Abstract
Plant stem cells are pluripotent cells that have diverse applications in regenerative biology and medicine. However, their roles in plant growth and disease resistance are often overlooked. Using high-throughput RNA-seq data, we identified approximately 20 stem cell-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that were responsive to the nitric oxide (NO) donor S-nitrosocysteine (CySNO) after six hours of infiltration. Among these DEGs, the highest number of positive correlations (R ≥ 0.8) was observed for CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION-RELATED (CLE) 12. Gene ontology (GO) terms for molecular function showed DEGs associated with signal transduction and receptor activity. A promoter study of these DEGs showed the presence of cis-acting elements that are involved in growth as well as the regulation of abiotic and biotic stress. Phylogenetic analysis of the Arabidopsis stem cell-related genes and their common orthologs in rice, soybean, poplar, and tomato suggested that most soybean stem cell-related genes were grouped with the Arabidopsis CLE type of stem cell genes, while the rice stem cell-related genes were grouped with the Arabidopsis receptor-like proteins. The functional genomic-based characterization of the role of stem cell DEGs showed that under control conditions, the clv1 mutant showed a similar phenotype to that of the wild-type (WT) plants; however, under CySNO-mediated nitrosative stress, clv1 showed increased shoot and root length compared to WT. Furthermore, the inoculation of clv1 with virulent Pst DC3000 showed a resistant phenotype with fewer pathogens growing at early time points. The qRT-PCR validation and correlation with the RNA-seq data showed a Pearson correlation coefficient of >0.8, indicating the significantly high reliability of the RNA-seq analysis.
Highlights
Stem cells are pluripotent cells that have gained the attention of the scientific community in the recent past because of their tremendous applications in the biomedical field, in cancer and organ regeneration
By using both in silico and in vivo approaches, we suggested that the nitric oxide (NO)-responsive stem cell-related genes are mostly involved in plant growth; the promoter analysis suggests their putative roles in plant defense as well
We found approximately 20 different stem cell-related genes that showed differential response to one mM of CySNO
Summary
Stem cells are pluripotent cells that have gained the attention of the scientific community in the recent past because of their tremendous applications in the biomedical field, in cancer and organ regeneration. It was out of our notice that stem cells are an integral part of our life as they are the ultimate precursors of most of the life-saving commodities such as food, fuel, and the oxygen we breathe [1]. Plant stem cells are the most important cells affecting human life directly or indirectly. Despite concrete differences in cellular biophysics and the properties between animal and plant cells, the basic concept and mechanism of action of their stem cells is curiously the. The cellular and molecular design of these systems are conserved across the species. Another reason for plant stem cells being more important is that they might remain active for a long time, even over hundreds or thousands of years, suggesting a fine-tuned, well self-maintained underlying proliferation and differentiation mechanism
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