A mitochondrial mutator system in maize

Transcriptome Analyses of Mosaic (MSC) Mitochondrial Mutants of Cucumber in a Highly Inbred Nuclear Background

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) has a large, paternally transmitted mitochondrial genome. Cucumber plants regenerated from cell cultures occasionally show paternally transmitted mosaic (MSC) phenotypes, characterized by slower growth, chlorotic patterns on the leaves and fruit, lower fertility, and rearrangements in their mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs). MSC lines 3, 12, and 16 originated from different cell cultures all established using the highly inbred, wild-type line B. These MSC lines possess different rearrangements and under-represented regions in their mtDNAs. We completed RNA-seq on normalized and non-normalized cDNA libraries from MSC3, MSC12, and MSC16 to study their nuclear gene-expression profiles relative to inbred B. Results from both libraries indicated that gene expression in MSC12 and MSC16 were more similar to each other than MSC3. Forty-one differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were upregulated and one downregulated in the MSC lines relative to B. Gene functional classifications revealed that more than half of these DEGs are associated with stress-response pathways. Consistent with this observation, we detected elevated levels of hydrogen peroxide throughout leaf tissue in all MSC lines compared to wild-type line B. These results demonstrate that independently produced MSC lines with different mitochondrial polymorphisms show unique and shared nuclear responses. This study revealed genes associated with stress response that could become selection targets to develop cucumber cultivars with increased stress tolerance, and further support of cucumber as a model plant to study nuclear-mitochondrial interactions.

Plant Mitochondrial Genomes: Dynamics and Mechanisms of Mutation

The large mitochondrial genomes of angiosperms are unusually dynamic because of recombination activities involving repeated sequences. These activities generate subgenomic forms and extensive genomic variation even within the same species. Such changes in genome structure are responsible for the rapid evolution of plant mitochondrial DNA and for the variants associated with cytoplasmic male sterility and abnormal growth phenotypes. Nuclear genes modulate these processes, and over the past decade, several of these genes have been identified. They are involved mainly in pathways of DNA repair by homologous recombination and mismatch repair, which appear to be essential for the faithful replication of the mitogenome. Mutations leading to the loss of any of these activities release error-prone repair pathways, resulting in increased ectopic recombination, genome instability, and heteroplasmy. We review the present state of knowledge of the genes and pathways underlying mitochondrial genome stability.

The Mosaic Mutants of Cucumber: A Method to Produce Knock-Downs of Mitochondrial Transcripts

Cytoplasmic effects on plant performance are well-documented and result from the intimate interaction between organellar and nuclear gene products. In plants, deletions, mutations, or chimerism of mitochondrial genes are often associated with deleterious phenotypes, as well as economically important traits such as cytoplasmic male sterility used to produce hybrid seed. Presently, genetic analyses of mitochondrial function and nuclear interactions are limited because there is no method to efficiently produce mitochondrial mutants. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) possesses unique attributes useful for organellar genetics, including differential transmission of the three plant genomes (maternal for plastid, paternal for mitochondrial, and bi-parental for nuclear), a relatively large mitochondrial DNA in which recombination among repetitive motifs produces rearrangements, and the existence of strongly mosaic (MSC) paternally transmitted phenotypes that appear after passage of wild-type plants through cell cultures and possess unique rearrangements in the mitochondrial DNA. We sequenced the mitochondrial DNA from three independently produced MSC lines and revealed under-represented regions and reduced transcription of mitochondrial genes carried in these regions relative to the wild-type parental line. Mass spectrometry and Western blots did not corroborate transcriptional differences in the mitochondrial proteome of the MSC mutant lines, indicating that post-transcriptional events, such as protein longevity, may compensate for reduced transcription in MSC mitochondria. Our results support cucumber as a model system to produce transcriptional "knock-downs" of mitochondrial genes useful to study mitochondrial responses and nuclear interactions important for plant performance.

Comparative analysis of mitochondrial genomes between a wheat K-type cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) line and its maintainer line

BACKGROUND

Plant mitochondria, semiautonomous organelles that function as manufacturers of cellular ATP, have their own genome that has a slow rate of evolution and rapid rearrangement. Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), a common phenotype in higher plants, is closely associated with rearrangements in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and is widely used to produce F1 hybrid seeds in a variety of valuable crop species. Novel chimeric genes deduced from mtDNA rearrangements causing CMS have been identified in several plants, such as rice, sunflower, pepper, and rapeseed, but there are very few reports about mtDNA rearrangements in wheat. In the present work, we describe the mitochondrial genome of a wheat K-type CMS line and compare it with its maintainer line.

RESULTS

The complete mtDNA sequence of a wheat K-type (with cytoplasm of Aegilops kotschyi) CMS line, Ks3, was assembled into a master circle (MC) molecule of 647,559 bp and found to harbor 34 known protein-coding genes, three rRNAs (18 S, 26 S, and 5 S rRNAs), and 16 different tRNAs. Compared to our previously published sequence of a K-type maintainer line, Km3, we detected Ks3-specific mtDNA (> 100 bp, 11.38%) and repeats (> 100 bp, 29 units) as well as genes that are unique to each line: rpl5 was missing in Ks3 and trnH was absent from Km3. We also defined 32 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 13 protein-coding, albeit functionally irrelevant, genes, and predicted 22 unique ORFs in Ks3, representing potential candidates for K-type CMS. All these sequence variations are candidates for involvement in CMS. A comparative analysis of the mtDNA of several angiosperms, including those from Ks3, Km3, rice, maize, Arabidopsis thaliana, and rapeseed, showed that non-coding sequences of higher plants had mostly divergent multiple reorganizations during the mtDNA evolution of higher plants.

CONCLUSION

The complete mitochondrial genome of the wheat K-type CMS line Ks3 is very different from that of its maintainer line Km3, especially in non-coding sequences. Sequence rearrangement has produced novel chimeric ORFs, which may be candidate genes for CMS. Comparative analysis of several angiosperm mtDNAs indicated that non-coding sequences are the most frequently reorganized during mtDNA evolution in higher plants.

Cost of Having the Largest Mitochondrial Genome: Evolutionary Mechanism of Plant Mitochondrial Genome

The angiosperm mitochondrial genome is the largest and least gene-dense among the eukaryotes, because its intergenic regions are expanded. There seems to be no functional constraint on the size of the intergenic regions; angiosperms maintain the large mitochondrial genome size by a currently unknown mechanism. After a brief description of the angiosperm mitochondrial genome, this review focuses on our current knowledge of the mechanisms that control the maintenance and alteration of the genome. In both processes, the control of homologous recombination is crucial in terms of site and frequency. The copy numbers of various types of mitochondrial DNA molecules may also be controlled, especially during transmission of the mitochondrial genome from one generation to the next. An important characteristic of angiosperm mitochondria is that they contain polypeptides that are translated from open reading frames created as byproducts of genome alteration and that are generally nonfunctional. Such polypeptides have potential to evolve into functional ones responsible for mitochondrially encoded traits such as cytoplasmic male sterility or may be remnants of the former functional polypeptides.

Recombination and the maintenance of plant organelle genome stability

Like their nuclear counterpart, the plastid and mitochondrial genomes of plants have to be faithfully replicated and repaired to ensure the normal functioning of the plant. Inability to maintain organelle genome stability results in plastid and/or mitochondrial defects, which can lead to potentially detrimental phenotypes. Fortunately, plant organelles have developed multiple strategies to maintain the integrity of their genetic material. Of particular importance among these processes is the extensive use of DNA recombination. In fact, recombination has been implicated in both the replication and the repair of organelle genomes. Revealingly, deregulation of recombination in organelles results in genomic instability, often accompanied by adverse consequences for plant fitness. The recent identification of four families of proteins that prevent aberrant recombination of organelle DNA sheds much needed mechanistic light on this important process. What comes out of these investigations is a partial portrait of the recombination surveillance machinery in which plants have co-opted some proteins of prokaryotic origin but have also evolved whole new factors to keep their organelle genomes intact. These new features presumably optimized the protection of plastid and mitochondrial genomes against the particular genotoxic stresses they face.

Heteroplasmy and stoichiometric complexity of plant mitochondrial genomes--though this be madness, yet there's method in't

Mitochondrial heteroplasmy is defined as the coexistence of divergent mitochondrial genotypes in a cell. The ratio of the alternative genomes may be variable, but in plants, the usually prevalent main genome is accompanied by sublimons--substoichiometric mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecules. Plant mitochondrial heteroplasmy was originally viewed as being associated with pathological mutations or was found in non-natural plant populations. Currently, it is considered to be a common situation in plants. Recent years have changed the previous view on the role of homologous recombination, small-scale mutations, and paternal leakage of mtDNA in the generation of heteroplasmy. Newly developed sensitive techniques have allowed the precise estimation of mtDNA stoichiometry. Mechanisms of maintenance and transmission of heteroplasmic genomes, including DNA recombination and replication, as well as mitochondrial fusion and fission, have been studied. This review describes the high level of plant mitochondrial genome complication--the 'madness' resulting from the heteroplasmic state and explains the method hidden in this madness. Heteroplasmy is described as the evolutionary strategy of uniparentally inherited plant mitochondrial genomes which do not undergo sexual recombination. In order to compensate for this deficiency, alternative types of mtDNA are substoichiometrically accumulated as a reservoir of genetic variability and may undergo accelerated evolution. Occasionally, sublimons are selected and amplified in the process called substoichiometric shifting, to take over the role of the main genome. Alternative mitochondrial genomes may recombine, yielding new mtDNA variants, or segregate during plant growth resulting in plants with mosaic phenotypes. Two opposite roles of mitochondrial heteroplasmy with respect to acceleration or counteracting of mutation accumulation are also discussed. Finally, nuclear control of heteroplasmy and substoichiometric shifting is described.

Characterization of a novel thermosensitive restorer of fertility for cytoplasmic male sterility in maize

S-type cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS-S) in maize is associated with high levels of a 1.6-kb RNA in mitochondria. This RNA contains two chimeric open reading frames (ORFs), orf355 and orf77. The previously described nuclear restorer-of-fertility allele Rf3 causes the processing of all transcripts that contain these chimeric ORFs. The Lancaster Surecrop-derived inbred line A619 carries a restorer that is distinct from Rf3 in that it selectively reduces only the CMS-S-specific 1.6-kb RNA. We have found that 10 additional Lancaster lines carry a single restoring allele traceable to either of two inbred lines, C103 and Oh40B. The C103 and Oh40B restorers are allelic to each other, but not to Rf3. Thus, this restoring allele, designated Rf9, represents a second naturally occurring CMS-S restorer in maize. Rf9 is a less effective restorer of fertility than is Rf3; its expression is influenced by both inbred nuclear background and temperature. Rf9 acts to reduce the amounts of orf355/orf77-containing linear mitochondrial subgenomes, which are generated by recombination of circular subgenomes with CMS-S-specific linear plasmids. The 1.6-kb RNA, which is transcribed only from linear ends, is correspondingly reduced.

Angiosperm mitochondrial genomes and mutations

Flowering plants harbor the largest mitochondrial genomes reported so far. At present, the nucleotide sequences of 15 mitochondrial genomes from seven angiosperm species are available, making detailed comparative analysis feasible. The gene content is variable among the species, but the most striking feature is the fluidity of intergenic regions, where species-specific sequences predominate. Additionally, angiosperm mitochondrial genomes, even within a species, show a remarkable amount of rearrangement. We also review mitochondrial mutants in angiosperms from a genomic viewpoint, and discuss how they have arisen. The involvement of nuclear genes in mitochondrial genome stability and organization is currently being revealed through the analysis of mutants.

The selection of mosaic (MSC) phenotype after passage of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) through cell culture — a method to obtain plant mitochondrial mutants

Mosaic (MSC) mutants of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) appear after passage through cell cultures. The MSC phenotype shows paternal transmission and is associated with mitochondrial DNA rearrangements. This review describes the origins and phenotypes of independently produced MSC mutants of cucumber, including current knowledge on their mitochondrial DNA rearrangements, and similarities of MSC with other plant mitochondrial mutants. Finally we propose that passage of cucumber through cell culture can be used as a unique and efficient method to generate mitochondrial mutants of a higher plant in a highly homozygous nuclear background.

The plant-specific ssDNA binding protein OSB1 is involved in the stoichiometric transmission of mitochondrial DNA in Arabidopsis

Plant mitochondrial genomes exist in a natural state of heteroplasmy, in which substoichiometric levels of alternative mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecules coexist with the main genome. These subgenomes either replicate autonomously or are created by infrequent recombination events. We found that Arabidopsis thaliana OSB1 (for Organellar Single-stranded DNA Binding protein1) is required for correct stoichiometric mtDNA transmission. OSB1 is part of a family of plant-specific DNA binding proteins that are characterized by a novel motif that is required for single-stranded DNA binding. The OSB1 protein is targeted to mitochondria, and promoter-beta-glucuronidase fusion showed that the gene is expressed in budding lateral roots, mature pollen, and the embryo sac of unfertilized ovules. OSB1 T-DNA insertion mutants accumulate mtDNA homologous recombination products and develop phenotypes of leaf variegation and distortion. The mtDNA rearrangements occur in two steps: first, homozygous mutants accumulate subgenomic levels of homologous recombination products; second, in subsequent generations, one of the recombination products becomes predominant. After the second step, the process is no longer reversible by backcrossing. Thus, OSB1 participates in controlling the stoichiometry of alternative mtDNA forms generated by recombination. This regulation could take place in gametophytic tissues to ensure the transmission of a functional mitochondrial genome.

Heteroplasmy as a common state of mitochondrial genetic information in plants and animals

Plant and animal mitochondrial genomes, although quite distinct in size, structure, expression and evolutionary dynamics both may exhibit the state of heteroplasmy--the presence of more than one type of mitochondrial genome in an organism. This review is focused on heteroplasmy in plants, but we also highlight the most striking similarities and differences between plant and animal heteroplasmy. First we summarize the information on heteroplasmy generation and methods of its detection. Then we describe examples of quantitative changes in heteroplasmic populations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and consequences of such events. We also summarize the current knowledge about transmission and somatic segregation of heteroplasmy in plants and animals. Finally, factors which influence the stoichiometry of heteroplasmic mtDNA variants are discussed. Despite the apparent differences between the plant and animal heteroplasmy, the observed similarities allow one to conclude that this condition must play an important role in the mitochondrial biology of living organisms.

The rice mitochondrial genomes and their variations

Based on highly redundant and high-quality sequences, we assembled rice (Oryza sativa) mitochondrial genomes for two cultivars, 93-11 (an indica variety) and PA64S (an indica-like variety with maternal origin of japonica), which are paternal and maternal strains of an elite superhybrid rice Liang-You-Pei-Jiu (LYP-9), respectively. Following up with a previous analysis on rice chloroplast genomes, we divided mitochondrial sequence variations into two basic categories, intravarietal and intersubspecific. Intravarietal polymorphisms are variations within mitochondrial genomes of an individual variety. Intersubspecific polymorphisms are variations between subspecies among their major genotypes. In this study, we identified 96 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 25 indels, and three segmental sequence variations as intersubspecific polymorphisms. A signature sequence fragment unique to indica varieties was confirmed experimentally and found in two wild rice samples, but absent in japonica varieties. The intersubspecific polymorphism rate for mitochondrial genomes is 0.02% for SNPs and 0.006% for indels, nearly 2.5 and 3 times lower than that of their chloroplast counterparts and 21 and 38 times lower than corresponding rates of the rice nuclear genome, respectively. The intravarietal polymorphism rates among analyzed mitochondrial genomes, such as 93-11 and PA64S, are 1.26% and 1.38% for SNPs and 1.13% and 1.09% for indels, respectively. Based on the total number of SNPs between the two mitochondrial genomes, we estimate that the divergence of indica and japonica mitochondrial genomes occurred approximately 45,000 to 250,000 years ago.

Dominant male sterility in sorghum: effect of nuclear background on inheritance of tissue-culture-induced mutation

Occurrence of genetic instability and formation of stable mutations are basic genetic processes. This study demonstrates that nuclear background may influence the formation of stable dominant nuclear gene of male sterility (MS) on the basis of unstable mutation, which was induced in tissue culture of the sorghum haploid (cv. Milo-145). The mutants with complete or partial MS segregated in variable ratios in the progenies of diploid regenerants were obtained from different experiments on cultivation of haploid tissues. In the Milo-145 genetic background the mutation demonstrated somatic instability and was gradually eliminated by self-pollination of partially sterile plants. Hybridization of the MS-plants with the sorghum line SK-723, a fertility-restorer of the cytoplasmic MS A1 (milo) type, maintained the induced mutation. By repeated backcrossing of MS-plants with SK-723, the male-sterile versions of this line (SK-723- Ms(tc)) have been created. In BC-generations, fertile, partially and completely sterile plants were observed. The MS-plants from BC-generations are proposed to contain a dominant gene Ms(tc) while fertile plants were ms(tc)/ms(tc) homozygotes. Crossing the original MS-plants with SK-723 was a key factor in stabilization of the Ms(tc) gene. Dominant expression of the Ms(tc) was observed in male-sterile versions of other sorghum lines created by backcrossing to SK-723- Ms(tc). The lines fertility-restorers for this mutation have been revealed. In the crosses of restored F1 hybrids with emasculated plants of the non-restoring line, the Ms(tc) has been transferred through the pollen and manifested in the F1 generation. The possibility of the Ms(tc) originating as a result of interaction of an unstable allele of the Milo-145 with the SK-723 genome is discussed.