TY - JOUR A1 - Hansen, Bjoern Oest A1 - Meyer, Etienne H. A1 - Ferrari, Camilla A1 - Vaid, Neha A1 - Movahedi, Sara A1 - Vandepoele, Klaas A1 - Nikoloski, Zoran A1 - Mutwil, Marek T1 - Ensemble gene function prediction database reveals genes important for complex I formation in Arabidopsis thaliana JF - New phytologist : international journal of plant science N2 - Recent advances in gene function prediction rely on ensemble approaches that integrate results from multiple inference methods to produce superior predictions. Yet, these developments remain largely unexplored in plants. We have explored and compared two methods to integrate 10 gene co-function networks for Arabidopsis thaliana and demonstrate how the integration of these networks produces more accurate gene function predictions for a larger fraction of genes with unknown function. These predictions were used to identify genes involved in mitochondrial complex I formation, and for five of them, we confirmed the predictions experimentally. The ensemble predictions are provided as a user-friendly online database, EnsembleNet. The methods presented here demonstrate that ensemble gene function prediction is a powerful method to boost prediction performance, whereas the EnsembleNet database provides a cutting-edge community tool to guide experimentalists. KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - co-function network KW - complex I KW - ensemble prediction KW - gene function prediction Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14921 SN - 0028-646X SN - 1469-8137 VL - 217 IS - 4 SP - 1521 EP - 1534 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Poxson, David J. A1 - Karady, Michal A1 - Gabrielsson, Roger A1 - Alkattan, Aziz Y. A1 - Gustavsson, Anna A1 - Doyle, Siamsa M. A1 - Robert, Stephanie A1 - Ljung, Karin A1 - Grebe, Markus A1 - Simon, Daniel T. A1 - Berggren, Magnus T1 - Regulating plant physiology with organic electronics JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America N2 - The organic electronic ion pump (OEIP) provides flow-free and accurate delivery of small signaling compounds at high spatio-temporal resolution. To date, the application of OEIPs has been limited to delivery of nonaromatic molecules to mammalian systems, particularly for neuroscience applications. However, many long-standing questions in plant biology remain unanswered due to a lack of technology that precisely delivers plant hormones, based on cyclic alkanes or aromatic structures, to regulate plant physiology. Here, we report the employment of OEIPs for the delivery of the plant hormone auxin to induce differential concentration gradients and modulate plant physiology. We fabricated OEIP devices based on a synthesized dendritic polyelectrolyte that enables electrophoretic transport of aromatic substances. Delivery of auxin to transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings in vivo was monitored in real time via dynamic fluorescent auxin-response reporters and induced physiological responses in roots. Our results provide a starting point for technologies enabling direct, rapid, and dynamic electronic interaction with the biochemical regulation systems of plants. KW - auxin KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - dendritic polymer KW - bioelectronics KW - polyelectrolyte Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1617758114 SN - 0027-8424 VL - 114 SP - 4597 EP - 4602 PB - National Acad. of Sciences CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Annunziata, Maria Grazia A1 - Apelt, Federico A1 - Carillo, Petronia A1 - Krause, Ursula A1 - Feil, Regina A1 - Mengin, Virginie A1 - Lauxmann, Martin A. A1 - Koehl, Karin A1 - Nikoloski, Zoran A1 - Stitt, Mark A1 - Lunn, John Edward T1 - Getting back to nature: a reality check for experiments in controlled environments JF - Journal of experimental botany N2 - Irradiance from sunlight changes in a sinusoidal manner during the day, with irregular fluctuations due to clouds, and light-dark shifts at dawn and dusk are gradual. Experiments in controlled environments typically expose plants to constant irradiance during the day and abrupt light-dark transitions. To compare the effects on metabolism of sunlight versus artificial light regimes, Arabidopsis thaliana plants were grown in a naturally illuminated greenhouse around the vernal equinox, and in controlled environment chambers with a 12-h photoperiod and either constant or sinusoidal light profiles, using either white fluorescent tubes or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) tuned to a sunlight-like spectrum as the light source. Rosettes were sampled throughout a 24-h diurnal cycle for metabolite analysis. The diurnal metabolite profiles revealed that carbon and nitrogen metabolism differed significantly between sunlight and artificial light conditions. The variability of sunlight within and between days could be a factor underlying these differences. Pairwise comparisons of the artificial light sources (fluorescent versus LED) or the light profiles (constant versus sinusoidal) showed much smaller differences. The data indicate that energy-efficient LED lighting is an acceptable alternative to fluorescent lights, but results obtained from plants grown with either type of artificial lighting might not be representative of natural conditions. KW - Amino acid KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - controlled environment KW - LED lighting KW - visible light spectrum KW - organic acid KW - starch KW - sucrose KW - trehalose 6-phosphate Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erx220 SN - 0022-0957 SN - 1460-2431 VL - 68 SP - 4463 EP - 4477 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Smirnova, Julia A1 - Fernie, Alisdair R. A1 - Spahn, Christian M. T. A1 - Steup, Martin T1 - Photometric assay of maltose and maltose-forming enzyme activity by using 4-alpha-glucanotransferase (DPE2) from higher plants JF - Analytical biochemistry : methods in the biological sciences N2 - Maltose frequently occurs as intermediate of the central carbon metabolism of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Various mutants possess elevated maltose levels. Maltose exists as two anomers, (alpha- and beta-form) which are rapidly interconverted without requiring enzyme-mediated catalysis. As maltose is often abundant together with other oligoglucans, selective quantification is essential. In this communication, we present a photometric maltose assay using 4-alpha-glucanotransferase (AtDPE2) from Arabidopsis thaliana. Under in vitro conditions, AtDPE2 utilizes maltose as glucosyl donor and glycogen as acceptor releasing the other hexosyl unit as free glucose which is photometrically quantified following enzymatic phosphorylation and oxidation. Under the conditions used, DPE2 does not noticeably react with other di- or oligosaccharides. Selectivity compares favorably with that of maltase frequently used in maltose assays. Reducing end interconversion of the two maltose anomers is in rapid equilibrium and, therefore, the novel assay measures total maltose contents. Furthermore, an AtDPE2-based continuous photometric assay is presented which allows to quantify beta-amylase activity and was found to be superior to a conventional test. Finally, the AtDPE2-based maltose assay was used to quantify leaf maltose contents of both Arabidopsis wild type and AtDPE2-deficient plants throughout the light-dark cycle. These data are presented together with assimilatory starch levels. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Inc. KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - beta-amylase assay KW - Disproportionating isozyme 2 (DPE2) dpe2-deficient plants KW - Maltose assay KW - Leaf maltose content Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2017.05.026 SN - 0003-2697 SN - 1096-0309 VL - 532 SP - 72 EP - 82 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Naseri, Gita A1 - Balazadeh, Salma A1 - Machens, Fabian A1 - Kamranfar, Iman A1 - Messerschmidt, Katrin A1 - Müller-Röber, Bernd T1 - Plant-Derived Transcription Factors for Orthologous Regulation of Gene Expression in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae JF - ACS synthetic biology N2 - Control of gene expression by transcription factors (TFs) is central in many synthetic biology projects for which a tailored expression of one or multiple genes is often needed. As TFs from evolutionary distant organisms are unlikely to affect gene expression in a host of choice, they represent excellent candidates for establishing orthogonal control systems. To establish orthogonal regulators for use in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), we chose TFs from the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We established a library of 106 different combinations of chromosomally integrated TFs, activation domains (yeast GAL4 AD, herpes simplex virus VP64, and plant EDLL) and synthetic promoters harboring cognate cis regulatory motifs driving a yEGFP reporter. Transcriptional output of the different driver/reporter combinations varied over a wide spectrum, with EDLL being a considerably stronger transcription activation domain in yeast than the GAL4 activation domain, in particular when fused to Arabidopsis NAC TFs. Notably, the strength of several NAC-EDLL fusions exceeded that of the strong yeast TDH3 promoter by 6- to 10-fold. We furthermore show that plant TFs can be used to build regulatory systems encoded by centromeric or episomal plasmids. Our library of TF-DNA binding site combinations offers an excellent tool for diverse synthetic biology applications in yeast. KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - artificial transcription factor KW - NAC transcription factor KW - synthetic biology KW - plant Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.7b00094 SN - 2161-5063 VL - 6 SP - 1742 EP - 1756 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sakuraba, Yasuhito A1 - Bülbül, Selin A1 - Piao, Weilan A1 - Choi, Giltsu A1 - Paek, Nam-Chon T1 - Arabidopsis EARLY FLOWERING3 increases salt tolerance by suppressing salt stress response pathways JF - The plant journal KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - salt stress response KW - EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3) KW - reactive oxygen species KW - PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR4 (PIF4) KW - JUNGBRUNNEN1 (JUB1/ANAC042) KW - ORESARA1 (ORE1/ANAC092) KW - SAG29 Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.13747 SN - 0960-7412 SN - 1365-313X VL - 92 SP - 1106 EP - 1120 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER -