Regulation of scute function by extramacrochaete in vitro and in vivo

Development ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 120 (12) ◽  
pp. 3595-3603 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.V. Cabrera ◽  
M.C. Alonso ◽  
H. Huikeshoven

The pattern of adult sensilla in Drosophila is established by the dosage-sensitive interaction of two antagonistic groups of genes. Sensilla development is promoted by members of the achaete-scute complex and the daughterless gene whereas it is suppressed by whereas extramacrochaete (emc) and hairy. All these genes encode helix-loop-helix proteins. The products of the achaete-scute complex and daughterless interact to form heterodimers able to activate transcription. In this report, we show that (1) extra-macrochaete forms heterodimers with the achaete, scute, lethal of scute and daughterless products; (2) extramacrochaete inhibits DNA-binding of Achaete, Scute and Lethal of Scute/Daughterless heterodimers and Daughterless homodimers and (3) extramacrochaete inhibits transcription activation by heterodimers in a yeast assay system. In addition, we have studied the expression patterns of scute in wild-type and extramacrochaete mutant imaginal discs. Expression of scute RNA during imaginal development occurs in groups of cells, but high levels of protein accumulate in the nuclei of only a subset of the RNA-expressing cells. The pattern is dynamic and results in a small number of protein-containing cells that correspond to sensillum precursors. extramacrochaete loss-of-function alleles develop extra sensilla and correspondingly display a larger number of cells with scute protein. These cells appear to arise from those that in the wild type already express scute RNA; hence, extramacrochaete is a repressor of scute function whose action may take place post-transcriptionally.

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (39) ◽  
pp. 11010-11015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Jinshan Ella Lin ◽  
Chinchu Harris ◽  
Fernanda Campos Mastrotti Pereira ◽  
Fan Wu ◽  
...  

Tight homeostatic regulation of the phytohormone auxin [indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)] is essential to plant growth. Auxin biosynthetic pathways and the processes that inactivate auxin by conjugation to amino acids and sugars have been thoroughly characterized. However, the enzyme that catalyzes oxidation of IAA to its primary catabolite 2-oxindole-3-acetic acid (oxIAA) remains uncharacterized. Here, we show that DIOXYGENASE FOR AUXIN OXIDATION 1 (DAO1) catalyzes formation of oxIAA in vitro and in vivo and that this mechanism regulates auxin homeostasis and plant growth. Null dao1-1 mutants contain 95% less oxIAA compared with wild type, and complementation of dao1 restores wild-type oxIAA levels, indicating that DAO1 is the primary IAA oxidase in seedlings. Furthermore, dao1 loss of function plants have altered morphology, including larger cotyledons, increased lateral root density, delayed sepal opening, elongated pistils, and reduced fertility in the primary inflorescence stem. These phenotypes are tightly correlated with DAO1 spatiotemporal expression patterns as shown by DAO1pro:β-glucuronidase (GUS) activity and DAO1pro:YFP-DAO1 signals, and transformation with DAO1pro:YFP-DAO1 complemented the mutant phenotypes. The dominant dao1-2D mutant has increased oxIAA levels and decreased stature with shorter leaves and inflorescence stems, thus supporting DAO1 IAA oxidase function in vivo. A second isoform, DAO2, is very weakly expressed in seedling root apices. Together, these data confirm that IAA oxidation by DAO1 is the principal auxin catabolic process in Arabidopsis and that localized IAA oxidation plays a role in plant morphogenesis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (18) ◽  
pp. 5589-5602
Author(s):  
Shasha Liu ◽  
Rui Yang ◽  
Miao Liu ◽  
Shizhong Zhang ◽  
Kang Yan ◽  
...  

Abstract Although the salt overly sensitive (SOS) pathway plays essential roles in conferring salt tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana, the regulatory mechanism underlying SOS gene expression remains largely unclear. In this study, AtPLATZ2 was found to function as a direct transcriptional suppressor of CBL4/SOS3 and CBL10/SCaBP8 in the Arabidopsis salt stress response. Compared with wild-type plants, transgenic plants constitutively overexpressing AtPLATZ2 exhibited increased sensitivity to salt stress. Loss of function of PLATZ2 had no observed salt stress phenotype in Arabidopsis, while the double mutant of PLATZ2 and PLATZ7 led to weaker salt stress tolerance than wild-type plants. Overexpression of AtPLATZ2 in transgenic plants decreased the expression of CBL4/SOS3 and CBL10/SCaBP8 under both normal and saline conditions. AtPLATZ2 directly bound to A/T-rich sequences in the CBL4/SOS3 and CBL10/SCaBP8 promoters in vitro and in vivo, and inhibited CBL4/SOS3 promoter activity in the plant leaves. The salt sensitivity of #11 plants constitutively overexpressing AtPLATZ2 was restored by the overexpression of CBL4/SOS3 and CBL10/SCaBP8. Salt stress-induced Na+ accumulation in both the shoots and roots was more exaggerated in AtPLATZ2-overexpressing plants than in the wild type. The salt stress-induced Na+ accumulation in #11 seedlings was also rescued by the overexpression of CBL4/SOS3 and CBL10/SCaBP8. Furthermore, the transcription of AtPLATZ2 was induced in response to salt stress. Collectively, these results suggest that AtPLATZ2 suppresses plant salt tolerance by directly inhibiting CBL4/SOS3 and CBL10/SCaBP8, and functions redundantly with PLATZ7.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (50) ◽  
pp. 25322-25328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Liu ◽  
Xiaopin Ma ◽  
Hisashi Fujioka ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
Shengdi Chen ◽  
...  

Loss-of-function mutations in DJ-1 are associated with autosomal recessive early onset Parkinson’s disease (PD), yet the underlying pathogenic mechanism remains elusive. Here we demonstrate that DJ-1 localized to the mitochondria-associated membrane (MAM) both in vitro and in vivo. In fact, DJ-1 physically interacts with and is an essential component of the IP3R3-Grp75-VDAC1 complexes at MAM. Loss of DJ-1 disrupted the IP3R3-Grp75-VDAC1 complex and led to reduced endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-mitochondria association and disturbed function of MAM and mitochondria in vitro. These deficits could be rescued by wild-type DJ-1 but not by the familial PD-associated L166P mutant which had demonstrated reduced interaction with IP3R3-Grp75. Furthermore, DJ-1 ablation disturbed calcium efflux-induced IP3R3 degradation after carbachol treatment and caused IP3R3 accumulation at the MAM in vitro. Importantly, similar deficits in IP3R3-Grp75-VDAC1 complexes and MAM were found in the brain of DJ-1 knockout mice in vivo. The DJ-1 level was reduced in the substantia nigra of sporadic PD patients, which was associated with reduced IP3R3-DJ-1 interaction and ER-mitochondria association. Together, these findings offer insights into the cellular mechanism in the involvement of DJ-1 in the regulation of the integrity and calcium cross-talk between ER and mitochondria and suggests that impaired ER-mitochondria association could contribute to the pathogenesis of PD.


2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (17) ◽  
pp. 6269-6276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofiane Ghorbel ◽  
Aleksey Smirnov ◽  
Hichem Chouayekh ◽  
Brice Sperandio ◽  
Catherine Esnault ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The ppk gene of Streptomyces lividans encodes an enzyme catalyzing, in vitro, the reversible polymerization of the γ phosphate of ATP into polyphosphate and was previously shown to play a negative role in the control of antibiotic biosynthesis (H. Chouayekh and M. J. Virolle, Mol. Microbiol. 43:919-930, 2002). In the present work, some regulatory features of the expression of ppk were established and the polyphosphate content of S. lividans TK24 and the ppk mutant was determined. In Pi sufficiency, the expression of ppk was shown to be low but detectable. DNA gel shift experiments suggested that ppk expression might be controlled by a repressor using ATP as a corepressor. Under these conditions, short acid-soluble polyphosphates accumulated upon entry into the stationary phase in the wild-type strain but not in the ppk mutant strain. The expression of ppk under Pi-limiting conditions was shown to be much higher than that under Pi-sufficient conditions and was under positive control of the two-component system PhoR/PhoP. Under these conditions, the polyphosphate content of the cell was low and polyphosphates were reproducibly found to be longer and more abundant in the ppk mutant strain than in the wild-type strain, suggesting that Ppk might act as a nucleoside diphosphate kinase. In light of our results, a novel view of the role of this enzyme in the regulation of antibiotic biosynthesis in S. lividans TK24 is proposed.


2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 2778-2789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinghu Ren ◽  
Martin A. Gorovsky

ABSTRACT Tetrahymena thermophila cells contain three forms of H2A: major H2A.1 and H2A.2, which make up ∼80% of total H2A, and a conserved variant, H2A.Z. We showed previously that acetylation of H2A.Z was essential (Q. Ren and M. A. Gorovsky, Mol. Cell 7:1329-1335, 2001). Here we used in vitro mutagenesis of lysine residues, coupled with gene replacement, to identify the sites of acetylation of the N-terminal tail of the major H2A and to analyze its function in vivo. Tetrahymena cells survived with all five acetylatable lysines replaced by arginines plus a mutation that abolished acetylation of the N-terminal serine normally found in the wild-type protein. Thus, neither posttranslational nor cotranslational acetylation of major H2A is essential. Surprisingly, the nonacetylatable N-terminal tail of the major H2A was able to replace the essential function of the acetylation of the H2A.Z N-terminal tail. Tail-swapping experiments between H2A.1 and H2A.Z revealed that the nonessential acetylation of the major H2A N-terminal tail can be made to function as an essential charge patch in place of the H2A.Z N-terminal tail and that while the pattern of acetylation of an H2A N-terminal tail is determined by the tail sequence, the effects of acetylation on viability are determined by properties of the H2A core and not those of the N-terminal tail itself.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Honghu Tang ◽  
Chunyu Tan ◽  
Xue Cao ◽  
Yi Liu ◽  
Hua Zhao ◽  
...  

Autophagy pathways play an important role in immunity and inflammation via pathogen clearance mechanisms mediated by immune cells, such as macrophages and neutrophils. In particular, autophagic activity is essential for the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a distinct form of active neutrophil death. The current study set out to elucidate the mechanism of the NFIL3/REDD1/mTOR axis in neutrophil autophagy and NET formation during gout inflammation. Firstly, NFIL3 expression patterns were determined in the peripheral blood neutrophils of gout patients and monosodium urate (MSU)-treated neutrophils. Interactions between NFIL3 and REDD1 were identified. In addition, gain- or loss-of-function approaches were used to manipulate NFIL3 and REDD1 in both MSU-induced neutrophils and mice. The mechanism of NFIL3 in inflammation during gout was evaluated both in vivo and in vitro via measurement of cell autophagy, NET formation, MPO activity as well as levels of inflammatory factors. NFIL3 was highly-expressed in both peripheral blood neutrophils from gout patients and MSU-treated neutrophils. NFIL3 promoted the transcription of REDD1 by binding to its promoter. REDD1 augmented neutrophil autophagy and NET formation by inhibiting the mTOR pathway. In vivo experimental results further confirmed that silencing of NFIL3 reduced the inflammatory injury of acute gouty arthritis mice by inhibiting the neutrophil autophagy and NET formation, which was associated with down-regulation of REDD1 and activation of the mTOR pathway. Taken together, NFIL3 can aggravate the inflammatory reaction of gout by stimulating neutrophil autophagy and NET formation via REDD1/mTOR, highlighting NFIL3 as a potential therapeutic target for gout.


Author(s):  
Hao Yang ◽  
Yulong Zhao ◽  
Ning Chen ◽  
Yanpei Liu ◽  
Shaoyu Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract In plants, 3´,5´-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is an important second messenger with varied functions; however, only a few adenylyl cyclases (ACs) that synthesize cAMP have been identified. Moreover, the biological roles of ACs/cAMP in response to stress remain largely unclear. In this study, we used quantitative proteomics techniques to identify a maize heat-induced putative disease-resistance RPP13-like protein 3 (ZmRPP13-LK3), which has three conserved catalytic AC centres. The AC activity of ZmRPP13-LK3 was confirmed by in vitro enzyme activity analysis, in vivo RNAi experiments, and functional complementation in the E. coli cyaA mutant. ZmRPP13-LK3 is located in the mitochondria. The results of in vitro and in vivo experiments indicated that ZmRPP13-LK3 interacts with ZmABC2, a possible cAMP exporter. Under heat stress, the concentrations of ZmRPP13-LK3 and cAMP in the ABA-deficient mutant vp5 were significantly less than those in the wild-type, and treatment with ABA and an ABA inhibitor affected ZmRPP13-LK3 expression in the wild-type. Application of 8-Br-cAMP, a cAMP analogue, increased heat-induced expression of heat-shock proteins in wild-type plants and alleviated heat-activated oxidative stress. Taken together, our results indicate that ZmRPP13-LK3, a new AC, can catalyse ATP for the production of cAMP and may be involved in ABA-regulated heat resistance.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 394-394
Author(s):  
Lurong Lian ◽  
Yanfeng Wang ◽  
Xinsheng Chen ◽  
Tami Bach ◽  
Laurie Lenox ◽  
...  

Abstract Pleckstrin is a 40 kDa phosphoprotein containing amino- and carboxyl-terminal Pleckstrin Homology (PH) domains separated by a DEP domain. Pleckstrin’s expression is restricted to platelets and leukocytes, and represents approximately 1% of total cellular protein within these cells. Following platelet and leukocyte activation, PKC rapidly phosphorylates pleckstrin inducing it to bind membrane bound phospholipids such as phosphatidylinositol 4,5 bisphosphate (PIP2). Heterologously expressed phosphorylated pleckstrin colocalized with integrins and induces cytoskeletal reorganization. To better define the role of pleckstrin in vivo, we introduced a loss-of-function mutation into the murine pleckstrin gene. Pleckstrin-null mice were present in offspring at a frequency consistent with a Mendelian inheritance pattern. Adult pleckstrin −/− mice had 32% lower platelet counts than their littermates, but exhibited no spontaneous hemorrhage. Given the role of PKC and phospholipid second messengers on cytoskeletal dynamics, and our observations of pleckstrin overexpression in cell lines, we analyzed whether loss of pleckstrin affected cell spreading. Pleckstrin −/− platelets spread extremely poorly upon immobilized fibrinogen, and rarely exhibited broad membrane extensions. Granulocytes from pleckstrin −/− mice also have a spreading defect, as well as impaired ability to generate reactive oxygen species in the response to TNFα. Knockout B-cells, CD4-T-cells, and CD8-T-cells all migrated approximately 30% as efficiently as wild type cells in response to a gradient of SDF-1α in a transwell assay. These data suggest that loss of pleckstrin causes cytoskeletal defects in cells of multiple hematopoietic lineages. Analyzing whether this caused a functional defect, we found that pleckstrin −/− platelets exhibited a 22% dense- and 24% alpha-granule exocytosis defect, and a 35% defect in thrombin-induced calcium entry. In spite of these abnormalities, platelets changed shape and aggregated normally after stimulation with thrombin, ADP, or collagen in vitro. Pleckstrin knockout platelets did have a markedly impaired aggregation response following exposure to the PKC stimulant, PMA. This suggested that pleckstrin is a critical effector for PKC-mediated aggregation, but another pathway is able to compensate for this loss of pleckstrin following agonist stimulation. We reasoned that the alternative pathway might also utilize PIP2-dependent second messengers. Since the phosphorylation of PIP2 by PI3K generates second messengers that also contribute to platelet aggregation, we tested whether PI3K compensated for the loss of pleckstrin. We found that the PI3K inhibitor, LY294002 profoundly impaired the aggregation of pleckstrin knockout platelets in response to stimulation of the thrombin receptor. In contrast, the PI3K inhibitor minimally affected wild type platelets. This demonstrates that second messengers generated by PI3K are able to compensate for loss of pleckstrin. This also demonstrates that thrombin-induced platelet aggregation can be mediated by one of two parallel pathways, one involving PKC and pleckstrin, and the other involving PI3K. Together, our results show that pleckstrin is an essential component of PKC-mediated platelet activation and signals directed to the cytoskeleton.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sichao Yang ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Liqing Xu ◽  
Zhengrong Luo ◽  
Qinglin Zhang

Persimmon proanthocyanidin (PA) biosynthesis is controlled by structural genes and regulated by transcription factors (TFs). MicroRNAs are a key factor involved in regulating gene expression at the posttranscriptional level whose functions in persimmon PA biosynthesis are poorly understood. Here, we identified a microRNA, miR858b, that putatively targets two R2R3-MYB TFs, DkMYB19 and DkMYB20. DkMYB19, DkMYB20, and miR858b showed divergent expression patterns during fruit development, and the interaction between miR858b and DkMYB19 or DkMYB20 was experimentally validated by 5′ RNA ligase-mediated RACE, LUC enzyme activity analysis, and GFP signal detection. The DkMYB19 localized to the nucleus as well as the cytoplasm and DkMYB20 localized to the nucleus. The overexpression of miR858b led to the downregulation of DkMYB19 and DkMYB20, which reduced the content of PA, whereas a reduction in miR858b activity upregulated DkMYB19 and DkMYB20, resulting in a high content of PA in leaves transiently expressing a small tandem target mimic construct for blocking miR858 (STTM858b) in vivo. The transient transformation of miR858b in fruit discs in vitro also reduced the content of PA, while the content of PA increased under the transient transformation of fruit discs with STTM858b, DkMYB19, or DkMYB20. A similar phenomenon was observed upon the overexpression of miR858b in wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis and DkMYB19 or DkMYB20 in persimmon leaf calli. These findings suggested that miR858b repressed the expression of DkMYB19 and DkMYB20, which contributed to the PA accumulation in persimmon.


2005 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 8314-8322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemarie Rea ◽  
Colin Hill ◽  
Cormac G. M. Gahan

ABSTRACT Deletion of perR in Listeria monocytogenes results in a small-colony phenotype (ΔperR sm) that is slow growing and exhibits increased sensitivity to H2O2. At a relatively high frequency, large-colony variants (ΔperR lg) arise, which are more resistant to H2O2 than the wild-type and ultimately dominate the culture. Transcriptional analysis revealed that the kat gene (catalase) is up-regulated in both types of mutants and that the highest level is apparent in ΔperR sm mutants, demonstrating PerR regulation of this gene. Overexpression of the catalase gene in the wild-type background resulted in a slower-growing strain with a smaller colony size similar to that of ΔperR sm. By combining a bioinformatic approach with experimental evidence, other PerR-regulated genes were identified, including fur, lmo0641, fri, lmo1604, hemA, and trxB. The transcriptional profile of these genes in both mutant backgrounds was similar to that of catalase in that a higher level of expression was observed in ΔperR sm than in the wild type or ΔperR lg. Murine studies revealed that the virulence potential of the ΔperR sm mutant is substantially reduced compared to that of the wild-type and ΔperR lg strains. Collectively, the data demonstrate that the ΔperR sm mutant represents the true phenotype associated with the absence of PerR, which is linked to overexpression of regulated genes that negatively affect bacterial homeostasis both in vitro and in vivo. A subsequent secondary mutation occurred at a high frequency, which resulted in phenotypic reversion to a large-colony phenotype with increased fitness that may have obstructed the analysis of the role of PerR in the physiology of the bacterial cell.


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