Inhibition of cell expansion and modification in the accumulation of cuticle components are two important processes that plants adopted to respond to water deficit. In our recent publication in Plant Journal we characterized an Arabidopsis thaliana transcription factor, belonging to the R2R3-MYB family, specifically expressed in response to water deficit, involved in the regulation of these two processes. The over-expression of this gene causes both the reduction of mRNA level of some genes involved in cell expansion and the accumulation of transcript of genes with a putative role in cuticle synthesis and deposition. In this addendum we propose a model for the function of this transcription factor as an integrator of the pathway that induces cuticle components synthesis and deposition and the process that blocks cell expansion in response to water stress.

Dans le sol, la disponibilité en azote présente d’importantes fluctuations temporelles et spatiales. Face à cette contrainte, les plantes ont développé un ensemble de réponses adaptatives visant à améliorer leur efficacité de prélèvement. Une des plus spectaculaires concerne la prolifération des racines latérales dans les zones du sol riches en nitrate. Afin de caractériser les événements physiologiques et moléculaires impliqués dans le contrôle du développement racinaire par le nitrate, nous avons mis au point un dispositif de culture en « split-root » in vitro chez Arabidopsis thaliana. Ce système de culture permet d’une part d’analyser finement, en cinétique, le développement racinaire en réponse à un apport localisé en NO3 - et d’autre part de disposer de matériel végétal pour réaliser des analyses d’influx d’azote ou des analyses moléculaires.

Identifying the particular gene or genes underlying a specific adaptation is a major challenge in modern biology. Currently, the study of naturally occurring variation in Arabidopsis thaliana provides a bridge between functional genetics and evolutionary analyses. Nevertheless, the use of A. thaliana to study adaptation is limited to those traits that have undergone selection. Therefore, to understand fully the genetics of adaptation, the vast arsenal of genetic resources developed in A. thaliana must be extended to other species that display traits absent in this model species. Here, we discuss how A. thaliana resources can significantly enhance the study of heavy-metal tolerance and hyperaccumulation in the wild species Arabidopsis halleri.

Arabidopsis thaliana é uma das espécies mais utilizadas na pesquisa científica atualmente. Apesar de não apresentar importância econômica direta, esta espécie é o foco de pesquisas na área da genética, bioquímica e fisiologia. O número de trabalhos publicados sobre a mesma aumentou significativamente após o seqüenciamento de seu genoma. Apesar do grande número de estudos existe ainda muita desinformação sobre qual o seu verdadeiro papel na pesquisa científica de espécies cultivadas e de que maneira o avanço no conhecimento adquirido com A. thaliana pode auxiliar o desenvolvimento de cultivares cada vez mais resistentes, adaptados e produtivos. Os objetivos deste trabalho são discutir as razões do uso da A. thaliana como espécie modelo e a aplicabilidade deste modelo no estudo de espécies cultivadas.<br>Arabidopsis thaliana has been the species of choice for scientific research. Despite its lack of economic importance, it has been the focus of genetic, biochemical and physiological research worldwide. The number of published articles about arabidopsis has increased substantially after its genome was sequenced, and outgrew the number of articles related to economically important species. Despite the great number of studies involving arabidopsis, there is much disinformation about the actual role of this species in crop scientific research, as well as how the breakthroughs in arabidopsis research may help to develop more adapted and productive crops. This work aims to discuss reasons for using A. thaliana as a model species and the feasibility of this model for crop studies.

Arabidopsis thaliana é uma das espécies mais utilizadas na pesquisa científica atualmente. Apesar de não apresentar importância econômica direta, esta espécie é o foco de pesquisas na área da genética, bioquímica e fisiologia. O número de trabalhos publicados sobre a mesma aumentou significativamente após o seqüenciamento de seu genoma. Apesar do grande número de estudos existe ainda muita desinformação sobre qual o seu verdadeiro papel na pesquisa científica de espécies cultivadas e de que maneira o avanço no conhecimento adquirido com A. thaliana pode auxiliar o desenvolvimento de cultivares cada vez mais resistentes, adaptados e produtivos. Os objetivos deste trabalho são discutir as razões do uso da A. thaliana como espécie modelo e a aplicabilidade deste modelo no estudo de espécies cultivadas. | Arabidopsis thaliana has been the species of choice for scientific research. Despite its lack of economic importance, it has been the focus of genetic, biochemical and physiological research worldwide. The number of published articles about arabidopsis has increased substantially after its genome was sequenced, and outgrew the number of articles related to economically important species. Despite the great number of studies involving arabidopsis, there is much disinformation about the actual role of this species in crop scientific research, as well as how the breakthroughs in arabidopsis research may help to develop more adapted and productive crops. This work aims to discuss reasons for using A. thaliana as a model species and the feasibility of this model for crop studies.

Flagellin, a component of the flagellar filament of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci 6605 (Pta), induces hypersensitive reaction in its non-host Arabidopsis thaliana. We identified the WRKY41 gene, which belongs to a multigene family encoding WRKY plant-specific transcription factors, as one of the flagellin-inducible genes in A. thaliana. Expression of WRKY41 is induced by inoculation with the incompatible pathogen P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pto) possessing AvrRpt2 and the non-host pathogens Pta within 6-h after inoculation, but not by inoculation with the compatible Pto. Expression of WRKY41 was also induced by inoculation of A. thaliana with an hrp-type three secretion system (T3SS)-defective mutant of Pto, indicating that effectors produced by T3SS in the Pto wild-type suppress the activation of WRKY41. Arabidopsis overexpressing WRKY41 showed enhanced resistance to the Pto wild-type but increased susceptibility to Erwinia carotovora EC1. WRKY41-overexpressing Arabidopsis constitutively expresses the PR5 gene, but suppresses the methyl jasmonate-induced PDF1.2 gene expression. These results demonstrate that WRKY41 may be a key regulator in the cross talk of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid pathways.

Eight years after publication of the Arabidopsis genome sequence and two years before completing the first phase of an international effort to characterize the function of every Arabidopsis gene, plant biologists remain unable to provide a definitive answer to the following basic question: what is the minimal gene set required for normal growth and development? The purpose of this review is to summarize different strategies employed to identify essential genes in Arabidopsis, an important component of the minimal gene set in plants, to present an overview of the datasets and specific genes identified to date, and to discuss the prospects for future saturation of this important class of genes. The long-term goal of this collaborative effort is to facilitate basic research in plant biology and complement ongoing research with other model organisms.

Homografting of Arabidopsis thaliana scions on stocks of A. thaliana and heterografting on other species were used to study the compatibility and the ontogeny of graft union formation. Highly compatible homografting with scions of young leafy inflorescence stems was obtained on stocks of inflorescence stems growing from large 3-month-old A. thaliana plants. Histologic analysis revealed four developmental stages of graft union formation in Arabidopsis homografting: (1) development of a necrotic layer, (2) callus proliferation in the grafted scion, (3) differentiation of new vascular tissues within the scion, and (4) a full vascular graft union formation between the scion and the stock. Vascular connections were formed within the callus bridge between rootstocks and scions 15 days after grafting. Heterografts of Arabidopsis on two members of Brassicaceae, cabbage (Brassica) and radish (Raphanus), showed partial incompatible interaction with a lower level of vascular differentiation. Arabidopsis grafting on tomato (Solanaceae) rootstock showed complete incompatibility and limited noncontinuous differentiation of new vascular tissues that did not cross the scion/stock boundary. Although lacking scion/stock vascular connections, Arabidopsis scions grafted onto tomato rootstock flowered and produced seeds. This may indicate some nonvascular functional connections between the two plants, probably of parenchyma cells, further emphasizing the usefulness of Arabidopsis as a model plant for studying various levels of the complicated scion/stock relationships expressed in grafting biology. Experiments with dye transport in the xylem showed that although in general there was an agreement between the histologic study and dye transport, in Arabidopsis homografts water transport frequency was lower than functional and histologic compatability. We conclude that homografting and heterografting of Arabidopsis inflorescence stems is a convenient and reproducible method for studying the fundamental cellular genetic and molecular aspects of grafting biology.