Biology subjects

Coates, J. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Coates, J. C..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

MYB93 regulates responses to environmental sulphur in Arabidopsis and tomato.

Sulphur (S) is an important nutrient that has wide-ranging effects on plant health and metabolism. Several classes of transcription factor respond to S deprivation, including R2R3-MYBs. In Arabidopsis, the AtMYB93 transcription factor-encoding gene is upregulated by S deprivation. AtMYB93 has a non-redundant function in lateral root development and redundant functions in suberin biosynthesis alongside related MYB transcription factors, but AtMYB93s role in S signalling, and how it relates to lateral root development, is unknown. We show that the transcriptome of Atmyb93 mutant roots implicates AtMYB93 in responses to S, including changes in S transport and metabolism, and flavonoid- and carbohydrate metabolism. Elemental analysis demonstrates that the Atmyb93 mutant has elevated shoot S levels while tomato SlMYB93-overexpressing plants have reduced shoot S. We uncover a stimulatory effect of S deprivation on adventitious root development. However, Atmyb93 mutants do not show significant changes in sensitivity to S with respect to lateral-or adventitious root development, most likely due to some functional redundancy. Moreover, AtMYB93 promoter activity is not spatially regulated by S deprivation. Taken together, our data suggest that AtMYB93 has a role in mediating root responses to S in alongside other root transcription factors.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Wheat NAC transcription factor NAC5-1 is a positive regulator of senescence

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important source of both calories and protein in global diets, but there is a trade-off between grain yield and protein content. The timing of leaf senescence could mediate this trade-off as it is associated with both decline in photosynthesis and nitrogen remobilisation from leaves to grain. NAC transcription factors play key roles in regulating senescence timing. In rice, OsNAC5 expression is correlated with earlier senescence, but the role of the wheat ortholog in senescence had not been characterised. We verified that NAC5-1 is the ortholog of OsNAC5 and that it is expressed in senescing flag leaves in wheat. To characterise NAC5-1, we combined missense mutations in NAC5-A1 and NAC5-B1 from a TILLING mutant population and overexpressed NAC5-A1 in wheat. Mutation in NAC5-1 was associated with delayed onset of flag leaf senescence, while overexpression of NAC5-A1 was associated with slightly earlier onset of leaf senescence. DAP-seq was performed to locate transcription factor binding sites of NAC5-1. Analysis of DAP-seq and comparison with other studies identified putative downstream target genes of NAC5-1 which could be associated with senescence. This work showed that NAC5-1 is a positive transcriptional regulator of leaf senescence in wheat. Further research is needed to test the effect of NAC5-1 on yield and protein content in field trials, to assess the potential to exploit this senescence regulator to develop high-yielding wheat while maintaining grain protein content.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2022

DELLA proteins regulate spore germination and reproductive development in Physcomitrium patens.

O_LIProteins of the DELLA family integrate environmental signals to regulate growth and development throughout the plant kingdom. Plants expressing non-degradable DELLA proteins underpinned the development of high-yielding Green Revolution dwarf crop varieties in the 1960s. In vascular plants, DELLAs are regulated by gibberellins, diterpenoid plant hormones. How DELLA protein function has changed during land plant evolution is not fully understood. C_LIO_LIWe have examined the function and interactions of DELLA proteins in the moss Physcomitrium (Physcomitrella) patens, in the sister group of vascular plants (Bryophytes). C_LIO_LIPpDELLAs do not undergo the same regulation as flowering plant DELLAs. PpDELLAs are not degraded by diterpenes, do not interact with GID1 gibberellin receptor proteins and do not participate in responses to abiotic stress. PpDELLAs do share a function with vascular plant DELLAs during reproductive development. PpDELLAs also regulate spore germination. PpDELLAs interact with moss-specific photoreceptors although a function for PpDELLAs in light responses was not detected. PpDELLAs likely act as hubs for transcriptional regulation similarly to their homologues across the plant kingdom. C_LIO_LITaken together, these data demonstrate that PpDELLA proteins share some biological functions with DELLAs in flowering plants, but other DELLA functions and regulation evolved independently in both plant lineages. C_LI

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Cross-kingdom signalling regulates spore germination in the moss Physcomitrella patens

Plants live in close association with microorganisms that can have beneficial or detrimental effects. The activity of bacteria in association with flowering plants has been extensively analysed. Bacteria use quorum-sensing as a way of monitoring their population density and interacting with their environment. A key group of quorum sensing molecules in Gram-negative bacteria are the N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs), which are known to affect the growth and development of both flowering plants, including crops, and marine algae. Thus, AHLs have potentially important roles in agriculture and aquaculture. Nothing is known about the effects of AHLs on the earliest-diverging land plants, thus the evolution of AHL-mediated bacterial-plant- and algal interactions is unknown. In this paper, we show that AHLs can affect spore germination in a representative of the earliest plants on land, the Bryophyte moss Physcomitrella patens. Furthermore, we demonstrate that sporophytes of wild isolates of Physcomitrella patens are associated with AHL-producing bacteria.

plant biology↗