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Mirzaee H, Neira Peralta NL, Carvalhais LC, Dennis PG, Schenk PM. Plant-produced bacteriocins inhibit plant pathogens and confer disease resistance in tomato. N Biotechnol 2021; 63:54-61. [PMID: 33766789 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbt.2021.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Bacteriocins are a diverse group of bacterial antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that represent potential replacements for current antibiotics due to their novel modes of action. At present, production costs are a key constraint to the use of bacteriocins and other AMPs. Here, we report the production of bacteriocins in planta - a potentially scalable and cost-effective approach for AMP production. Nine bacteriocin genes with three different modes of action and minimal or no post-translational modifications were synthesized, cloned and used to transform Arabidopsis thaliana. To confirm bacteriocin functionality and the potential to use these plants as biofactories, Arabidopsis T3 crude leaf extracts were subjected to inhibition assays against the bacterial pathogens Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (Cmm) and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst). Six and seven of nine extracts significantly inhibited Cmm and Pst, respectively. Three bacteriocin genes (plantaricin, enteriocin, and leucocin) were then selected for over-expression in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). In vitro plant pathogen inhibition assays of T0, T1 and T2 transgenic tomato leaf extracts confirmed antimicrobial activity against both pathogens for all three generations of plants, indicating their potential use as stable biopesticide biofactories. Plantaricin and leucocin-expressing T2 tomato plants were resistant to Cmm, and leucocin-expressing T2 plants were resistant to Pst. This study highlights that plants can be used as biofactories for AMP production and that the expression of bacteriocins in planta may offer new opportunities for disease control in agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hooman Mirzaee
- Plant-Microbe Interactions Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Noelia L Neira Peralta
- Plant-Microbe Interactions Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Lilia C Carvalhais
- Plant-Microbe Interactions Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Centre for Horticultural Science, Ecosciences Precinct, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Paul G Dennis
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Peer M Schenk
- Plant-Microbe Interactions Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
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Yamada K, Davydov II, Besnard G, Salamin N. Duplication history and molecular evolution of the rbcS multigene family in angiosperms. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2019; 70:6127-6139. [PMID: 31498865 PMCID: PMC6859733 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erz363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2018] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) is considered to be the main enzyme determining the rate of photosynthesis. The small subunit of the protein, encoded by the rbcS gene, has been shown to influence the catalytic efficiency, CO2 specificity, assembly, activity, and stability of RuBisCO. However, the evolution of the rbcS gene remains poorly studied. We inferred the phylogenetic tree of the rbcS gene in angiosperms using the nucleotide sequences and found that it is composed of two lineages that may have existed before the divergence of land plants. Although almost all species sampled carry at least one copy of lineage 1, genes of lineage 2 were lost in most angiosperm species. We found the specific residues that have undergone positive selection during the evolution of the rbcS gene. We detected intensive coevolution between each rbcS gene copy and the rbcL gene encoding the large subunit of RuBisCO. We tested the role played by each rbcS gene copy on the stability of the RuBisCO protein through homology modelling. Our results showed that this evolutionary constraint could limit the level of divergence seen in the rbcS gene, which leads to the similarity among the rbcS gene copies of lineage 1 within species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kana Yamada
- Department of Computational Biology, Génopode, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Iakov I Davydov
- Department of Computational Biology, Génopode, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Guillaume Besnard
- Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR5174), CNRS-UPS-IRD, University of Toulouse III, Toulouse Cedex, France
| | - Nicolas Salamin
- Department of Computational Biology, Génopode, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Rego ECS, Pinheiro TDM, Antonino JD, Alves GSC, Cotta MG, Fonseca FCDA, Miller RNG. Stable reference genes for RT-qPCR analysis of gene expression in the Musa acuminata-Pseudocercospora musae interaction. Sci Rep 2019; 9:14592. [PMID: 31601872 PMCID: PMC6787041 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51040-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2019] [Accepted: 09/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Leaf pathogens are limiting factors in banana (Musa spp.) production, with Pseudocercospora spp. responsible for the important Sigatoka disease complex. In order to investigate cellular processes and genes involved in host defence responses, quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) is an analytical technique for gene expression quantification. Reliable RT-qPCR data, however, requires that reference genes for normalization of mRNA levels in samples are validated under the conditions employed for expression analysis of target genes. We evaluated the stability of potential reference genes ACT1, α-TUB, UBQ1, UBQ2, GAPDH, EF1α, APT and RAN. Total RNA was extracted from leaf tissues of Musa acuminata genotypes Calcutta 4 (resistant) and Cavendish Grande Naine (susceptible), both subjected to P. musae infection. Expression stability was determined with NormFinder, BestKeeper, geNorm and RefFinder algorithms. UBQ2 and RAN were the most stable across all M. acuminata samples, whereas when considering inoculated and non-inoculated leaf samples, APT and UBQ2 were appropriate for normalization in Calcutta 4, with RAN and α-TUB most stable in Cavendish Grande Naine. This first study of reference genes for relative quantification of target gene expression in the M. acuminata-P. musae interaction will enable reliable analysis of gene expression in this pathosystem, benefiting elucidation of disease resistance mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Cristina Silva Rego
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, 70910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil
| | - Tatiana David Miranda Pinheiro
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, 70910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil
| | - Jose Dijair Antonino
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, 70910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil.,Departamento de Agronomia-Entomologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Gabriel Sergio Costa Alves
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, 70910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil
| | - Michelle Guitton Cotta
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, 70910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil
| | - Fernando Campos De Assis Fonseca
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, 70910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil
| | - Robert Neil Gerard Miller
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, 70910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil.
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Jackson MA, Sternes PR, Mudge SR, Graham MW, Birch RG. Design rules for efficient transgene expression in plants. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL 2014; 12:925-33. [PMID: 24854834 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.12197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2014] [Revised: 03/24/2014] [Accepted: 04/08/2014] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Sustained expression of transgenes in specified developmental patterns is commonly needed in plant biotechnology, but obstructed by transgene silencing. Here, we present a set of gene design rules, tested on the silencing-susceptible beetle luc and bacterial ims genes, expressed in sugarcane. Designs tested independently or in combination included removal of rare codons, removal of RNA instability sequences, blocking of likely endogenous sRNA binding sites and randomization of non-rare codons. Stable transgene expression analyses, on multiple independent lines per construct, showed greatest improvement from the removal of RNA instability sequences, accompanied by greatly reduced transcript degradation evident in northern blot analysis. We provide a set of motifs that readily can be eliminated concurrently with rare codons and undesired structural features such as repeat sequences, using Gene Designer 2.0 software. These design rules yielded 935- and 5-fold increased expression in transgenic callus, relative to the native luc and ims sequences; and gave sustained expression under the control of sugarcane and heterologous promoters over several years in greenhouse and field trials. The rules can be applied easily with codon usage tables from any plant species, providing a simple and effective means to achieve sustained expression of otherwise silencing-prone transgenes in plants.
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Podevin N, Krauss A, Henry I, Swennen R, Remy S. Selection and validation of reference genes for quantitative RT-PCR expression studies of the non-model crop Musa. MOLECULAR BREEDING : NEW STRATEGIES IN PLANT IMPROVEMENT 2012; 30:1237-1252. [PMID: 23024595 PMCID: PMC3460175 DOI: 10.1007/s11032-012-9711-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2011] [Accepted: 02/08/2012] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Gene expression analysis by reverse transcriptase real-time or quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is becoming widely used for non-model plant species. Given the high sensitivity of this method, normalization using multiple housekeeping or reference genes is critical, and careful selection of these reference genes is one of the most important steps to obtain reliable results. In this study, reference genes commonly used for other plant species were investigated to identify genes displaying highly uniform expression patterns in different varieties, tissues, developmental stages, fungal infection, and osmotic stress conditions for the non-model crop Musa (banana and plantains). The expression stability of six candidate reference genes was tested on six different sample sets, and the results were analyzed using the publicly available algorithms geNorm and NormFinder. Our results show that variety, plant material, primer set, and gene identity can all influence the robustness and outcome of RT-qPCR analysis. In the case of Musa, a combination of three reference genes (EF1, TUB and ACT) can be used for normalization of gene expression data from greenhouse leaf samples. In the case of shoot meristem cultures, numerous combinations can be used because the investigated reference genes exhibited limited variability. In contrast, variability in expression of the reference genes was much larger among leaf samples from plants grown in vitro, for which the best combination of reference genes (L2 and ACT genes) is still suboptimal. Overall, our data confirm that the stability of candidate reference genes should be thoroughly investigated for each experimental condition under investigation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11032-012-9711-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nancy Podevin
- Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, Department of Biosystems, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 13, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
- Present Address: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Largo N. Palli 5/A, 43121 Parma, Italy
| | - An Krauss
- Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, Department of Biosystems, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 13, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
- Present Address: Roche Diagnostics Belgium, Schaarbeeklei 198, 1800 Vilvoorde, Belgium
| | - Isabelle Henry
- Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, Department of Biosystems, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 13, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
- Present Address: Section of Plant Biology and Genome Center, UC Davis, 451 E, Health Sciences Drive, Davis, CA 95616 USA
| | - Rony Swennen
- Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, Department of Biosystems, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 13, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
- Bioversity International, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 13, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Serge Remy
- Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, Department of Biosystems, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 13, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Jackson MA, Anderson DJ, Birch RG. Comparison of Agrobacterium and particle bombardment using whole plasmid or minimal cassette for production of high-expressing, low-copy transgenic plants. Transgenic Res 2012; 22:143-51. [PMID: 22869288 DOI: 10.1007/s11248-012-9639-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2012] [Accepted: 07/20/2012] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Transgene integration complexity in the recipient genome can be an important determinant of transgene expression and field performance in transgenic crops. We provide the first direct comparison of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (AMT) and particle bombardment using whole plasmid (WP) and excised minimal cassettes (MC), for transformation efficiency, transgene integration complexity and transgene expression in plants. To enable direct comparison, a selectable marker and a luciferase reporter gene were linked in identical configurations in plasmids suitable for AMT or direct gene transfer into sugarcane. Transformation efficiencies were similar between WP and MC when equal molar DNA quantities were delivered. When the MC concentration was reduced from 66 to 6.6 ng per shot, transformation efficiency dropped fourfold, to a level equivalent with AMT in amenable genotype Q117. The highest proportion of transformants combining low copy number (estimated below two integrated copies by qPCR) with expression of the non-selected reporter gene was obtained using AMT (55 %) or MC at low DNA concentration (30 %). In sugarcane, both of these methods yielded high-expressing, single-copy transgenic plant lines at a workable efficiency for practical plant improvement; but AMT is currently limited to a few amenable genotypes. These methods are best coupled with rapid early screens for desired molecular characteristics of transformants, e.g. PCR screens for low copy number and/or transcription of the gene of practical interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark A Jackson
- The University of Queensland, Hines Plant Science Building, Mansfield Place, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
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Cloning and characterization of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit (RbcS) cDNA from green microalga Ankistrodesmus convolutus. Mol Biol Rep 2011; 38:5297-305. [PMID: 21287365 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-011-0679-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2010] [Accepted: 01/10/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
An initial study on gene cloning and characterization of unicellular green microalga Ankistrodesmus convolutus was carried out to isolate and characterize the full-length cDNA of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit (RbcS) as a first step towards elucidating the structure of A. convolutus RbcS gene. The full-length of A. convolutus RbcS cDNA (AcRbcS) contained 28 bp of 5' untranslated region (UTR), 225 bp of 3' non-coding region, and an open reading frame of 165 amino acids consisting of a chloroplast transit peptide with 24 amino acids and a mature protein of 141 amino acids. The amino acid sequence has high identity to those of other green algae RbcS genes. The AcRbcS contained a few conserved domains including protein kinase C phosphorylation site, tyrosine kinase phosphorylation site and N-myristoylation sites. The AcRbcS was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and a ~21 kDa of anticipated protein band was observed on SDS-PAGE. From the phylogenetic analysis of RbcS protein sequences, it was found that the RbcS of A. convolutus has closer genetic relationship with green microalgae species compared to those of green seaweed and green macroalgae species. Southern hybridization analysis revealed that the AcRbcS is a member of a small multigene family comprising of two to six members in A. convolutus genome. Under different illumination conditions, RT-PCR analysis showed that AcRbcS transcription was reduced in the dark, and drastically recovered in the light condition. Results presented in this paper established a good foundation for further study on the photosynthetic process of A. convolutus and other green algae species where little information is known on Rubisco small subunit.
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Sohani MM, Schenk PM, Schultz CJ, Schmidt O. Phylogenetic and transcriptional analysis of a strictosidine synthase-like gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana reveals involvement in plant defence responses. PLANT BIOLOGY (STUTTGART, GERMANY) 2009; 11:105-17. [PMID: 19121120 DOI: 10.1111/j.1438-8677.2008.00139.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Protein domains with similarity to plant strictosidine synthase-like (SSL) sequences have been uncovered in the genomes of all multicellular organisms sequenced so far and are known to play a role in animal immune responses. Among several distinct groups of Arabidopsis thaliana SSL sequences, four genes (AtSSL4-AtSSL7) arranged in tandem on chromosome 3 show more similarity to SSL genes from Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans than to other Arabidopsis SSL genes. To examine whether any of the four AtSSL genes are immune-inducible, we analysed the expression of each of the four AtSSL genes after exposure to microbial pathogens, wounding and plant defence elicitors using real-time quantitative RT-PCR, Northern blot hybridisation and Western blot analysis with antibodies raised against recombinant AtSSL proteins. While the AtSSL4 gene was constitutively expressed and not significantly induced by any treatment, the other three AtSSL genes were induced to various degrees by plant defence signalling compounds, such as salicylic acid, methyl jasmonate and ethylene, as well as by wounding and exposure to the plant pathogens Alternaria brassicicola and cucumber mosaic virus. Our data demonstrate that the four SSL-coding genes are regulated individually, suggesting specific roles in basal (SSL4) and inducible (SSL5-7) plant defence mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- M M Sohani
- Plant and Food Sciences, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, SA, Australia
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