Contents
Original Papers
Differences in plant growth and leaf sesamin content of the lignan-rich sesame variety ‘Gomazou’ undercontinuous light of different wavelengths
Naoki Hata, Yoshinori Hayashi, Eiichiro Ono, Honoo Satake, Akio Kobayashi, Toshiya Muranaka, Atsushi Okazawa. . . . . . . 1[PDF]
Growth and leaf sesamin content of sesame ‘Gomazou’ grown under continuous white fluorescent and red or blue LED light were investigated. Under red LED light, plants developed pale-green, epinastic leaves. Under blue LED light, plants exhibited interveinal necrosis in the leaf blades and excessive stem elongation occurred. Leaf yields were lower in plants grown under red and blue LED lights relative to those under white fluorescent light. Blue LED light increased leaf sesamin content by 2.0 and 4.5 times compared with white fluorescent and red LED lights, respectively.
Overexpression of a rice long-chain base kinase gene OsLCBK1 in tobacco improves oxidative stress tolerance
Huijuan Zhang, Lei Huang, Xiaohui Li, Zhigang Ouyang, Yongmei Yu, Dayong Li, Fengming Song. . . . . . . 9[PDF]
In the present study, we performed a functional analysis in transgenic tobacco to explore the possible involvement of a rice long-chain bases kinase gene OsLCBK1 in abiotic stress tolerance. Root elongation of the transgenic tobacco seedlings with constitutive overexpression of OsLCBK1 was less sensitive to exogenous abscisic acid as compared with the vector-transformed seedlings. The OsLCBK1-overexpressing transgenic tobacco plants showed increased tolerance against oxidative stress after treatment with methyl viologen or H2O2, and up-regulated expression of oxidative stress-related genes. However, the OsLCBK1-overexpressing transgenic tobacco plants showed similar phenotype as vector-transformed plants in response to salt stress and had no change in expression of salt stress-related genes. Our results suggest that OsLCBK1, an enzyme involved in synthesis of LCBPs, may be involved in ABA response and has functions in regulation of oxidative stress tolerance in plants.
Effects of 9,10-ketol-octadecadienoic acid (KODA) application on single and marginal short-day induction of flowering in Pharbitis nil cv. Violet
Michiyuki Ono, Mayuko Kataoka, Mineyuki Yokoyama, Ohji Ifuku, Masayuki Ohta, Shoko Arai, Hiroshi Kamada, Kimiyo Sage-Ono. . . . . . . 17[PDF]
Pharbitis nil cv. Violet is induced to flower by a single short-day treatment, and endogenous levels of KODA increased during the night. However, the effects of exogenously applied KODA had not been observed. We sprayed KODA solution on 7-day-old seedlings before and after a marginal short-day induction, and found the seedlings bore approximately 4 flower buds, a one-bud increase compared with control seedlings. Results of RT-PCR of genes related to flowering also suggest that KODA acts as a weak enhancer of flower bud formation.
Characterization of lignocellulose of Erianthus arundinaceus in relation to enzymatic saccharification efficiency
Masaomi Yamamura, Soichiro Noda, Takefumi Hattori, Amiu Shino, Jun Kikuchi, Keiji Takabe, Shuichiro Tagane, Mitsuru Gau, Naohiro Uwatoko, Masahiro Mii, Shiro Suzuki, Daisuke Shibata, Toshiaki Umezawa. . . . . . . 25[PDF]
Characteristics of lignocellulose and enzymatic saccharification efficiencies in the inner and outer parts of internode, leaf blade and sheath of Erianthus arundinaceus were analyzed. The outer part of the internode had the highest lignin content, and the lignin was rich in syringyl unit in comparison with other organs. Furthermore, the inner part of the internode did not show a negative correlation between lignin contents and enzymatic saccharification efficiencies, suggesting that enzymatic saccharification efficiency of inner part was reduced by not only lignin but also other factors.
Overexpression of a tobacco Dof transcription factor BBF1 stimulates the transcription of the tobacco mosaic virus resistance gene N and defense-related responses including ROS production
Mayumi Takano, Md. Ashraful Haque, Shota Odaira, Keiko Nakata, Nobumitsu Sasaki, Hiroshi Nyunoya. . . . . . . 37[PDF]
A full-length recombinant BBF1 was shown to bind in vitro to DNA with a Dof binding core motif. Transient overexpression of BBF1 in tobacco without elicitor expression did not induce HR but resulted in the activation of the N gene and some defense-related gene expression along with enhanced ROS generation. Localization of fluorescently labeled BBF1 in the nucleus was also confirmed. Based on these results, possible involvement of Dof transcription factors in defense responses was discussed.
Rice monoculm mutation moc2, which inhibits outgrowth of the second tillers, is ascribed to lack of a fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase
Takemasa Koumoto, Hiroaki Shimada, Hiroaki Kusano, Kao-Chih She, Masao Iwamoto, Makoto Takano. . . . . . . 47[PDF]
A rice monoculm mutation moc2 inhibits outgrowth of the second tillers. Map-based cloning determined the gene responsible for this mutation as a gene for a fructose-1,6-bisphosphotase (FBP1). The moc2 mutation was restored by introduction of FPB1 gene. Defective fructose-1,6-bisphosphotase activity is anticipated to lead a shortage of sucrose supply, which may be an important cue to outgrow tiller buds.
A pentatricopeptide repeat gene of rice is required for splicing of chloroplast transcripts and RNA editing of ndhA
Takayuki Asano, Akio Miyao, Hirohiko Hirochika, Shoshi Kikuchi, Koh-ichi Kadowaki. . . . . . . 57[PDF]
The pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) family has been reported to be involved in many post-transcriptional processes, including RNA editing and RNA splicing in both chloroplasts and mitochondria. Loss-of-function lines of rice OsPPR4 showed an albino phenotype with early seedling lethality. Disruption of OsPPR4 expression led to a strong defect in the splicing of several chloroplast introns. These results suggest that OsPPR4 is an essential factor for greening in plants and plays a non-redundant role in post-transcriptional regulation of chloroplast genes.
Efficient plastid transformation in tobacco using small gold particles (0.07–0.3μm)
Ayako Okuzaki, Shoko Kida, Junpei Watanabe, Izumi Hirasawa, Yutaka Tabei. . . . . . . 65[PDF]
Plastid transformation has been mainly performed by particle bombardment using 0.6-μm gold particles. To improve plastid transformation efficiency, we evaluated the availability of gold particles (0.07, 0.08, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3μm) that were smaller than those used in previous studies. Plastid transformants of tobacco were obtained with sufficient efficiency using all the tested small gold particles. It is suggested that choosing appropriate size of small gold particles will improve plastid transformation in many plant species.
Environmental biosafety assessment on transgenic Eucalyptus globulus harboring the choline oxidase (codA) gene in semi-confined condition
Xiang Yu, Akira Kikuchi, Etsuko Matsunaga, Teruhisa Shimada, Kazuo N. Watanabe. . . . . . . 73[PDF]
Environmental biosafety assessments were carried out to three lines of transgenic Eucalyptus globulus with choline oxidase gene. The allelopathy bioassay and the survey on soil microbes showed no significant difference between the transformants and non-transformants with respect to the impact on the surrounding vegetation and the rhizosphere microbe community. Based on those results, approval for Type I field trial of these transgenic trees was obtained.
Notes
High-level fructooligosaccharide production in transgenic tobacco plants
Daisuke Fukutomi, Kyouji Yoshinaka, Sachiko Kawamoto, Takashi Mitsunari, Shinya Kajita, Shinya Kawai. . . . . . . 77[PDF]
β-fructofuranosidase (FFase) can transfer fructosyl residues from one sucrose to another for the synthesis of glucose and fructooligosaccharides. The FFase gene of Aspergillus niger, under the control of the sporamin gene promoter from sweet potato, was introduced into tobacco plants. Soluble extracts from the transgenic plants contained considerable amounts of fructooligosaccharides. The conversion of sucrose into fructooligosaccharides did not affect plant growth or development.
Proteome analysis of infection-specific proteins from Japanese birch (Betula platyphylla var. japonica) plantlet No.8 infected with Inonotus obliquus strain IO-U1
Yuya Takashima, Futoshi Ishiguri, Kazuya Iizuka, Nobuo Yoshizawa, Shinso Yokota. . . . . . . 83[PDF]
This study aimed to identify the proteins produced specifically in Betula platyphylla var. japonica plantlet No.8 by infection with Inonotus obliquus strain IO-U1. Sterile Japanese birch plantlets were infected with the fungus, and the protein samples obtained at 2 days post-infection. By the proteome analysis of the samples, two heat shock proteins (Hsp70 and Hsp60) were identified as infection-specific proteins. Hsp70 and Hsp60 may cooperate to refold the denatured proteins by the infection of I. obliquus strain IO-U1 in the birch plantlets.
Identification of Arabidopsis accession with resistance to Botrytis cinerea by natural variation analysis, and characterization of the resistance response
Mari Narusaka, Nan Yao, Atsuko Iuchi, Satoshi Iuchi, Tomonori Shiraishi, Yoshihiro Narusaka. . . . . . . 89[PDF]
Botrytis cinerea is a ubiquitous necrotrophic fungal pathogen that infects over 200 different plant species. We have analyzed 17 Arabidopsis ecotypes for natural variations in their susceptibility to B. cinerea, and determined that Arabidopsis ecotype Ler is resistant to B. cinerea isolates. In this study, we discuss the natural variations in the symptoms observed among various ecotypes upon inoculation with B. cinerea. In addition, salicylic acid plays only a minor role in preventing systemic infection with B. cinerea.