@article{LiApriyantoFloresCastellanosetal.2022, author = {Li, Xiaoping and Apriyanto, Ardha and Flores Castellanos, Junio and Compart, Julia and Muntaha, Sidratul Nur and Fettke, J{\"o}rg}, title = {Dpe2/phs1 revealed unique starch metabolism with three distinct phases characterized by different starch granule numbers per chloroplast, allowing insights into the control mechanism of granule number regulation by gene co-regulation and metabolic profiling}, series = {Frontiers in Plant Science}, journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science}, publisher = {Frontiers}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {1664-462X}, doi = {10.3389/fpls.2022.1039534}, pages = {1 -- 16}, year = {2022}, abstract = {An Arabidopsis mutant lacking both the cytosolic Disproportionating enzyme 2 (DPE2) and the plastidial glucan Phosphorylase 1 (PHS1) revealed a unique starch metabolism. Dpe2/phs1 has been reported to have only one starch granule number per chloroplast when grown under diurnal rhythm. For this study, we analyzed dpe2/phs1 in details following the mutant development, and found that it showed three distinct periods of granule numbers per chloroplast, while there was no obvious change observed in Col-0. In young plants, the starch granule number was similar to that in Col-0 at first, and then decreased significantly, down to one or no granule per chloroplast, followed by an increase in the granule number. Thus, in dpe2/phs1, control over the starch granule number is impaired, but it is not defective in starch granule initiation. The data also indicate that the granule number is not fixed, and is regulated throughout plant growth. Furthermore, the chloroplasts revealed alterations during these three periods, with a partially strong aberrant morphology in the middle phase. Interestingly, the unique metabolism was perpetuated when starch degradation was further impaired through an additional lack of Isoamylase 3 (ISA3) or Starch excess 4 (SEX4). Transcriptomic studies and metabolic profiling revealed the co-regulation of starch metabolism-related genes and a clear metabolic separation between the periods. Most senescence-induced genes were found to be up-regulated more than twice in the starch-less mature leaves. Thus, dpe2/phs1 is a unique plant material source, with which we may study starch granule number regulation to obtain a more detailed understanding.}, language = {en} } @article{KaechDennisVorburger2021, author = {Kaech, Heidi and Dennis, Alice B. and Vorburger, Christoph}, title = {Triple RNA-Seq characterizes aphid gene expression in response to infection with unequally virulent strains of the endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa}, series = {BMC genomics}, volume = {22}, journal = {BMC genomics}, number = {1}, publisher = {BioMed Central}, address = {London}, issn = {1471-2164}, doi = {10.1186/s12864-021-07742-8}, pages = {21}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Background Secondary endosymbionts of aphids provide benefits to their hosts, but also impose costs such as reduced lifespan and reproductive output. The aphid Aphis fabae is host to different strains of the secondary endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa, which encode different putative toxins. These strains have very different phenotypes: They reach different densities in the host, and the costs and benefits (protection against parasitoid wasps) they confer to the host vary strongly. Results We used RNA-Seq to generate hypotheses on why four of these strains inflict such different costs to A. fabae. We found different H. defensa strains to cause strain-specific changes in aphid gene expression, but little effect of H. defensa on gene expression of the primary endosymbiont, Buchnera aphidicola. The highly costly and over-replicating H. defensa strain H85 was associated with strongly reduced aphid expression of hemocytin, a marker of hemocytes in Drosophila. The closely related strain H15 was associated with downregulation of ubiquitin-related modifier 1, which is related to nutrient-sensing and oxidative stress in other organisms. Strain H402 was associated with strong differential regulation of a set of hypothetical proteins, the majority of which were only differentially regulated in presence of H402. Conclusions Overall, our results suggest that costs of different strains of H. defensa are likely caused by different mechanisms, and that these costs are imposed by interacting with the host rather than the host's obligatory endosymbiont B. aphidicola.}, language = {en} } @article{LukoszekFeistIgnatova2016, author = {Lukoszek, Radoslaw and Feist, Peter and Ignatova, Zoya}, title = {Insights into the adaptive response of Arabidopsis thaliana to prolonged thermal stress by ribosomal profiling and RNA-Seq}, series = {BMC plant biology}, volume = {16}, journal = {BMC plant biology}, publisher = {BioMed Central}, address = {London}, issn = {1471-2229}, doi = {10.1186/s12870-016-0915-0}, pages = {13}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background: Environmental stress puts organisms at risk and requires specific stress-tailored responses to maximize survival. Long-term exposure to stress necessitates a global reprogramming of the cellular activities at different levels of gene expression. Results: Here, we use ribosome profiling and RNA sequencing to globally profile the adaptive response of Arabidopsis thaliana to prolonged heat stress. To adapt to long heat exposure, the expression of many genes is modulated in a coordinated manner at a transcriptional and translational level. However, a significant group of genes opposes this trend and shows mainly translational regulation. Different secondary structure elements are likely candidates to play a role in regulating translation of those genes. Conclusions: Our data also uncover on how the subunit stoichiometry of multimeric protein complexes in plastids is maintained upon heat exposure.}, language = {en} }