研究実績の概要 |
During 2021, I identified endogenous Phtheirospermum japonicum peptide hormones that are induced upon treatment with the haustorium inducing compound (HIF) 2,6 dimethoxybenzoquinone (DMBQ). I found that treatment of P. japonicum with an endogenous peptide induced haustorium formation without the treatment of an HIFs and induced expression of the known haustorium formation marker gene PjYUC3. Further investigation revealed that there are three additional putative peptide hormones in the P. japonicum genome and six putative peptide receptors. Further investigation found that only one of those three peptides is up-regulated following DMBQ treatment while none of the receptors are up-regulated following DMBQ treatment. I further characterized the expression of the peptides and receptors using transformed P. japonicum hairy roots expressing reporter gene constructs. I found that only one of the four peptides and potentially three of the receptors are expressed in the haustorium following DMBQ treatment. Lastly, PLETHORA (PLT) transcription factors are stabilized post-translationally by the peptides. Using hairy root transformation, I found that DMBQ treatment resulted in movement of a PjPLT protein up the root and that this PjPLT localized in the haustorium.
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