Transcriptional and Morpho-Physiological Responses of Marchantia polymorpha upon Phosphate Starvation

10 de noviembre de 2020

Te invitamos a leer el artículo: “Transcriptional and Morpho-Physiological Responses of Marchantia polymorpha upon Phosphate Starvation” publicado en MDPI, a cargo del profesor investigador Dr. Luis Herrera-Estrella, Dr. Alfredo Cruz-Ramírez  y su equipo de trabajo de la UGA-Langebio.

Autores: Félix Rico-Reséndiz¹, Sergio Alan Cervantes-Pérez², Annie Espinal-Centeno¹, Melissa Dipp-Álvarez¹, Araceli Oropeza-Aburto², Enrique Hurtado-Bautista³, Andrés Cruz-Hernández⁴, John L. Bowman⁵, Kimitsune Ishizaki⁶, Mario A. Arteaga-Vázquez⁷, Luis Herrera-Estrella^2,8 and Alfredo Cruz-Ramírez¹.

1. Molecular and Developmental Complexity Group, Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Irapuato 36824, Guanajuato, Mexico
2. Plant Physiology and Metabolic Engineering Group, Unidad de Genómica Avanzada, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Irapuato 36824, Guanajuato, Mexico
3. Molecular Biology and Microbial Ecology, Unidad Irapuato, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Irapuato 36824, Guanajuato, Mexico
4. Escuela de Agronomía, Universidad de La Salle Bajío, León 37160, Guanajuato, Mexico
5. School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia
6. Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan
7. Group of Epigenetics and Developmental Biology, Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada (INBIOTECA), Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa 91640, Mexico
8. Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA

Felicitamos al estudiantado y profesorado que contribuyeron en esta investigación por su arduo trabajo.

Abstract: Phosphate (Pi) is a pivotal nutrient that constraints plant development and productivity in natural ecosystems. Land colonization by plants, more than 470 million years ago, evolved adaptive mechanisms to conquer Pi-scarce environments. However, little is known about the molecular basis underlying such adaptations at early branches of plant phylogeny. To shed light on how early divergent plants respond to Pi limitation, we analyzed the morpho-physiological and transcriptional dynamics of Marchantia polymorpha upon Pi starvation. Our phylogenomic analysis highlights some gene networks present since the Chlorophytes and others established in the Streptophytes (e.g., PHR1–SPX1 and STOP1–ALMT1, respectively). At the morpho-physiological level, the response is characterized by the induction of phosphatase activity, media acidification, accumulation of auronidins, reduction of internal Pi concentration, and developmental modifications of rhizoids. The transcriptional response involves the induction of MpPHR1, Pi transporters, lipid turnover enzymes, and MpMYB14, which is an essential transcription factor for auronidins biosynthesis. MpSTOP2 up-regulation correlates with expression changes in genes related to organic acid biosynthesis and transport, suggesting a preference for citrate exudation. An analysis of MpPHR1 binding sequences (P1BS) shows an enrichment of this cis regulatory element in differentially expressed genes. Our study unravels the strategies, at diverse levels of organization, exerted by M. polymorpha to cope with low Pi availability.

Keywords: land plant evolution; Marchantia polymorpha; Pi starvation and RNA-seq.