Biology subjects

Peng, F. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Peng, F. L..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

The microtubular preprophase band recruits Myosin XI to the division site for plant cytokinesis

Plant growth is dependent on oriented cell divisions that employ the microtubular preprophase band (PPB) to position the cell plate. It has been intriguing how this transient cytoskeletal array imprints the spatial information to be read by the cytokinetic phragmoplast at later stages of mitotic cell division. In Arabidopsis thaliana, we discovered that the PPB recruited the Myosin XI motor MYA1 to the cortical division site where it joined microtubule-associated proteins and motors to form a ring of prominent cytoskeletal assemblies which received the expanding phragmoplast. This regulatory function of MYA1 in phragmoplast guidance is dependent on intact actin filaments. The discovery of these assemblies revealed the mechanism underlying how two dynamic cytoskeletal networks govern PPB-dependent division plane orientation during vegetative growth in flowering plants. ONE-SENTENCE SUMMARYMyosin XI joins microtubule-associated proteins and motors to form cortical assemblies to demarcate the cell division site.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2021

pop-1/TCF, ref-2/ZIC and T-box factors regulate the development of anterior cells in the C. elegans embryo

Patterning of the anterior-posterior axis is fundamental to animal development. The Wnt pathway plays a major role in this process by activating the expression of posterior genes in animals from worms to humans. This observation raises the question of whether the Wnt pathway or other regulators control the expression of the many anterior-expressed genes. We found that the expression of five anterior-specific genes in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos depends on the Wnt pathway effectors pop-1/TCF and sys-1/{beta}-catenin. We focused further on one of these anterior genes, ref-2/ZIC, a conserved transcription factor expressed in multiple anterior lineages. Live imaging of ref-2 mutant embryos identified defects in cell division timing and position in anterior lineages. Cis-regulatory dissection identified three ref-2 transcriptional enhancers, one of which is necessary and sufficient for anterior-specific expression. This enhancer is activated by the T-box transcription factors TBX-37 and TBX-38, and surprisingly, concatemerized TBX-37/38 binding sites are sufficient to drive anterior-biased expression alone, despite the broad expression of TBX-37 and TBX-38. Taken together, our results highlight the diverse mechanisms used to regulate anterior expression patterns in the embryo. Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=175 SRC="FIGDIR/small/472681v6_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (36K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@412c25org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@b944c2org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1511cedorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@420d4e_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

genetics↗

bioRxiv2018

Combination of Dynamic Turbidimetry and Tube Agglutination to Identify Procoagulant Genes by Transposon Mutagenesis in Staphylococcus aureus

Agglutinating function is responsible for an important pathogenic pattern in S.aureus. Although the mechanism of aggregation has been widely studied since S.aureus has been found, the agglutinating detailed process remains largely unknown. Here, we screened a transposon mutant library of Newman strain using tube agglutination and dynamic turbidmetry test and identified 8 genes whose insertion mutations lead to a decrease in plasma agglomerate ability. These partial candidate genes were further confirmed by gene knockout and gene complement as well as RT-PCR techniques. these insertion mutants, including NWMN_0166, NWMN_0674, NWMN_0756, NWMN_0952, NWMN_1282, NWMN_1228, NWMN_1345 and NWMN_1319, which mapped into coagulase, clumping factor A, oxidative phosphorylation, energy metabolism, protein synthesis and regulatory system, suggesting that these genes may play an important role in aggregating ability. The newly constructed knockout strains of coa, cydA and their complemented strains were also tested aggregating ability. The result of plasma agglutination was consistent between coa knockout strain and coa mutant strain, meanwhile, cydA complement strain didnt restored its function. Further studies need to confirm these results. These findings provide novel insights into the mechanisms of aggregating ability and offer new targets for development of drugs in S.aureus.

microbiology↗