Browse > Article

Training Molecularly Enabled Field Biologists to Understand Organism-Level Gene Function  

Kang, Jin-Ho (Department of Energy-Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University)
Baldwin, Ian T. (Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology)
Publication Information
Molecules and Cells / v.26, no.1, 2008 , pp. 1-4 More about this Journal
Abstract
A gene's influence on an organism's Darwinian fitness ultimately determines whether it will be lost, maintained or modified by natural selection, yet biologists have few gene expression systems in which to measure whole-organism gene function. In the Department of Molecular Ecology at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology we are training "molecularly enabled field biologists" to use transformed plants silenced in the expression of environmentally regulated genes and the plant's native habitats as "laboratories." Research done in these natural laboratories will, we hope, increase our understanding of the function of genes at the level of the organism. Examples of the role of threonine deaminase and RNA-directed RNA polymerases illustrate the process.
Keywords
Darwinian fitness; direct defenses; indirect defenses; jasmonic acid signaling; natural selection; threonine deaminase;
Citations & Related Records

Times Cited By Web Of Science : 0  (Related Records In Web of Science)
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Chen, H., Wilkerson, C.G., Kuchar, J.A., Phinney, B.S., and Howe, G.A. (2005). Jasmonate-inducible plant enzymes degrade essential amino acids in the herbivore midgut. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 19237-019242
2 Kessler, D., and Baldwin, I.T. (2007). Making sense of nectar scents: the effects of nectar secondary metabolites on floral visitors of Nicotina attenuata. Plant J. 49, 840-854   DOI   ScienceOn
3 Kessler, A., Halitschke, R., Diezel, C., and Baldwin, I.T. (2006). Priming of plant defense responses in nature by airborne signaling between Artemisa tridentata and Nicotina attenuata. Oecologia 148, 280-292   DOI
4 Pandey, S.P., and Baldwin, I.T. (2008). Silencing RNA-directed RNA polymerase 2 (RdR2) increases Nicotina attenuata's susceptibility to UV in the field and in the glasshouse. Plant J.
5 Schittko, U., Hermsmeier, D., and Baldwin, I.T. (2001). Molecular interactions between the specialist herbivore Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) and its natural host Nicotina attenuata. II. Accumulation of plant mRNAs in response to insectderived cues. Plant Physiol.125, 701-710   DOI
6 Zavala, J.A., Patankar, A.G., Gase, K., and Baldwin, I.T. (2004). Constitutive and inducible trypsin proteinase inhibitor production incurs large fitness costs in Nicotina attenuata. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101, 1607-1612
7 De Moraes, C.M. (2001). Caterpillar-induced nocturnal plant volatiles repel conspecific females. Nature 410, 577-580   DOI   ScienceOn
8 Pandey, S.P., Gaquerel, E., Gase, K., and Baldwin, I.T. (2008b). RNA-directed RNA polymerase 3 (RdR3) from Nicotina attenuata is required for competitive growth in natural environments. Plant Physiol. (in press)
9 Dicke, M. (2000) Multitrophic effects of herbivore-induced plant volatiles in an evolutionary context. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 97, 237- 249   DOI
10 Pandey, S.P., and Baldwin, I.T. (2007). RNA-directed RNA polymerase 1 (RdR1) mediates the resistance of Nicotina attenuata to herbivore attack in nature. Plant J.50, 40-53   DOI   ScienceOn
11 Rayapuram, C., and Baldwin, I.T. (2007). Increased SA in NPR1- silenced plants antagonizes JA and JA-dependent direct and indirect defenses in herbivore-attacked Nicotina attenuata in nature. Plant J. 52, 700-715   DOI   ScienceOn
12 Sax, C.M., Salamon, C., Kays, W.T., Guo, J., Yu, F.S.X., Cuthbertson, R.A., and Piatigorsky, J. (1996). Transketolase is a major protein in the mouse cornea. J. Biol. Chem. 271, 33568-33574   DOI   ScienceOn
13 Kang, J.H., Wang, L., Giri, A., and Baldwin, I.T. (2006). Silencing threonine deaminase and JAR4 in Nicotina attenuata impairs jasmonic acid-isoleucine-mediated defenses against Manduca sexta. Plant Cell 18, 3303-3320   DOI   ScienceOn
14 Pandey, S.P., Shahi, P., Gase, K., and Baldwin, I.T. (2008a). Herbivory- induced changes in the small-RNA transcriptome and phytohormone signaling in Nicotina attenuata. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 4559-4564
15 Halitschke, R., Schittko, U., Pohnert, G., Boland, W., and Baldwin, I.T. (2001). Molecular interactions between the specialist herbivore Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) and its natural host Nicotina attenuata. III. Fatty acid-amino acid conjugates in herbivore oral secretions are necessary and sufficient for herbivore- specific plant responses. Plant Physiol. 125, 711-717   DOI
16 Steppuhn, A., and Baldwin, I.T. (2007). Resistance management in a native plant: nicotine prevents herbivores from compensating for plant protease inhibitors. Ecol. Lett. 10, 499-511   DOI   ScienceOn
17 Kessler, A., and Baldwin, I.T. (2001). Defensive function of herbivore- induced plant volatile emissions in nature. Science 291, 2141-2144   DOI   ScienceOn
18 Wang, L., Halitschke, R., Kang, J.H., Berg, A., Harnisch, F., and Baldwin, I.T. (2007). Independently silencing two JAR family members impairs levels of trypsin proteinase inhibitors but not nicotine. Planta 226, 159-167   DOI   ScienceOn
19 Steppuhn, A., Gase, K., Krock, B., Halitschke, R., and Baldwin, I.T. (2004). Nicotine's defensive function in nature. PLoS. Biol. 2, E217   DOI   ScienceOn
20 Baldwin, I.T., Halitschke, R., Paschold, A., von Dahl, C.C., and Preston, C.A. (2006). Volatile signaling in plant-plant interactions: "talking trees" in the genomics era. Science PNN, 812-815
21 Paschold, A., Halitschke, R., and Baldwin, I.T. (2007). Co(i)- ordinating defenses: NaCOI1 mediates herbivore-induced resistance in Nicotina attenuata and reveals the role of herbivore movement in avoiding defenses. Plant J. 51, 79-91   DOI   ScienceOn
22 Schmidt, D.D., Kessler, A., Kessler, D., Schmidt, S., Lim, M., Gase, K., and Baldwin, I.T. (2004). Solanum nigrum: a model ecological expression system and its tools. Mol. Ecol. 13, 981-995   DOI   ScienceOn
23 Paschold, A., Halitschke, R., and Baldwin, I.T. (2006). Using 'mute' plants to translate volatile signals. Plant J. 45, 275-291   DOI   ScienceOn