Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1996. / "May 1996." Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-150). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-120).

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a member of the Solanaceae family. In this research project tomato, more specifically the M82 cultivar was chosen as a model plant for Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer by cotyledon inoculation. Our objective was to transform tomato with a T-DNA construct bearing a transposon from maize that can be used for mutagenesis when it transposes or moves around the genome of the tomato. The vector used is a two-component in-cis Ac-Ds system which needs a single transformation event. It was proved that it worked in Arabidopsis and rice according to Trijatmiko (2005). The construct consists of the BAR gene conferring resistance to herbicide Basta, hygromycin (HYG) gene conferring resistance to the antibiotic hygromycin and the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, which are driven by specific plant promoters. The selectable marker genes such as HYG and BAR were used to select the rare transformation events by making the transformed tomato tissue resistant to the toxic chemicals (antibiotic and herbicide) compared to the untransformed tissue in which growth was inhibited. The results described consist of developing a transformation protocol which enabled the production of transgenic tomato lines by the help of the antibiotic augmetin (amoxicillin/clavulanic acid). The transgenic lines were tested through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and herbicide bioassays. / Master of Science

Mammalian DNA methylathion is a chemical reaction catalyzed by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and involves the addition of a methyl group from the methyl donor SAM to the carbon 5 position of cytosine (C) in a CpG dinucleotide. Specifically, DNA methylation is essential for normal development and is involved in numerous key mechanisms such as genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, suppression of repetitive elements and may be involved in the regulation of single-copy gene expression. In the human genome the majority of CpGs are methylated whereas regions with high density of CpG sites, termed CpG islands and often co-localized within gene promoters, are typically free of this mark. Recently, a new modified cytosine, 5-hydroxymhetylcytosine (5-hmC), was identified and found at significant levels in mouse brain and both mouse and human embryonic stem (ES) cells. The conversion of 5-mC to 5-hmC is catalyzed by the ten-eleven translocation (TET) proteins of the 2-oxoglutarate (2OG)-and Fe(II)-dependent oxygenase superfamily. Many studies were conducted since the identification of 5-hmC and significant levels of 5-mC hydroxylation were found in many other mouse and human tissues. Importantly, many of the techniques used for 5-mC detection, such as bisulphite sequencing and methyl-sensitive restriction digestion, are incapable of distinguishing between 5mC and 5hmC implying the necessity not only to develop techniques specific for 5-hmC characterization but also reevaluation of previously published 5mC data. The biological function of 5-hmC is unknown however many recent studies have suggested a role for 5-hmC as an intermediate of either passive or active demethylation. The majority of studies of 5- hmC and TETs have used mouse ES cells as model system. Therefore, very little is known about 5-hmC patterns and TET expression within and between normal tissues. During my PhD, I used the recently developed 5-hmC-specific antibody for tiling microarrays and 5hmC-qPCR to examine both global 5hmC content and locus-specific patterns of 5hmC in several normal human tissues and breast cancer. I found that global 5-hmC content is highly variable between tissues compared to global 5-mC content. Moreover, TETs genes are highly expressed in most of tissues tested. Importantly, both global 5-hmC content and TETs genes are rapidly and significantly reduced as consequence of adaptation of cells from normal human tissue to cell culture. Using the 5hmC-specific antibody for tiling microarrays and 5-hmC-qPCR to profile locus-specific patterns of 5hmC, I found that 5-hmC patterns are tissue-specific in human samples. In addition, comparing array data to RNA-seq data, 5- hmC was found to co-localize at gene bodies of active genes. Moreover, despite the global 5-hmC reduction in cell lines, 5-hmC content remains enriched in some specific loci. In summary, my results show that tissue type is a major modifier of both global and locus-specific 5hmC at genes in normal human tissues. Furthermore, I also show that both TET gene expression and 5hmC content are significantly reduced and 5-hmC profiles reprogrammed during the passage from tissues to cell culture.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves : 131-150). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-140).

Titre du projet: Recherche de marqueurs moléculaires précoces de l’anomalie florale mantled du palmier à huile Objectifs : - identifier des marqueurs d’expression de la variation somaclonale mantled par comparaison entre les transcriptomes conformes et variants.- valider la capacité de discrimination des marqueurs sélectionnés lors des stades précoces du processus in vitro. Stratégie et Méthode: Analyse transcriptomique de l’inflorescence normale de palmier à huile et construction d’un transcriptome de référence. Technique : RNAseq, séquençage Illumina.Identification des séquences et voies de régulation d’intérêt. Technique: analyse bioinformatique des données de séquençage.Comparaison entre les trancriptomes issus d’inflorescences normales vs. mantled par re-séquençage de banques obtenues ) partir de différents génotypes clonaux. Technique : Illumina.Identification des séquences présentant de manière cohérente des profils d’expression dépendant du phénotype. Technique : analyse bioinformatique des données de séquençage, analyse statistique des profils d’expression. Validation des marqueurs candidats sur des paires de régénérants normal/mantled issus de lignées clonales variées, ainsi que sur des cultures in vitro à différents stades du processus de régénération. Technique : PCR quantitative (q-PCR). / Project title : Search for early molecular markers of the mantled floral variation of oil palmObjectives : - identifying expression markers of the mantled somaclonal variation through the comparison between the true-to-type and the variant transcriptome. - assessing the discriminating power of the selected markers at early stages of the in vitro process.Strategy and Methods : Transcriptomic analysis of the normal oil palm inflorescence, construction of a reference transcriptome. Technique : RNAseq, Illumina sequencing.Identification of sequences and pathways of interest. Technique : bioinformatic analysis of sequencing data.Comparison between the normal and the mantled inflorescence transcriptome through the re-sequencing of libraries generated from several different clonal lines. Technique : Illumina. Identification of sequences displaying consistently a phenotype-dependent differential expression pattern. Technique : bioinformatic analysis of sequencing data, statistical analysis of expression patterns. Validation of candidate markers on normal/mantled regenerant palm pairs from different clonal lines and on normal-/mantled-derived in vitro cultures at various stages of the industrial regeneration process. Technique : quantitative PCR (q-PCR).

In the present study, the ease of rearing, short generation time and molecular research tools available for the zebrafish model (Danio rerio, Hamilton) were exploited to investigate transcriptional regulation in relation to feeding, photoperiod and experimental selection. Chapter 2 describes transcriptional regulation in fast skeletal muscle following fasting and a single satiating meal of bloodworms. Changes in transcript abundance were investigated in relation to the food content in the gut. Using qPCR, the transcription patterns of 16 genes comprising the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system were characterized, and differential regulation between some of the paralogues was recorded. For example, feeding was associated with upregulation of igf1a and igf2b at 3 and 6h after the single-meal was offered, respectively, whereas igf1b was not detected in skeletal muscle. On the other hand, fasting triggered the upregulation of the igf1 receptors and igfbp1a/b, the only binding proteins whose transcription was responsive to a single-satiating meal. In addition to the investigation of the IGF-axis, an agnostic approach was used to discover other genes involved in transcriptional response to nutritional status, by employing a whole-genome microarray containing 44K probes. This resulted in the discovery of 147 genes in skeletal muscle that were differentially expressed between fasting and satiation. Ubiquitin-ligases involved in proteasome-mediated protein degradation, and antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic genes were among the genes upregulated during fasting, whereas satiation resulted in an upregulation of genes involved in protein synthesis and folding, and a gene highly correlated with growth in mice and fish, the enzyme ornithine decarboxylase 1. Zebrafish exhibit circadian rhythms of breeding, locomotor activity and feeding that are controlled by molecular clock mechanisms in central and peripheral organs. In chapter 3 the transcription of 17 known clock genes was investigated in skeletal muscle in relation to the photoperiod and food content in the gut. The hypothesis that myogenic regulatory factors and components of the IGF-pathway were clock-controlled was also tested. Positive (clock1 and bmal1 paralogues) and negative oscillators (cry1a and per genes) showed a strong circadian pattern in skeletal muscle in anti-phase with each other. MyoD was not clock-controlled in zebrafish in contrast to findings in mice, whereas myf6 showed a circadian pattern of expression in phase with clock and bmal. Similarly, the expression of two IGF binding proteins (igfbp3 and 5b) was circadian and in phase with the positive oscillators clock and bmal. It was also found that some paralogues responded differently to photoperiod. For example, clock1a was 3-fold more responsive than clock1b. Cry1b did not show a circadian pattern of expression. These patterns of expression provide evidence that the molecular clock mechanisms in skeletal muscle are synchronized with the molecular clock in central pacemaker organs such as eyes and the pineal gland. Using the short generation time of zebrafish the effects of selective breeding for body size at age were investigated and are described in chapter 4. Three rounds of artificial selection for small (S-lineage) and large body size (L-lineage) resulted in zebrafish populations whose average standard length were, respectively, 2% lower and 10% higher than an unselected control lineage (U-lineage). Fish from the L-lineage showed an increased egg production and bigger egg size with more yolk, possibly contributing to the larger body size observed in the early larval stage (6dpf) of fish from this lineage. Fish from S- and L-lineage exposed to fasting and refeeding showed very similar feed intake, providing evidence that experimental selection did not cause significant changes in appetite control. Investigation of the expression of the IGF-axis and nutritionally-response in skeletal muscle after fasting and refeeding revealed that the pattern of expression was not different between the selected lineages, but that a differential responsiveness was observed in a limited number of genes, providing evidence that experimental selection might have changed the way fish allocate the energy acquired through feeding. For example, a constitutive higher expression of igf1a was recorded in skeletal muscle of fish from the L-lineage whereas igfbp1a/b transcripts were higher in muscle of fish from the S-lineage. These findings demonstrate the rapid changes in growth and transcriptional response in skeletal muscle of zebrafish after only three rounds of selection. Furthermore, it provides evidences that differences in growth during embryonic and larval stages might be related to higher levels of energy deposited during oogenesis, whereas differences in adult fish were better explained by changes in energy allocation instead of energy acquisition. In chapter 5 the main findings made during this study and their impact on the literature are discussed.

Ce projet explore l’hypothèse selon laquelle les gènes et les métabolites végétaux communément régulés joueraient un rôle majeur dans l’interaction riz-PGPR et constituerait une signature moléculaire de la perception des PGPR par le riz. Dans cet objectif, une analyse intégrant le suivi de l’expression d’une sélection de gènes ainsi que le profilage des métabolites secondaires a été conduite sur les racines d’un unique cultivar de riz (Nipponbare) en réponse à l’inoculation de dix souches de PGPR appartenant à divers genres bactériens (Azospirillum, Herbaspirillum, Paraburkholderia). Nos résultats ont permis l’identification de quatre gènes de riz pouvant être considérés comme marqueurs de l’association riz-PGPR, avec notamment deux gènes impliqués dans la biosynthèse de phytoalexines et un gène codant pour une protéine PR (pathogenesis-related). De plus, une signature métabolique commune, constituée de neuf composés, a été mise en évidence, dont la réduction de l’accumulation de trois alkylrésorcinols et l’augmentation de l’accumulation de deux amides d’acides hydroxycinnamiques (HCAA) : la N-p-coumaroylputrescine et la N-féruloylputrescine. Cette signature métabolique a été corrélée avec l’augmentation de l’expression de deux gènes impliqués dans la biosynthèse de la N-féruloylputrescine. Il est intéressant d’observer que la confrontation du riz à un pathogène bactérien entraine une réduction de l’accumulation de ces HCAA dans les racines. Cette accumulation d’HCAA, qui sont des composés antimicrobiens potentiels, pourrait être considérée comme une réaction primaire de la perception de bactéries par le riz / Besides, a common metabolomic signature of nine compounds was highlighted, with the reduced accumulation of three alkylresorcinols and increased accumulation of two hydroxycinnamic acid amides (HCAA), identified as N-p-coumaroylputrescine and N-feruloylputrescine. This coincided with the increased transcription of two genes involved in the N-feruloylputrescine biosynthetic pathway. Interestingly, exposure to a rice bacterial pathogen triggered a reduced accumulation of these HCAA in roots. Accumulation of HCAA, that are potential antimicrobial compounds, might be considered as a primary reaction of rice to bacterial perception