| Description: | Aim To identify genes specifically involved in the storage reserve mobilisation programme in Arabidopsis. Background During germination and early post-germinative growth in Arabidopsis seed storage reserves are broken down to provide energy and nutrients for the developing seedling. Genes encoding enzymes involved in the mobilisation of both storage lipid and protein are expressed strongly 1-2 days following imbibition and then fall to very low levels. The regulatory mechanisms controlling expression of these genes are poorly understood. Although germination and reserve mobilisation occur at the same time we have obtained evidence using Abscisic Acid (ABA) treated seeds that the events are regulated by two separate programmes. Arabidopsis seeds treated with 10mM ABA still express genes involved in the mobilisation of storage reserves and break down storage lipid even though germination is blocked. ABA treated seeds therefore provide a powerful system for the identification of genes involved specifically in the reserve mobilisation programme. Microarray analysis will allow us to gain a global undertanding of the processes involved in storage reserve mobilisation and should also result in the identification of regulatory genes involved in this process. Experimental Set-up All seeds are Col-4 imbibed on plates containing 1/2 MS media for 4 days in the dark. All plant material will be grown in controlled environment growth rooms under defined light and temperature regimes. There are two parts to the experimental design. 1. Time course to identify genes involved in both seed storage reserve and germination programmes Comparison of mRNAs from seeds immediately after imbibition (storage reserve and germination programme genes being induced) with 2 day (storage reserve genes maximally expressed) and 7 day old seedlings (storage reserve and germination programme genes off, photoautotrophic genes on) will allow the identification of genes exclusively presentor present at enhanced levels at the peak of reserve mobilisation (day 2). 2. ABA treatment experiment to identify genes involved in the storage reserve programme ABA treatment blocks germination but does not block reserve mobilisation. Microarray analysis will be performed on RNA isolated from 2 day old seed imbibed in the presence of 10mM ABA. Comparison of the results of this experiment with those of the time course experiment should allow us to distinguish between genes involved in the two major programmes that we have uncovered. |
NASCArrays Information at The BAR
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