxygen species. These results provide a novel connection between auxin signaling, GLS levels and drought response. Brassicaceae produce glucosinolates to protect against herbivory and pathogens. Here the authors show that auxin-sensitive Aux/IAA repressor proteins regulate aliphatic glucosinolate levels in Arabidopsis and this promotes stomatal closure via reactive oxygen species during drought stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Salehin
- Section of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla CA., 92093, USA
| | - Baohua Li
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Michelle Tang
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Ella Katz
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Liang Song
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Joseph R Ecker
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | | | - Mark Estelle
- Section of Cell and Developmental Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla CA., 92093, USA.
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Local Auxin Biosynthesis Is a Key Regulator of Plant Development. Dev Cell 2018; 47:306-318.e5. [PMID: 30415657 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.09.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 157] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2018] [Revised: 08/16/2018] [Accepted: 09/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Auxin is a major phytohormone that controls numerous aspects of plant development and coordinates plant responses to the environment. Morphogenic gradients of auxin govern cell fate decisions and underlie plant phenotypic plasticity. Polar auxin transport plays a central role in auxin maxima generation. The discovery of the exquisite spatiotemporal expression patterns of auxin biosynthesis genes of the WEI8/TAR and YUC families suggested that local auxin production may contribute to the formation of auxin maxima. Herein, we systematically addressed the role of local auxin biosynthesis in plant development and responses to the stress phytohormone ethylene by manipulating spatiotemporal patterns of WEI8. Our study revealed that local auxin biosynthesis and transport act synergistically and are individually dispensable for root meristem maintenance. In contrast, flower fertility and root responses to ethylene require local auxin production that cannot be fully compensated for by transport in the generation of morphogenic auxin maxima.
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