Endoreduplication in Drosophila melanogaster progeny after exposure to acute γ-irradiation

The purpose of this investigation was to study the effect of acute γ-irradiation of parent adults on the endoreduplication of giant chromosomes in F₁ generation of Drosophila melanogaster Meig. A wild-type Oregon-R strain was used as the material. Virgin females and males of Drosophila adults at the age of 3 days were irradiated with doses of 8, 16 and 25 Gy. Giant chromosomes were studied by cytomorphometry on squashed preparations of Drosophila salivary glands stained with acetoorsein. The preparations were obtained at late third instar larvae. The mean values of the polyteny degree of chromosomes (PDC) in males increased after 8 Gy by 10.6%, after 25 Gy by 7.4%, and did not change after the dose of 16 Gy. In females, the PDC did not differ from the control irrespective of the irradiation dose. An increase in endoreduplication was also evidenced by the accelerated development of offsprings of both sexes after irradiation of parents with 25 Gy, and in males also at a dose of 16 Gy. The statistical impact of power of radiation on polyteny was 26.8%, while the impact of sex was 4.9%. The impact of power of radiation on the developmental rate of offspring was 4.4% in males and 7.5% in females. The enhancement of endoreduplication is considered as a consequence of increasing selection pressure after irradiation. The possible involvement of epigenetic effects in the effect of ionizing radiation on endoreduplication is discussed.

Effect of light and auxin transport inhibitors on endoreduplication in hypocotyl and cotyledon

Enhancement of endoreduplication in dark-grown hypocotyl is a common feature in dicotyledonous polysomatic plants, and TIBA-mediated inhibition of the endoreduplication is partially due to abnormal actin organization. Many higher plant species use endoreduplication during cell differentiation. However, the mechanisms underlying this process have remained elusive. In this study, we examined endoreduplication in hypocotyls and cotyledons in response to light in some dicotyledonous plant species. Enhancement of endoreduplication was found in the dark-grown hypocotyls of all the polysomatic species analyzed across five different families, indicating that this process is a common feature in dicotyledonous plants having polysomatic tissues. Conversely, endoreduplication was enhanced in the light-grown cotyledons in four of the five species analyzed. We also analyzed the effect of a polar auxin transport inhibitor, 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA) on endoreduplication in hypocotyl and cotyledon tissues of radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. longipinnatus Bailey). TIBA was found to inhibit and promote endoreduplication in hypocotyls and cotyledons, respectively, suggesting that the endoreduplication mechanism differs in these organs. To gain insight into the effect of TIBA, radish and spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) seedlings were treated with a vesicle-trafficking inhibitor, brefeldin A, and an actin polymerization inhibitor, cytochalasin D. Both of the inhibitors partially inhibited endoreduplication of the dark-grown hypocotyl tissues, suggesting that the prominent inhibition of endoreduplication by TIBA might be attributed to its multifaceted role.

Effect of blue light on endogenous isopentenyladenine and endoreduplication during photomorphogenesis and de-etiolation of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seedlings

Light is one of the most important factor influencing plant growth and development all through their life cycle. One of the well-known light-regulated processes is de-etiolation, i.e. the switch from skotomorphogenesis to photomorphogenesis. The hormones cytokinins (CKs) play an important role during the establishment of photomorphogenesis as exogenous CKs induced photomorphogenesis of dark-grown seedlings. Most of the studies are conducted on the plant model Arabidopsis, but no or few information are available for important crop species, such as tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). In our study, we analyzed for the first time the endogenous CKs content in tomato hypocotyls during skotomorphogenesis, photomorphogenesis and de-etiolation. For this purpose, two tomato genotypes were used: cv. Rutgers (wild-type; WT) and its corresponding mutant (7B-1) affected in its responses to blue light (BL). Using physiological and molecular approaches, we identified that the skotomorphogenesis is characterized by an endoreduplication-mediated cell expansion, which is inhibited upon BL exposure as seen by the accumulation of trancripts encoding CycD3, key regulators of the cell cycle. Our study showed for the first time that iP (isopentenyladenine) is the CK accumulated in the tomato hypocotyl upon BL exposure, suggesting its specific role in photomorphogenesis. This result was supported by physiological experiments and gene expression data. We propose a common model to explain the role and the relationship between CKs, namely iP, and endoreduplication during de-etiolation and photomorphogenesis.