Correction to: Titanium Ions Inhibit the Bacteria in Vase Solutions of Freshly Cut Gerbera jamesonii and Extend the Flower Longevity.

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Titanium Ions Inhibit the Bacteria in Vase Solutions of Freshly Cut Gerbera jamesonii and Extend the Flower Longevity.

Titanium ions significantly promote plant growth, but the mechanism is still unclear. Cut flowers are ideal materials for the study of plant growth and senescence. In this study, freshly cut Gerbera jamesonii were used to study the effects of titanium ions (8 mg/L) on the flower longevity. Flowering observation showed that the gerbera vase life was significantly prolonged in the presence of titanium ions. Plate colony counts showed that the amounts of bacteria in the vase solution of the control group were approximately 1700 times more than that of titanium ion treatment group. High-throughput sequencing was used to determine the sequences of 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 variable regions of the vase solutions to analyze bacterial species, their average proportions, and absolute abundance. The results showed that the titanium ions reduced the entire bacterial counts as well as altered the absolute abundance of different bacterial species in the vase solution. The most prevalent bacteria were mainly Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas veronii, Pseudomonas sp., Delftia sp., Agrobacterium sp., Sphingobacterium multivorum, Acinetobacter johnsonii, and Clostridiaceae. In combination with plate colony counts, we demonstrated that all the bacterial growths were significantly inhibited by titanium ions, regardless of their average proportions increased or decreased. These results showed that titanium ions could extend effectively the longevity of gerberas and possess the broad-spectrum antibacterial properties. This study provides a basis for further mechanism exploration of titanium ions action and its applications in cut flower preservation and agricultural production.

Identification and Expression Profile of CYPome in Perennial Ryegrass and Tall Fescue in Response to Temperature Stress.

Plant cytochrome P450s are involved in a wide range of biosynthetic reactions that generate various biomolecules, including a variety of defensive compounds. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) are two major species of turf and forage grasses that usually experience low temperature below -10°C and high temperature over 38°C around the world. In this study, we re-analyzed transcriptome of perennial ryegrass and tall fescue treated with heat and cold stress. Thus, we can evaluate P450 composition in these species and confirm whether P450 genes response to temperature stress. We identified 277 and 319 P450 transcripts with open reading frames larger than 300 bp, respectively. These P450 transcripts were mainly classed in the CYP71, 51, 94, 89, 72, and 734 families. In perennial ryegrass and tall fescue, a total of 66 and 62 P450 transcripts were up-regulated, and 65 and 117 transcripts were down-regulated when subjected to heat stress, respectively. When exposed to cold stress, 60 and 73 transcripts were up-regulated, and 59 and 77 transcripts were down-regulated in perennial ryegrass and tall fescue. Among these differentially expressed transcripts, 64 and 87 of them showed expression level changes that followed the same trend, and these temperature-responsive genes primarily belong to the CYP71, 72 and 99 families. Besides, heat and cold stress altered phenylalanine and brassinosteroid involved P450 transcripts in perennial ryegrass and tall fescue. P450 transcripts involved in the metabolism of these compounds showed a strong response to heat and/or cold stress, indicating that they likely play important roles in temperature acclimation in these two species. The CYPome provide a genetic base for the future functional studies, as well as genetic studies that may improve stress tolerance for perennial ryegrass and tall fescue to extreme temperature.

Transcript profiles of maize embryo sacs and preliminary identification of genes involved in the embryo sac-pollen tube interaction.

The embryo sac, the female gametophyte of flowering plants, plays important roles in the pollination and fertilization process. Maize (Zea mays L.) is a model monocot, but little is known about the interactions between its embryo sac and the pollen tube. In this study, we compared the transcript profiles of mature embryo sacs, mature embryo sacs 14-16 h after pollination, and mature nucelli. Comparing the transcript profiles of the embryo sacs before and after the entry of the pollen tube, we identified 3467 differentially expressed transcripts (3382 differentially expressed genes; DEGs). The DEGs were grouped into 22 functional categories. Among the DEGs, 221 genes were induced upon the entry of the pollen tube, and many of them encoded proteins involved in RNA binding, processing, and transcription, signaling, miscellaneous enzyme family processes, and lipid metabolism processes. Genes in the DEG dataset were grouped into 17 classes in a gene ontology enrichment analysis. The DEGs included many genes encoding proteins involved in protein amino acid phosphorylation and protein ubiquitination, implying that these processes might play important roles in the embryo sac-pollen tube interaction. Additionally, our analyses indicate that the expression of 112 genes encoding cysteine-rich proteins (CRPs) is induced during pollination and fertilization. The CRPs likely regulate pollen tube guidance and embryo sac development. These results provide important information on the genes involved in the embryo sac-pollen tube interaction in maize.

Untangling the transcriptome from fungus-infected plant tissues.

The development of sequencing technology allows low-cost generation of sequence data. The huge amount of raw sequence data now available has introduced many challenges associated with analysis of these large-scale data banks. For example, it is very important to distinguish materials of plant and fungal origin in fungus-infected plant tissue. The origin of transcripts that were sequenced from Library 895-M6 (poplar tissue infected by Marssonina brunnea) on Illumina/Solexa GA IIx was determined by combining three methods: (1) based on the taxonomic information of homologous sequences; (2) based on the reference genome sequence; (3) based on the transcriptome sequence of the host and its pathogen obtained from Library 895 (poplar) and Library M6 (M. brunnea) as well as Library 895-M6 (mixture of poplar and M. brunnea). We idenified accurately the origin of 80,978 (99.5%) contigs in the mixed poplar and M. brunnea sample (Library 895-M6) by integrating the results from the three methods. The results of this study demonstrate that a combination of these three approaches described here is an effective strategy for determining the origin of sequences in a mixed pool, and provides a basis for further transcriptome analysis of the mixed sample.

Sequencing the genome of Marssonina brunnea reveals fungus-poplar co-evolution.

BACKGROUND: The fungus Marssonina brunnea is a causal pathogen of Marssonina leaf spot that devastates poplar plantations by defoliating susceptible trees before normal fall leaf drop. RESULTS: We sequence the genome of M. brunnea with a size of 52 Mb assembled into 89 scaffolds, representing the first sequenced Dermateaceae genome. By inoculating this fungus onto a poplar hybrid clone, we investigate how M. brunnea interacts and co-evolves with its host to colonize poplar leaves. While a handful of virulence genes in M. brunnea, mostly from the LysM family, are detected to up-regulate during infection, the poplar down-regulates its resistance genes, such as nucleotide binding site domains and leucine rich repeats, in response to infection. From 10,027 predicted proteins of M. brunnea in a comparison with those from poplar, we identify four poplar transferases that stimulate the host to resist M. brunnea. These transferas-encoding genes may have driven the co-evolution of M. brunnea and Populus during the process of infection and anti-infection. CONCLUSIONS: Our results from the draft sequence of the M. brunnea genome provide evidence for genome-genome interactions that play an important role in poplar-pathogen co-evolution. This knowledge could help to design effective strategies for controlling Marssonina leaf spot in poplar.

Analysis of floral transcription factors from Lycoris longituba.

Transcription factors (TFs) are proteins that bind to specific promoter regions of their target genes and regulate gene transcription. Many of these factors have been found to influence flowering. Lycoris longituba exhibits a great deal of diversity in flower color and flower form, making it a suitable model for the study of floral development. We have identified 338 putative TFs from more than thirty thousand ESTs sequenced from the floral tissue of L. longituba, and validated them using real-time RT-PCR. Fifty-one of the TFs were recognized as being potentially flower-specific, and the expression patterns of some of them during six flowering phases have been elucidated. Homolog annotation and phylogenetic analysis revealed that some TFs that belong to several TF families, such as MADS, MYB-related, NAC, and ABI3-VP1, were suggested to play important roles in the flowering process. Our dataset may be used to identify priority target TF genes for further study.

[Phylogeny of the genus Arundinaria based on nucleotide sequences of nrDNA ITS region].

The sequences of nrDNA regions of 17 species and Phyllostachys edulis (outgroup) sampled, which are of represent and type species for different taxa in the genus Arundinaria,were analyzed by PCR amplification and direct DNA sequencing. The phylogenetic trees generated from maximum parsimony analysis showed that the sampled bamboos were naturally monophletic, appearing that these species of the bamboos belong to the genus Arundinaria. The internal transcribed spacers (ITS) data indicated that the species were divided into two branches, one including A. oleosa, A. hsienchuensis, A. chino, A. amara, A. yixingensis, A. amabilis, A. fortunei, and A. pygmaea, the other including A. graminea, A. fargesii, A. faberi, A. hupehensis, Pseudosasa japonica cv. Tsutsumiana, P. japonica, Brachystachyum densiflorum, A. oedogonata, and A. sulcata. The result also showed that there was close relationship between A. graminea and A. fargesii, Pseudosasa japonica cv. Tsutsumiana and P. japonica, A. sulcata, Brachystachyum densiflorum and A. oedogonata, (99%, 100% and 82% boot-strap support respectively). Moreover, there was very close relationship between A. amabilis and A. hsienchuensis, indicating that A. amabilis belongs to the genus Arundinaria. It was shown in the phylogenetic tree that A. pygmaea and A. fortunei had close relationship, and were a sister branch to the bamboos of Pleioblastus.

[Identification of markers linked to resistance locus of Marssonina leaf spot in poplars by bulked segregant analysis(BSA)].

DNA markers linked to resistance locus of Marssonina leaf spot in poplars were found by bulked segregant analysis(BSA). The bulks consisted of individual with a extreme phenotype taken from a population of 91 F1 clones,which is a progeny of Populus deltoides Bartr.cv."Lux"(I-69/55)(Resistance) and P.euramericana cv.I-45(Susceptible). Out of 114 RAPD primers, four markers showed polymorphisms between the resistance-bulk and the susceptible-bulk.By using selective genotype linkage analysis,OPAI17-1550 and OPAI13-900 were found linked to the resistance locus. The genetic distances between the two markers and the resistance locus were 29.9cM and 37.4cM,respectively.

[Analysis of the inter-species relationships on lycoris Amaryllidaceae) by use of RAPD].

The fingerprints of 13 species in genus Lycoris were generated by use of RAPD method. Forty-one primers were screened from 520 random primers, and a total of 350 DNA fragments were amplified ranging from 0.3-3.0 kb, 253 (72.3%) of which were polymorphic. The average number of DNA band produced by each primer was 6.2. Nei's similarity coefficients and genetic distances were calculated by use of the software of TFPGA version 1.3 and dendrogram of Lycoris was constructed using UPGMA. It is indicated that the 13 species of the genus Lycoris were divided into two groups, and five species of the genus including L. rosea, L. haywardii, L. straminea, L. sprengeri and L. radiata with monotype karyotypes (I-shaped) were clustered together respectively. The basic chromosome number was x = 11. The others which have two-types karyotypes (I-shaped and V-shaped) were clustered together respectively. They were L. houdyshelii, L. albiflora, L. chinensis, L. longituba, L. anhuiensis, L. squmigera, L. caldwellii and L. aurea. The closest relationship was between L. rosea and L. haywardii. L. radiata is highly divergent from L. aurea. The results were in consistence with that of the analysis of chromosome karyotype. The present paper discussed the problems whether L. rosea, L. haywardii and L. stramina originated as natural hybrids and taxonomy position of L. albiflora, L. straminea and L. houdyshelii based on the RAPD analysis.