Contents
Invited Review
Strigolactone, a key regulator of nutrient allocation in plants
Mikihisa Umehara. . . . . . . 429 [PDF]
Strigolactones (SLs) stimulate seed germination of root-parasitic plants and hyphal-branching of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Also SLs inhibit shoot branching. SLs have been found in a Plant Biotechnolnumber of plant species, and increase in response to nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency. This review paper focuses on the physiological roles of SLs as a key regulator of nutrient allocation in plants.
Original Papers
Characterization and transgenic study of CONSTANS-LIKE8 (COL8) gene in Arabidopsis thaliana: expression of 35S:COL8 delays flowering under long-day conditions
Tomoyuki Takase, Yoshihiro Kakikubo, Akari Nakasone, Yuuki Nishiyama,Masahiro Yasuhara, Yoko Tokioka-Ono, Tomohiro Kiyosue. . . . . . . 439 [PDF]
[Supplement1] [Supplement2]We characterized the gene for one of the COL protein family members, COL8. The COL8 mRNA accumulated in seeds, leaves, flowers, and siliques. COL8-overexpressing plants showed a late-flowering phenotype under long-day conditions, and FT mRNA accumulation was clearly reduced in the COL8-overexpressing plants compared with that in the wild-type.
A novel root inducer, 4-(3-indolyl)-4-butanolide (IBL), is formed at an early stage in Bupleurum falcatum L. root cultures containing indole-3-butyric acid (IBA)
Mineyuki Yokoyama, Shoko Yamaguchi, Madoka Ayano, Hideki Goda, Toshii Iida, Ken Kusakari, Kentaro Nakamura, Shigeo Yoshida, Toshio Yanaki. . . . . . . 447 [PDF]
We found a novel indolebutyric acid derivative, 4-(3-indolyl)butanolide (IBL), produced at an early stage during Bupleurum falcatum L. root culturing. Synthetic IBL induced rooting in cultured roots of B. falcatum and induced rooting in cuttings of Vigna radiate, but the root-inducing characteristics of IBA and IBL were different: IBL did not cause cell expansion, a typical response to auxin.
An investigation of differences in fruit yield and components contributing to increased fruit yield in Japanese and Dutch tomato cultivars
Takeshi Saito, Yong-Gen Yin, Mizuki Matsuoka, Shinya Watanabe, Chiaki Matsukura, Naoya Fukuda. . . . . . . 455 [PDF]
Differences between the Japanese common cultivar and the Dutch high-yielding cultivar in fruit yield and components contributing to an increase in fruit yield were investigated. The higher fruit yield of Dutch cultivar compared with that of Japanese cultivar was caused by a higher photosynthetic rate, increased solar radiation, and the large sink size due to numerous fruits, but not by sucrose loading activity.
MAP3Kδ4, an Arabidopsis Raf-like MAP3K, regulates plant growth and shoot branching
Daisuke Sasayama, Daisuke Matsuoka, Mariko Oka, Nariko Shitamichi, Tomoyuki Furuya, Tetsushi Azuma, Kazuyuki Itoh, Takashi Nanmori. . . . . . . 463 [PDF]
[Supplement]The transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing MAP3Kδ4 showed vigorous growth and increased seed weight. In contrast, the transgenic plants overexpressing its kinase-negative mutant, MAP3Kδ4KN, showed a highly branched phenotype. MAP3Kδ4 transcripts were upregulated by auxin treatment, suggesting that MAP3Kδ4 functions in an auxin-dependent manner.
Survey of the genetic information carried in the genome of Eucalyptus camaldulensis
Hideki Hirakawa, Yasukazu Nakamura, Takakazu Kaneko, Sachiko Isobe, Hiroe Sakai, Tomohiko Kato, Takashi Hibino, Shigemi Sasamoto, Akiko Watanabe, Manabu Yamada, Shinobu Nakayama, Tsunakazu Fujishiro, Yoshie Kishida, Mitsuyo Kohara, Satoshi Tabata, Shusei Sato. . . . . . . 471 [PDF]
[Supplement]The genetic information in the genome of Eucalyptus camaldulensis was investigated by sequencing the genome and the cDNA using a combination of the conventional Sanger method and next-generation sequencing methods. A total of 77,121 protein-encoding genes have been deduced in the obtained 656 Mbp non-redundant genomic sequences. The accumulated information in the E. camaldulensis genome will enhance both fundamental and applied research in Eucalyptus and related plants.
Short Communication
In vivo bioluminescence monitoring of defense gene expression in response to treatment with yeast cell wall extract
Taichi Minami, Tsuneyuki Tanaka, Satoko Takasaki, Kimito Kawamura, Kazuyuki Hiratsuka. . . . . . . 481 [PDF]
Previous studies indicated that Housaku Monogatari (HM), a plant activator made from yeast cell wall extract, is effective for control of various plant diseases. To investigate the effect of HM we tested the expression of defense gene induction by reporter gene assays in planta and demonstrated that SAR as well as ISR pathways were activated at different times.
Note
Prolonged exposure to atmospheric nitrogen dioxide increases fruit yield of tomato plants
Misa Takahashi, Atsushi Sakamoto, Hiroshi Ezura, Hiromichi Morikawa. . . . . . . 485 [PDF]
Prolonged exposure of plants to a sufficient level of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) activates the uptake and metabolism of nutrients that fuel plant growth and development, a phenomenon termed the plant vitalization effect of NO2. In this study, we showed that exposure of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Micro-Tom) plants to NO2 increased fruit yield by approximately 40%. This increase was accompanied by acceleration of flowering time by 3.2 days and an increase in flower number per plant of up to 60%
Blue light enhances the accumulation of eicosapentaenoic acid in a liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha L.
Miho Takemura, Yukio Okimura, Haruka Kida, Tatsuro Hamada, Kanji Ohyama. . . . . . . 489 [PDF]
[Supplement]Liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha L. synthesizes eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which is not produced by higher plants. As a result of analysis of the effects of light quality and intensity on EPA accumulation, illumination with blue light for a short period efficiently improved the accumulation of EPA without great deficit of growth. At a higher intensity of white light, the relative content of EPA increased.
Endogenous promoter, 5’-UTR and transcriptional terminator enhance transient gene expression in a liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha L.
Shingo Nagaya, Miho Takemura, Kanji Ohyama. . . . . . . 493 [PDF]
Using the transient gene expression assay of a liverwort, we found that the endogenous MpEF1α promoter and MpFT1 terminator enhanced transient gene expression, approximately 75 and 3 times, respectively, compared to the CaMV35S promoter and the NOS terminator. Furthermore, the endogenous 5’-UTR of the MpUDP yielded an enhancement of 15 times greater than in cases without MpUDP 5’-UTR.
The promoter from tomato sucrose synthase gene TOMSSF drives stamen-specific gene expression in Chrysanthemum
Koji Tanase, Ryutaro Aida, Akio Ohyama, Takashi Onozaki. . . . . . . 497 [PDF]
Stamen-specific promoters are important in terms of the genetic engineering of male-sterile plants. The 5’ upstream promoter regions (TOMSSF promoter) encoding a fruit type sucrose synthase in tomato were fused to the beta-glucuronidase gene and the chimeric construct was introduced to Chrysanthemum plant. The TOMSSF promoter showed high expression in the stamen, suggesting that the promoter is useful as a high stamen-specific promoter in Chrysanthemum.
Gene Note
Effects of the plant growth regulators on expression of MdTFL1 promoter fused ß-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene in apple (Malus spp.) tissues in vitro
Naozumi Mimida, Hidemi Oshino, Jijun Li, Chunfen Zhang, Kaori Takagishi, Yuki Moriya-Tanaka, Hiroshi Iwanami, Chikako Honda, Akira Suzuki, Sadao Komori, Masato Wada. . . . . . . 503 [PDF]
We monitored expression of MdTFL1 (a repressor of flowering) pro::GUS on in vitro apple plant, to determine whether cytokinin and auxin affect its expression. Expression of MdTFL1pro::GUS was induced strongly in the whole of newly generated young shoots of cytokinin-treated plant and in the shoot apices of cytokinin+auxin-treated plant.
Techinical Note
Expression of foreign aquaporin genes in lily pollen protoplasts
Keiji Yamada, Ken-ichi Yanada, Atsushi Matsuzawa, Ichiro Tanaka, Hajime Shiota. . . . . . . 509 [PDF]
[Supplement]Large protoplasts with uniform diameters were isolated from lily (Lilium longiflorum) pollen. Ectopically expressed Arabidopsis PIP2 induced higher water-flux activity in lily pollen protoplasts. The lily pollen protoplast is proposed as a simple and useful experimental system to analyze the function of plant aquaporins.
A versatile method to prevent transcriptional gene silencing in Arabidopsis thaliana
Tomonao Matsushita. . . . . . . 515 [PDF]
Transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) is a phenomenon by which transgenes that share homology in their promoter regions are inactivated. Here, I report a versatile method that completely prevents TGS in transgenic Arabidopsis. This technique is potentially applicable to various plant species and is expected to be used in diverse situations, from basic to applied research fields.