Transcriptional analysis of theArabidopsisovule by massively parallel signature sequencing

The life cycle of flowering plants alternates between a predominant sporophytic (diploid) and an ephemeral gametophytic (haploid) generation that only occurs in reproductive organs. In Arabidopsisthaliana, the female gametophyte is deeply embedded within the ovule, complicating the study of the gene...

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Published in:Journal of experimental botany 2012-01, Vol.63 (10), p.3829-3842
Main Authors: Sánchez-León, Nidia, Arteaga-Vázquez, Mario, Alvarez-Mejía, César, Mendiola-Soto, Javier, Durán-Figueroa, Noé, Rodríguez-Leal, Daniel, Rodríguez-Arévalo, Isaac, García-Campayo, Vicenta, García-Aguilar, Marcelina, Olmedo-Monfil, Vianey, Arteaga-Sánchez, Mario, de la Vega, Octavio Martínez, Nobuta, Kan, Vemaraju, Kalyan, Meyers, Blake C., Vielle-Calzada, Jean-Philippe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Female animals
Gametogenesis
Gametophytes
Genes
Genomics
Libraries
Ovules
RESEARCH PAPER
RNA
Sequencing
Signatures
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Summary:The life cycle of flowering plants alternates between a predominant sporophytic (diploid) and an ephemeral gametophytic (haploid) generation that only occurs in reproductive organs. In Arabidopsisthaliana, the female gametophyte is deeply embedded within the ovule, complicating the study of the genetic and molecular interactions involved in the sporophytic to gametophytic transition. Massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS) was used to conduct a quantitative large-scale transcriptional analysis of the fully differentiatedArabidopsisovule prior to fertilization. The expression of 9775 genes was quantified in wild-type ovules, additionally detecting >2200 new transcripts mapping to antisense or intergenic regions. A quantitative comparison of global expression in wild-type andsporocyteless(spl) individuals resulted in 1301 genes showing 25-fold reduced or null activity in ovules lacking a female gametophyte, including those encoding 92 signalling proteins, 75 transcription factors, and 72 RNA-binding proteins not reported in previous studies based on microarray profiling. A combination of independent genetic and molecular strategies confirmed the differential expression of 28 of them, showing that they are either preferentially active in the female gametophyte, or dependent on the presence of a female gametophyte to be expressed in sporophytic cells of the ovule. Among 18 genes encoding pentatricopeptide-repeat proteins (PPRs) that show transcriptional activity in wild-type but notsplovules,CIHUATEOTL(At4g38150) is specifically expressed in the female gametophyte and necessary for female gametogenesis. These results expand the nature of the transcriptional universe present in the ovule ofArabidopsis, and offer a large-scale quantitative reference of global expression for future genomic and developmental studies.
ISSN:0022-0957
1460-2431