Plant Physiol. email content delivery
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Plant Physiology Preview
Published on December 22, 2006; 10.1104/pp.106.088369

OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE
This Article
Free via Open Access: OA
Right arrow Full Text (Plant Physiology Preview (PDF))
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
143/2/1037    most recent
pp.106.088369v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Roney, J. K.
Right arrow Articles by Westwood, J. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Roney, J. K.
Right arrow Articles by Westwood, J. H.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Roney, J. K.
Right arrow Articles by Westwood, J. H.

Received August 16, 2006
Accepted December 3, 2006

Cross-species Translocation of mRNA from Host Plants into the Parasitic Plant Dodder

Jeannine K. Roney , Piyum A. Khatibi , and James H. Westwood *

Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0331

* Corresponding author; email: westwood{at}vt.edu.

An intriguing new paradigm in plant biology is that systemically-mobile mRNAs play a role in coordinating development. In this process, specific mRNAs are loaded into the phloem transport stream for translocation to distant tissues, where they may impact developmental processes. However, despite its potential significance for plant growth regulation, mRNA trafficking remains poorly understood and challenging to study. Here we show that phloem-mobile mRNAs can also traffic between widely divergent species from a host to the plant parasite, lespedeza dodder (Cuscuta pentagona Engelm.). Reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and microarray analysis were used to detect specific tomato transcripts in dodder grown on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) that were not present in control dodder grown on other host species. The foreign transcripts included LeGAI, which has been previously shown to be translocated in the phloem, as well as nine other transcripts not reported to be mobile. Dodders are parasitic plants that obtain resources by drawing from the phloem of a host plant, and have joint plasmodesmata with host cortical cells. Although viruses are known to move between dodder and its hosts, translocation of endogenous plant mRNA has not been reported. These results point to a potentially new level of interspecies communication, and raise questions about the ability of parasites to recognize, use, and respond to transcripts acquired from their hosts.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Plant Physiol.Home page
B. Schmitt, R. Stadler, and N. Sauer
Immunolocalization of Solanaceous SUT1 Proteins in Companion Cells and Xylem Parenchyma: New Perspectives for Phloem Loading and Transport
Plant Physiology, September 1, 2008; 148(1): 187 - 199.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant Physiol.Home page
X. Qin, S. H. Yang, A. C. Kepsel, S. H. Schwartz, and J. A.D. Zeevaart
Evidence for Abscisic Acid Biosynthesis in Cuscuta reflexa, a Parasitic Plant Lacking Neoxanthin
Plant Physiology, June 1, 2008; 147(2): 816 - 822.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
ASPB Publications PLANT PHYSIOLOGY THE PLANT CELL
Copyright © 2006 by the American Society of Plant Biologists