Unusual case of apparent hypermutation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Overexpression of CHMP7 from rapeseed and Arabidopsis causes dwarfism and premature senescence in Arabidopsis

Endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) are well known in mammalians and yeast and plays an essential role in the formation of multi-vesicular bodies. Accumulating evidence has shown that ESCRT proteins contribute to proper plant development. CHMP7 (charged multi-vesicular body protein 7) is an ESCRT-III-related protein and functions in the endosomal sorting pathway in humans. However, its function in plants has not been explored in detail. In this study, we isolate the putative homolog of CHMP7 from rapeseed, BnCHMP7, which contains eight exons and encodes a protein consisting of 423 amino acid residues. Compared with the wild-type, overexpression of BnCHMP7 in Arabidopsis disturbs plant growth and decreases seed yield. Moreover, the transgenic plants also display early leaf senescence and hypersensitivity to dark treatment due to defects in autophagic degradation. Further study showed that BnCHMP7 is highly expressed in leaves and that YFP-BnCHMP7 is predominantly localized in endosome. Compared with human CHMP7, we found that BnCHMP7 not only interacts with ESCRT-III subunits SNF7.2 (CHMP4B), but also with VPS2.2 and CHMP1B. As expected, microarray analysis revealed that the expression of ESCRT transport genes is significantly affected. Additionally, the expression of some genes that are involved in senescence, protein synthesis and protein degradation is also altered in BnCHMP7-overexpressing plants. Taken together, BnCHMP7 encodes an endosome-localized protein, which causes dwarfism and leaf senescence as an ESCRT-III-related component.

GFP Loss-of-Function Mutations in Arabidopsis thaliana

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) and related fluorescent proteins are widely used in biological research to monitor gene expression and protein localization in living cells. The GFP chromophore is generated spontaneously in the presence of oxygen by a multi-step reaction involving cyclization of the internal tripeptide Ser65 (or Thr65)-Tyr66-Gly67, which is embedded in the center of an 11-stranded β-barrel structure. Random and site-specific mutagenesis has been used to optimize GFP fluorescence and create derivatives with novel properties. However, loss-of-function mutations that would aid in understanding GFP protein folding and chromophore formation have not been fully cataloged. Here we report a collection of ethyl methansulfonate-induced GFP loss-of-function mutations in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Mutations that alter residues important for chromophore maturation, such as Arg96 and Ser205, greatly reduce or extinguish fluorescence without dramatically altering GFP protein accumulation. By contrast, other loss-of-fluorescence mutations substantially diminish the amount of GFP protein, suggesting that they compromise protein stability. Many mutations in this category generate substitutions of highly conserved glycine residues, including the following: Gly67 in the chromogenic tripeptide; Gly31, Gly33, and Gly35 in the second β-strand; and Gly20, Gly91, and Gly127 in the lids of the β-barrel scaffold. Our genetic analysis supports conclusions from structural and biochemical studies and demonstrates a critical role for multiple, highly conserved glycine residues in GFP protein stability.

An Rtf2 Domain-Containing Protein Influences Pre-mRNA Splicing and Is Essential for Embryonic Development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Alternative splicing is prevalent in plants, but little is known about its regulation in the context of developmental and signaling pathways. We describe here a new factor that influences pre-messengerRNA (mRNA) splicing and is essential for embryonic development in Arabidopsis thaliana. This factor was retrieved in a genetic screen that identified mutants impaired in expression of an alternatively spliced GFP reporter gene. In addition to the known spliceosomal component PRP8, the screen recovered Arabidopsis RTF2 (AtRTF2), a previously uncharacterized, evolutionarily conserved protein containing a replication termination factor 2 (Rtf2) domain. A homozygous null mutation in AtRTF2 is embryo lethal, indicating that AtRTF2 is an essential protein. Quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated that impaired expression of GFP in atrtf2 and prp8 mutants is due to inefficient splicing of the GFP pre-mRNA. A genome-wide analysis using RNA sequencing indicated that 13-16% of total introns are retained to a significant degree in atrtf2 mutants. Considering these results and previous suggestions that Rtf2 represents an ubiquitin-related domain, we discuss the possible role of AtRTF2 in ubiquitin-based regulation of pre-mRNA splicing.

Distinct and concurrent pathways of Pol II- and Pol IV-dependent siRNA biogenesis at a repetitive trans-silencer locus in Arabidopsis thaliana

Short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) homologous to transcriptional regulatory regions can induce RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) and transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) of target genes. In our system, siRNAs are produced by transcribing an inverted DNA repeat (IR) of enhancer sequences, yielding a hairpin RNA that is processed by several Dicer activities into siRNAs of 21-24 nt. Primarily 24-nt siRNAs trigger RdDM of the target enhancer in trans and TGS of a downstream GFP reporter gene. We analyzed siRNA accumulation from two different structural forms of a trans-silencer locus in which tandem repeats are embedded in the enhancer IR and distinguished distinct RNA polymerase II (Pol II)- and Pol IV-dependent pathways of siRNA biogenesis. At the original silencer locus, Pol-II transcription of the IR from a 35S promoter produces a hairpin RNA that is diced into abundant siRNAs of 21-24 nt. A silencer variant lacking the 35S promoter revealed a normally masked Pol IV-dependent pathway that produces low levels of 24-nt siRNAs from the tandem repeats. Both pathways operate concurrently at the original silencer locus. siRNAs accrue only from specific regions of the enhancer and embedded tandem repeat. Analysis of these sequences and endogenous tandem repeats producing siRNAs revealed the preferential accumulation of siRNAs at GC-rich regions containing methylated CG dinucleotides. In addition to supporting a correlation between base composition, DNA methylation and siRNA accumulation, our results highlight the complexity of siRNA biogenesis at repetitive loci and show that Pol II and Pol IV use different promoters to transcribe the same template.

Roles, and establishment, maintenance and erasing of the epigenetic cytosine methylation marks in plants

Heritable information in plants consists of genomic information in DNA sequence and epigenetic information superimposed on DNA sequence. The latter is in the form of cytosine methylation at CG, CHG and CHH elements (where H = A, T orC) and a variety of histone modifications in nucleosomes. The epialleles arising from cytosine methylation marks on the nuclear genomic loci have better heritability than the epiallelic variation due to chromatin marks. Phenotypic variation is increased manifold by epiallele comprised methylomes. Plants (angiosperms) have highly conserved genetic mechanisms to establish, maintain or erase cytosine methylation from epialleles. The methylation marks in plants fluctuate according to the cell/tissue/organ in the vegetative and reproductive phases of plant life cycle. They also change according to environment. Epialleles arise by gain or loss of cytosine methylation marks on genes. The changes occur due to the imperfection of the processes that establish and maintain the marks and on account of spontaneous and stress imposed removal of marks. Cytosine methylation pattern acquired in response to abiotic or biotic stress is often inherited over one to several subsequent generations.Cytosine methylation marks affect physiological functions of plants via their effect(s) on gene expression levels. They also repress transposable elements that are abundantly present in plant genomes. The density of their distribution along chromosome lengths affects meiotic recombination rate, while their removal increases mutation rate. Transposon activation due to loss of methylation causes rearrangements such that new gene regulatory networks arise and genes for microRNAs may originate. Cytosine methylation dynamics contribute to evolutionary changes. This review presents and discusses the available evidence on origin, removal and roles of cytosine methylation and on related processes, such as RNA directed DNA methylation, imprinting, paramutation and transgenerational memory in plants.

The ability to form homodimers is essential for RDM1 to function in RNA-directed DNA methylation

RDM1 (RNA-DIRECTED DNA METHYLATION1) is a small plant-specific protein required for RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM). RDM1 interacts with RNA polymerase II (Pol II), ARGONAUTE4 (AGO4), and the de novo DNA methyltransferase DOMAINS REARRANGED METHYLTRANSFERASE2 (DRM2) and binds to methylated single stranded DNA. As the only protein identified so far that interacts directly with DRM2, RDM1 plays a pivotal role in the RdDM mechanism by linking the de novo DNA methyltransferase activity to AGO4, which binds short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that presumably base-pair with Pol II or Pol V scaffold transcripts synthesized at target loci. RDM1 also acts together with the chromatin remodeler DEFECTIVE IN RNA-DIRECTED DNA METHYLATION1 (DRD1) and the structural-maintenance-of-chromosomes solo hinge protein DEFECTIVE IN MERISTEM SILENCING3 (DMS3) to form the DDR complex, which facilitates synthesis of Pol V scaffold transcripts. The manner in which RDM1 acts in both the DDR complex and as a factor bridging DRM2 and AGO4 remains unclear. RDM1 contains no known protein domains but a prior structural analysis suggested distinct regions that create a hydrophobic pocket and promote homodimer formation, respectively. We have tested several mutated forms of RDM1 altered in the predicted pocket and dimerization regions for their ability to complement defects in RdDM and transcriptional gene silencing, support synthesis of Pol V transcripts, form homodimers, and interact with DMS3. Our results indicate that the ability to form homodimers is essential for RDM1 to function fully in the RdDM pathway and may be particularly important during the de novo methylation step.

Site-directed nucleases: a paradigm shift in predictable, knowledge-based plant breeding

Conventional plant breeding exploits existing genetic variability and introduces new variability by mutagenesis. This has proven highly successful in securing food supplies for an ever-growing human population. The use of genetically modified plants is a complementary approach but all plant breeding techniques have limitations. Here, we discuss how the recent evolution of targeted mutagenesis and DNA insertion techniques based on tailor-made site-directed nucleases (SDNs) provides opportunities to overcome such limitations. Plant breeding companies are exploiting SDNs to develop a new generation of crops with new and improved traits. Nevertheless, some technical limitations as well as significant uncertainties on the regulatory status of SDNs may challenge their use for commercial plant breeding.