Controlled replication of 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' DNA in citrus leaf discs.

'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' is a fastidious bacterium and a putative agent of citrus greening disease (a.k.a.

Control of Carbon Assimilation and Partitioning by Jasmonate: An Accounting of Growth-Defense Tradeoffs.

Plant growth is often constrained by the limited availability of resources in the microenvironment. Despite the continuous threat of attack from insect herbivores and pathogens, investment in defense represents a lost opportunity to expand photosynthetic capacity in leaves and absorption of nutrients and water by roots. To mitigate the metabolic expenditure on defense, plants have evolved inducible defense strategies.

Temporal Dynamics of Growth and Photosynthesis Suppression in Response to Jasmonate Signaling.

Biotic stress constrains plant productivity in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Repression of photosynthetic genes is a conserved plant response to biotic attack, but how this transcriptional reprogramming is linked to changes in photosynthesis and the transition from growth- to defense-oriented metabolism is poorly understood. Here, we used a combination of noninvasive chlorophyll fluorescence imaging technology and RNA sequencing to determine the effect of the defense hormone jasmonate (JA) on the growth, photosynthetic efficiency, and gene expression of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) rosette leaves.

Reprogramming of plants during systemic acquired resistance.

Genome-wide microarray analyses revealed that during biological activation of systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in Arabidopsis, the transcript levels of several hundred plant genes were consistently up- (SAR(+) genes) or down-regulated (SAR(-) genes) in systemic, non-inoculated leaf tissue. This transcriptional reprogramming fully depended on the SAR regulator FLAVIN-DEPENDENT MONOOXYGENASE1 (FMO1). Functional gene categorization showed that genes associated with salicylic acid (SA)-associated defenses, signal transduction, transport, and the secretory machinery are overrepresented in the group of SAR(+) genes, and that the group of SAR(-) genes is enriched in genes activated via the jasmonate (JA)/ethylene (ET)-defense pathway, as well as in genes associated with cell wall remodeling and biosynthesis of constitutively produced secondary metabolites.

Methyl salicylate production and jasmonate signaling are not essential for systemic acquired resistance in Arabidopsis.

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) develops in response to local microbial leaf inoculation and renders the whole plant more resistant to subsequent pathogen infection. Accumulation of salicylic acid (SA) in noninfected plant parts is required for SAR, and methyl salicylate (MeSA) and jasmonate (JA) are proposed to have critical roles during SAR long-distance signaling from inoculated to distant leaves. Here, we address the significance of MeSA and JA during SAR development in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Pseudomonas syringae elicits emission of the terpenoid (E,E)-4,8,12-trimethyl-1,3,7,11-tridecatetraene in Arabidopsis leaves via jasmonate signaling and expression of the terpene synthase TPS4.

Volatile, low-molecular weight terpenoids have been implicated in plant defenses, but their direct role in resistance against microbial pathogens is not clearly defined. We have examined a possible role of terpenoid metabolism in the induced defense of Arabidopsis thaliana plants against leaf infection with the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. Inoculation of plants with virulent or avirulent P.

Molecular analysis of the SMN1 and NAIP genes in Iranian patients with spinal muscular atrophy.

Introduction: Childhood-onset proximal spinal muscular atrophies (SMAs) are an autosomal recessive, clinically heterogeneous group of neuropathies characterised by the selective degeneration of anterior horn cells. SMA has an estimated incidence of 1 in 10,000 live births. The causative genes are survival motor neuron (SMN) gene and neuronal apoptosis inhibitory protein (NAIP) gene.