Biology subjects

Datla, R.

Publications and source records attributed to Datla, R..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

TaWUS2D regulates the number of grains per spikelet by enhancing the number of fertile ovaries in Multi-Ovary Wheat

Innovative genetic improvements in the staple crop Triticum aestivum (bread wheat) are urgently needed to address the growing global food security crisis. Here, we report the map-based cloning of TaWUS2D, the gene responsible for the dominant multi-ovary phenotype in wheat. Multi-ovary lines are characterized by the development of three fertile ovaries per floret that results in three grains, as opposed to wildtype single ovary wheat. We used HiFi long-reads to assemble a 14.48 Gbp genome scaffold assembly in the background of mutli-ovary wheat line MOV. Using high-resolution genetic mapping, combined with additional genomic resources, we defined the Mov-1 locus to a 135 Kbp region containing two genes. Using five independent deletion mutants and eight TILLING mutants, we demonstrate that a functional WUSCHEL-like protein, TaWUS2D, is required for the multi-ovary phenotype. TaWUS2D is upregulated in the MOV genetic background. This research lays the groundwork for developing new approaches to improve wheat production potential and sustainability in the face of current and future global food challenges.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Identification of targetable vulnerabilities of PLK1-overexpressing cancers by synthetic dosage lethality

Tumor heterogeneity poses a significant challenge in combating treatment resistance. Despite Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) being universally overexpressed in cancers and contributing to chromosomal instability (CIN), direct PLK1 inhibition hasnt yielded clinical progress. To address this, we utilized the synthetic dosage lethality (SDL) approach, targeting PLK1s genetic interactions for selective killing of overexpressed tumor cells while mitigating heterogeneity-associated challenges. Employing computational methods, we conducted a genome-wide shRNA screen, identifying 105 SDL candidates. Further in vivo CRISPR screening in a breast cancer xenograft model and in vitro CRISPR analysis validated these candidates. Employing Perturb-seq revealed IGF2BP2/IMP2 as a key SDL hit eliminating PLK1-overexpressing cells. Suppression of IGF2BP2, genetically or pharmacologically, downregulated PLK1 and limited tumor growth. Our findings strongly propose targeting PLK1s genetic interactions as a promising therapeutic approach, holding broad implications across multiple cancers where PLK1 is overexpressed.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Conserved, divergent and heterochronic gene expression during Brachypodium and Arabidopsis embryo development

Embryogenesis, transforming the zygote into the mature embryo, represents a fundamental process for all flowering plants. Current knowledge of cell specification and differentiation during plant embryogenesis is largely based on studies of the dicot model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. However, the major crops are monocots and the transcriptional programs associated with the differentiation processes during embryogenesis in this clade were largely unknown. Here, we combined analysis of cell division patterns with development of a temporal transcriptomic resource during embryogenesis of the monocot model plant Brachypodium distachyon. We found that early divisions of the Brachypodium embryo were highly regular, while later stages were marked by less stereotypic patterns. Comparative transcriptomic analysis between Brachypodium and Arabidopsis revealed that the early and late embryogenesis shared a common transcriptional program, whereas mid-embryogenesis was divergent between species. Analysis of orthology groups revealed widespread heterochronic expression of potential developmental regulators between the species. Interestingly, Brachypodium genes tend to be expressed at earlier stages than Arabidopsis counterparts, which suggests that embryo patterning may occur early during Brachypodium embryogenesis. Detailed investigation of auxin-related genes shows that the capacity to synthesize, transport, and respond to auxin is established early in the embryo. However, while early PIN1 polarity could be confirmed, it is unclear if an active response is mounted. This study presents a resource for studying Brachypodium and grass embryogenesis, and shows that divergent angiosperms share a conserved genetic program that is marked by heterochronic gene expression. Key messageDevelopmental and transcriptomic analysis of Brachypodium embryogenesis, and comparison with Arabidopsis, identifies conserved and divergent phases of embryogenesis, and reveals widespread heterochrony of developmental gene expression.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2020

The Arabidopsis gene RGO mediates cytokinin responses and increases seed yield

A novel gene, At1g77960, from Arabidopsis thaliana was characterized. At1g77960 transcripts accumulate to very high levels in plants ectopically overexpressing the Golden2-like1 (GLK1) transcription factor and is designated as a Response to GLK1 Overexpression (RGO) gene. RGO encodes a protein with domains of tandem QH and QN repeats. Transcripts and promoter GUS reporter analyses indicated that RGO is expressed in roots, leaves, stems, floral and siliques tissues but not in seeds. Expression of the RGO:YFP fusion protein demonstrated that RGO is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum. MicroRNA mediated silencing of RGO resulted in severe reductions in vegetative and root growth, delayed flowering and reduced seed yield and viability, suggesting that RGO is essential for plant development. Conversely, ectopic overexpression of RGO resulted in enhanced vegetative growth including increased axillary bud formation and a 20% higher seed yield. Stable overexpression of RGO in Brassica napus also produced a similar increase in seed yield. Cytokinin (CK) response assays including root growth, green calli formation from excised hypocotyls and chlorophyll retention during dark-induced senescence suggest that one role of RGO is to mediate CK responses in plant development. These results suggest that RGO could be a target gene for increasing crop seed yields. One-sentence summaryRGO, a novel gene from Arabidopsis, is essential for plant development, mediates CK signaling and increases seed yield in Arabidopsis and rapeseed when overexpressed.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Maternal genome dominance in early plant embryogenesis

Previous studies have alternately supported and discounted the hypothesis that the maternal genome plays a predominant role in early embryogenesis in plants. We used 24 embryo defective (emb) mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana to test for maternal and paternal effects in early embryogenesis. 5 emb mutants had equal maternal and paternal effects, 5 showed maternal effects and weak paternal effects, and the remaining 14 emb mutants conditioned only maternal effects, demonstrating a more important role for the maternal allele for most of these EMB genes. To assess genome-wide maternal and paternal contributions to early embryos, we produced allele-specific transcriptomes from zygote to mature stage embryos derived from reciprocal crosses of Columbia-0 and Tsu-1, a hybrid combination we show to be a faithful proxy for isogenic Columbia-0. Parent-of-origin analysis of these transcriptomes revealed a reciprocal maternal bias in thousands of genes from the zygote to octant stage. This bias greatly diminished by the globular stage, and was absent at later stages. Comparison with egg cell transcriptomes revealed no correlation between transcript levels in the egg and maternal bias in pre-globular embryos, suggesting that the maternal bias observed in early embryos is due to preferential zygotic transcription of maternal alleles. Taken together, the functional and transcriptome data presented here support a predominant role for the maternal genome in early Arabidopsis embryogenesis. SignificanceIn both animals and plants, the zygote is produced by the union of the egg and sperm cells. In animals, it is well accepted that mRNAs and proteins from the egg direct the first steps of embryogenesis. Here we present genetic and genomic experiments that support a predominant role for the maternal genome in early embryogenesis of plants, as well. In contrast to animals, our data suggest that this maternal influence is primarily derived not from inheritance of egg transcripts, but from preferential transcription of maternal alleles in the zygote and early embryo. This transient maternal zygotic bias may reflect an ancestral condition to diminish paternal influence on early embryogenesis in outcrossing plants.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Target of Rapamycin: function in abiotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis and its involvement in a possible cross-talk with ribosomal proteins

The Target of Rapamycin (TOR) protein kinase reprograms cellular metabolism under various environmental stresses. The overexpression of TOR in Arabidopsis resulted in increased plant growth including yield and biomass when compared with the wild type under both controlled and limited water conditions. In the present investigation, we report that Arabidopsis plants overexpressing TOR exhibited enhanced tolerance to the osmotic and salt stress treatments. Further to determine the role of TOR in abiotic stresses other than water limiting conditions, which were observed earlier in rice, we have treated high and medium TOR expressing Arabidopsis plants, ATR-1.4.27 and ATR-3.7.32 respectively, with stress-inducing chemical agents such as Mannitol (100 mM), NaCl (150 mM), Sorbitol (200 mM) and PEG (7%). Both the lines, ATR-1.4.27 and ATR-3.7.32 exhibited enhanced tolerance to these stresses. These lines also had increased proline and total chlorophyll contents under stress conditions compared with their corresponding WT counterparts. The upregulation of several osmotic stress inducible genes in Arabidopsis transgenic lines indicated the role of TOR in modulating multi-stress tolerance. In the present investigation, we have also analyzed the transcriptional upregulation of ribosomal protein large and small subunit (RPL and RPS) genes in AtTOR overexpressing rice transgenic lines, TR-2.24 and TR-15.1 generated earlier (Bakshi et al., 2017a), which indicated that TOR also positively regulates the transcription of ribosomal proteins (RP) along with the synthesis of rRNAs. Also, the observations from phosphoproteomic analysis in SALK lines of various Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion mutants of ribosomal proteins showed differential regulation in phosphorylation of p70kDa ribosomal protein S6K1 and comparative analysis of phosphorylation sites for RSK (Ribosomal S6 Kinases) in RPL6, RPL18, RPL23, RPL24 and RPS28C proteins of Arabidopsis, Interestingly, rice showed similarity in their peptide sequences and Ser/Thr positions. These results suggest that the phosphorylation of S6K1 is controlled by loss/ inhibition of ribosomal protein function to switch on/ off the translational regulation for balanced growth and the pathways of both RPs and TOR are interlinked in a cyclic manner via phosphorylation of S6K1 as a modulatory step.

plant biology↗