More Like this

1. The Environmental Dependence of the X _CO Conversion Factor

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abbdab  

   Gong, Munan; Ostriker, Eve C.; Kim, Chang-Goo; Kim, Jeong-Gyu (November 2020, The Astrophysical Journal)
2. The stem cell niche transcription factor ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR 115 participates in aluminum‐induced terminal differentiation in Arabidopsis roots

   https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15032  

   Larsen, Paul B; He, Shiyang; Meyer, Taylor J; Szurman‐Zubrzycka, Miriam; Alfs, Carolin; Kwasniewska, Jolanta; Pervis, Alexandra; Gajecka, Monika; Veerabahu, Aishwarya; Beaulieu, Taylor R; et al (July 2024, Plant, Cell & Environment)

   Abstract Aluminum‐dependent stoppage of root growth requires the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway including the p53‐like transcription factor SUPPRESSOR OF GAMMA RADIATION 1 (SOG1), which promotes terminal differentiation of the root tip in response to Al dependent cell death. Transcriptomic analyses identified Al‐induced SOG1‐regulated targets as candidate mediators of this growth arrest. Analysis of these factors either as loss‐of‐function mutants or by overexpression in theals3‐1background shows ERF115, which is a key transcription factor that in other scenarios is rate‐limiting for damaged stem cell replenishment, instead participates in transition from an actively growing root to one that has terminally differentiated in response to Al toxicity. This is supported by a loss‐of‐functionerf115mutant raising the threshold of Al required to promote terminal differentiation of Al hypersensitiveals3‐1. Consistent with its key role in stoppage of root growth, a putativeERF115barley ortholog is also upregulated following Al exposure, suggesting a conserved role for this ATR‐dependent pathway in Al response. In contrast to other DNA damage agents, these results show that ERF115 and likely related family members are important determinants of terminal differentiation of the root tip following Al exposure and central outputs of the SOG1‐mediated pathway in Al response. 

   more » « less
3. A GATA factor radiation in Caenorhabditis rewired the endoderm specification network

   https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.20.492851  

   Darragh, Antonia C; Rifkin, Scott A (May 2022, bioRxiv)

   Abstract Although similar developmental regulatory networks can produce diverse phenotypes, different networks can also produce the same phenotype. In theory, as long as development can produce an acceptable end phenotype, the details of the process could be shielded from selection, leading to the possibility of developmental system drift, where the developmental mechanisms underlying a stable phenotype continue to evolve. Many examples exist of divergent developmental genetics underlying conserved traits. However, studies that elucidate how these differences arose and how other features of development accommodated them are rarer. InCaenorhabditis elegans, six GATA-type transcription factors (GATA factors) comprise the zygotic part of the endoderm specification network. Here we show that the core of this network - five of the genes - originated within the genus during a brief but explosive radiation of this gene family and that at least three of them evolved from a single ancestral gene with at least two different spatio-temporal expression patterns. Based on analyses of their evolutionary history, gene structure, expression, and sequence, we explain how these GATA factors were integrated into this network. Our results show how gene duplication fueled the developmental system drift of the endoderm network in a phylogenetically brief period in developmentally canalized worms. 

   more » « less
4. The impacts of cytoplasmic incompatibility factor ( cifA and cifB ) genetic variation on phenotypes

   https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyaa007  

   Shropshire, J Dylan; Rosenberg, Rachel; Bordenstein, Seth R (January 2021, Genetics)

   Presgraves, D (Ed.)

   Abstract Wolbachia are maternally transmitted, intracellular bacteria that can often selfishly spread through arthropod populations via cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). CI manifests as embryonic death when males expressing prophage WO genes cifA and cifB mate with uninfected females or females harboring an incompatible Wolbachia strain. Females with a compatible cifA-expressing strain rescue CI. Thus, cif-mediated CI confers a relative fitness advantage to females transmitting Wolbachia. However, whether cif sequence variation underpins incompatibilities between Wolbachia strains and variation in CI penetrance remains unknown. Here, we engineer Drosophila melanogaster to transgenically express cognate and non-cognate cif homologs and assess their CI and rescue capability. Cognate expression revealed that cifA;B native to D. melanogaster causes strong CI, and cognate cifA;B homologs from two other Drosophila-associated Wolbachia cause weak transgenic CI, including the first demonstration of phylogenetic type 2 cifA;B CI. Intriguingly, non-cognate expression of cifA and cifB alleles from different strains revealed that cifA homologs generally contribute to strong transgenic CI and interchangeable rescue despite their evolutionary divergence, and cifB genetic divergence contributes to weak or no transgenic CI. Finally, we find that a type 1 cifA can rescue CI caused by a genetically divergent type 2 cifA;B in a manner consistent with unidirectional incompatibility. By genetically dissecting individual CI functions for type 1 and 2 cifA and cifB, this work illuminates new relationships between cif genotype and CI phenotype. We discuss the relevance of these findings to CI’s genetic basis, phenotypic variation patterns, and mechanism. 

   more » « less
5. The X _CO Conversion Factor from Galactic Multiphase ISM Simulations

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aab9af  

   Gong, Munan; Ostriker, Eve C.; Kim, Chang-Goo (May 2018, The Astrophysical Journal)