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Mayumi Iwasaki,
Hiro Takahashi,
Hidekazu Iwakawa, Ayami Nakagawa,
Takaaki Ishikawa,
Hirokazu Tanaka,
Yoko Matsumura,
Irena Pekker,
Yuval Eshed,
Simon Vial-Pradel,
Toshiro Ito,
Yuichiro Watanabe,
Yoshihisa Ueno,
Hiroshi Fukazawa,
Shoko Kojima,
Yasunori Machida,
Chiyoko Machida
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ABSTRACT: Leaf primordia are generated at the periphery of the shoot apex, developing into flat symmetric organs with adaxial-abaxial polarity, in which the indeterminate state is repressed. Despite the crucial role of the ASYMMETRIC LEAVES1 (AS1)-AS2 nuclear-protein complex in leaf adaxial-abaxial polarity specification, information on mechanisms controlling their downstream genes has remained elusive. We systematically analyzed transcripts by microarray and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays and performed genetic rescue of as1 and as2 phenotypic abnormalities, which identified a new target gene, ETTIN (ETT)/AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR3 (ARF3), which encodes an abaxial factor acting downstream of the AS1-AS2 complex. While the AS1-AS2 complex represses ETT by direct binding of AS1 to the ETT promoter, it also indirectly activates miR390- and RDR6-dependent post-transcriptional gene silencing to negatively regulate both ETT and ARF4 activities. Furthermore, AS1-AS2 maintains the status of DNA methylation in the ETT coding region. In agreement, filamentous leaves formed in as1 and as2 plants treated with a DNA methylation inhibitor were rescued by loss of ETT and ARF4 activities. We suggest that negative transcriptional, post-transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of the ARFs by AS1-AS2 is important for stabilizing early leaf partitioning into abaxial and adaxial domains.
Development 05/2013; 140(9):1958-69. · 6.60 Impact Factor
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Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering 12/2012; 114(5):570-575. · 1.79 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The G-quadruplex is one of the most frequently studied secondary DNA structures and consists of 4 guanine residues that interact through Watson-Crick and Hoogsteen pairing. The G-quadruplex formation is thought to be a molecular switch for gene expression. Genome-wide analyses of G-quadruplexes have been published for many species; however, only one genome-wide analysis of G-quadruplexes in plants has been reported. Here, we propose a new approach involving a two-step procedure for identifying G-quadruplex-forming sequences (potential G4 DNA motif regions: G4MRs) and classifying positional relationships between G4MRs and genes. By using this approach, we exhaustively searched for G4MRs in the whole genomes of 8 species: Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa subsp. japonica, Populus trichocarpa, Vitis vinifera, Homo sapiens, Danio rerio, Drosophila melanogaster, and Caenorhabditis elegans. We classified genes on the basis of their positional relationships to their proximal G4MRs. We identified novel rules for G4MRs in plants, such as G4MR-enrichment in the template strands at transcription start sites (TSSs). Next, we focused on the template strands of TSSs and conducted gene ontology (GO) analysis of genes proximal to G4MRs. We identified GO terms such as chloroplast and nucleosome (or histone) in O. sativa. Although these terms were strongly associated in O. sativa, weak associations were identified in other plants. These results will be helpful for elucidating the functional roles of G4 DNA.
Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering 06/2012; 114(5):570-5. · 1.79 Impact Factor
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Ayami Nakagawa,
Hiro Takahashi,
Shoko Kojima,
Nobuo Sato,
Kazuomi Ohga,
Byung Yoon Cha,
Je-Tae Woo,
Kazuo Nagai,
Gorou Horiguchi,
Hirokazu Tsukaya,
Yasunori Machida,
Chiyoko Machida
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ABSTRACT: Leaves develop as flat lateral organs from the indeterminate shoot apical meristem. The establishment of polarity along three-dimensional axes, proximal-distal, medial-lateral, and adaxial-abaxial axes, is crucial for the growth of normal leaves. The mutations of ASYMMETRIC LEAVES1 (AS1) and AS2 of Arabidopsis thaliana cause defects in repression of the indeterminate state and the establishment of axis formation in leaves. Although many mutations have been identified that enhance the adaxial-abaxial polarity defects of as1 and as2 mutants, the roles of the causative genes in leaf development are still unknown. In this study, we found that wild-type plants treated with berberine produced pointed leaves, which are often observed in the single mutants that enhance phenotypes of as1 and as2 mutants. The berberine-treated as1 and as2 mutants formed abaxialized filamentous leaves. Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid compound naturally produced in various plant sources, has a growth inhibitory effect on plants that do not produce berberine. We further showed that transcript levels of meristem-specific class 1 KNOX homeobox genes and abaxial determinant genes were increased in berberine-treated as1 and as2. Berberine treated plants carrying double mutations of AS2 and the large subunit ribosomal protein gene RPL5B showed more severe defects in polarity than did the as2 single mutant plants. We suggest that berberine inhibits (a) factor(s) that might be required for leaf adaxial cell differentiation through a pathway independent of AS1 and AS2. Multiple pathways might play important roles in the formation of flat symmetric leaves.
Plant Molecular Biology 06/2012; 79(6):569-81. · 4.15 Impact Factor
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Ayami Nakagawa,
Hiro Takahashi,
Shoko Kojima,
Nobuo Sato,
Kazuomi Ohga,
Byung Yoon Cha,
Je-Tae Woo,
Kazuo Nagai,
Gorou Horiguchi,
Hirokazu Tsukaya,
Yasunori Machida,
Chiyoko Machida
Plant Molecular Biology 06/2012; 79(6):569-581. · 4.15 Impact Factor
