Abstract
In plant biology, transient expression systems have become valuable approaches used routinely to rapidly study protein expression, subcellular localization, protein-protein interactions, and transcriptional activity prior to in vivo studies. When studying transcriptional regulation, luciferase reporter assays offer a sensitive readout for assaying promoter behavior in response to different regulators or environmental contexts and to confirm and assess the functional relevance of predicted binding sites in target promoters. This chapter aims to provide detailed methods for using luciferase reporter system as a rapid, efficient, and versatile assay to analyze transcriptional regulation of target genes by transcriptional regulators. We describe a series of optimized transient expression systems consisting of Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts, infiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana leaves, and human HeLa cells to study the transcriptional regulations of two well-characterized transcriptional regulators SCARECROW (SCR) and SHORT-ROOT (SHR) on one of their targets, CYCLIN D6 (CYCD6).
Here, we illustrate similarities and differences in outcomes when using different systems. The plant-based systems revealed that the SCR–SHR complex enhances CYCD6 transcription, while analysis in HeLa cells showed that the complex is not sufficient to strongly induce CYCD6 transcription, suggesting that additional, plant-specific regulators are required for full activation. These results highlight the importance of the system and suggest that including heterologous systems, such as HeLa cells, can provide a more comprehensive analysis of a complex gene regulatory network.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Pajoro A, Madrigal P, Muiño JM et al (2014) Dynamics of chromatin accessibility and gene regulation by MADS-domain transcription factors in flower development. Genome Biol 15:R41
Franco-Zorrilla JM, López-Vidriero I, Carrasco JL et al (2014) DNA-binding specificities of plant transcription factors and their potential to define target genes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111:2367–2372
Ogawa N, Biggin MD (2012) High-throughput SELEX determination of DNA sequences bound by transcription factors in vitro. In: Deplancke B, Gheldof N (eds) Gene regulatory networks. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, pp 51–63
Cheng C, Gao X, Feng B et al (2013) Plant immune response to pathogens differs with changing temperatures. Nat Commun 4:2530
Cruz-Ramírez A, Díaz-Triviño S, Blilou I et al (2012) A bistable circuit involving SCARECROW-RETINOBLASTOMA integrates cues to inform asymmetric stem cell division. Cell 150:1002–1015
Long Y, Smet W, Cruz-Ramírez A et al (2015) Arabidopsis BIRD zinc finger proteins jointly stabilize tissue boundaries by confining the cell fate regulator SHORT-ROOT and contributing to fate specification. Plant Cell 27:1185–1199
Pauklin S, Vallier L (2013) The cell-cycle state of stem cells determines cell fate propensity. Cell 155:135–147
Yoshida H, Hirano K, Sato T et al (2014) DELLA protein functions as a transcriptional activator through the DNA binding of the indeterminate domain family proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111:7861–7866
Ar B, Je T, Jf H (1988) Optimized use of the firefly luciferase assay as a reporter gene in mammalian cell lines. Biotechniques 7:1116–1122
Ow DW, Wet JRD, Helinski DR et al (1986) Transient and stable expression of the firefly luciferase gene in plant cells and transgenic plants. Science 234:856–859
Bhaumik S, Gambhir SS (2002) Optical imaging of Renilla luciferase reporter gene expression in living mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci 99:377–382
Williams TM, Burlein JE, Ogden S et al (1989) Advantages of firefly luciferase as a reporter gene: application to the interleukin-2 gene promoter. Anal Biochem 176:28–32
Wood KV (1994) Luciferase assay method. http://www.google.com/patents/US5283179
Bioluminescent Reporter Gene Assays Protocols and Applications Guide. https://nld.promega.com/~/media/files/resources/paguide/letter/chap8.pdf?la=en
Brunoud G, Wells DM, Oliva M et al (2012) A novel sensor to map auxin response and distribution at high spatio-temporal resolution. Nature 482:103–106
Liao C-Y, Smet W, Brunoud G et al (2015) Reporters for sensitive and quantitative measurement of auxin response. Nat Methods 12:207–210
Alcaraz-Pérez F, Mulero V, Cayuela ML (2008) Application of the dual-luciferase reporter assay to the analysis of promoter activity in Zebrafish embryos. BMC Biotechnol 8:81
Konishi M, Yanagisawa S (2013) Arabidopsis NIN-like transcription factors have a central role in nitrate signalling. Nat Commun 4:1617
Muller B, Sheen J (2008) Cytokinin and auxin interaction in root stem-cell specification during early embryogenesis. Nature 453:1094–1097
Helariutta Y, Fukaki H, Wysocka-Diller J et al (2000) The SHORT-ROOT gene controls radial patterning of the Arabidopsis root through radial signaling. Cell 101:555–567
Sabatini S, Heidstra R, Wildwater M et al (2003) SCARECROW is involved in positioning the stem cell niche in the Arabidopsis root meristem. Genes Dev 17:354–358
Scheres B, Wolkenfelt H, Willemsen V et al (1994) Embryonic origin of the Arabidopsis primary root and root meristem initials. Development 120:2475–2487
Cui H, Levesque MP, Vernoux T et al (2007) An evolutionarily conserved mechanism delimiting SHR movement defines a single layer of endodermis in plants. Science 316:421–425
Sozzani R, Cui H, Moreno-Risueno MA et al (2010) Spatiotemporal regulation of cell-cycle genes by SHORTROOT links patterning and growth. Nature 466:128–132
Moreno-Risueno MA, Sozzani R, Yardımcı GG et al (2015) Transcriptional control of tissue formation throughout root development. Science 350:426–430
Levesque MP, Vernoux T, Busch W et al (2006) Whole-genome analysis of the SHORT-ROOT developmental pathway in arabidopsis. PLoS Biol 4:e143
Long Y, Goedhart J, Schneijderberg M et al (2015) SCARECROW-LIKE23 and SCARECROW jointly specify endodermal cell fate but distinctly control SHORT-ROOT movement. Plant J 84:773–784
Welch D, Hassan H, Blilou I et al (2007) Arabidopsis JACKDAW and MAGPIE zinc finger proteins delimit asymmetric cell division and stabilize tissue boundaries by restricting SHORT-ROOT action. Genes Dev 21:2196–2204
Cui H, Kong D, Liu X et al (2014) SCARECROW, SCR-LIKE 23 and SHORT-ROOT control bundle sheath cell fate and function in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant J 78:319–327
Doelling JH, Pikaard CS (1993) Transient expression in Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts derived from rapidly established cell suspension cultures. Plant Cell Rep 12:241–244
Rensink WA, Lee Y, Liu J et al (2005) Comparative analyses of six solanaceous transcriptomes reveal a high degree of sequence conservation and species-specific transcripts. BMC Genomics 6:124
Nakagawa T, Kurose T, Hino T et al (2007) Development of series of gateway binary vectors, pGWBs, for realizing efficient construction of fusion genes for plant transformation. J Biosci Bioeng 104:34–41
He TC, Chan TA, Vogelstein B et al (1999) PPARdelta is an APC-regulated target of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Cell 99:335–345
Goedhart J et al (2010) Bright cyan fluorescent protein variants identified by fluorescence lifetime screening. Nat Methods 7(2):137–139
Yoo S-D, Cho Y-H, Sheen J (2007) Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts: a versatile cell system for transient gene expression analysis. Nat Protoc 2:1565–1572
Liu L, Zhang Y, Tang S et al (2010) An efficient system to detect protein ubiquitination by agroinfiltration in Nicotiana benthamiana. Plant J 61:893–903
Ma L, Lukasik E, Gawehns F et al (2012) The use of agroinfiltration for transient expression of plant resistance and fungal effector proteins in nicotiana benthamiana leaves. In: Bolton MD, Thomma BPHJ (eds) Plant fungal pathogens. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, pp 61–74
FuGENE® 6 Transfection Reagent Protocol. https://nld.promega.com/resources/protocols/technical-manuals/101/fugene-6-transfection-reagent-protocol/
GloMax® 96 Microplate Luminometer for Luminescence Assays. https://nld.promega.com/products/fluorometers-luminometers-multimode-readers/luminometers/glomax-96-microplate-luminometer/
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Dr Erin Spark, Dr Wenkun Zhou, and Jorge Zamora Zaragoza for their helpful comments on this chapter.
pEGB-35S:Renilla:Tnos vector for constitutive rLUC expression was kindly provided by Prof. Smeekens Laboratory, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. pGreen vectors containing fLUC for promoters assays and constitutive rLUC were kindly provided by Dr. Rumyana Karlova, Wageningen University and Research Centre, the Netherlands. Plasmid for constitutive rLUC expression p-CMV-Renilla and mammalian protocol was kindly provided by Dr. Isabel Sanchez Perez Department of Biochemistry; School of Medicine; Biomedical Research Institute of Madrid CSIC/UAM; Madrid, Spain.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Díaz-Triviño, S., Long, Y., Scheres, B., Blilou, I. (2017). Analysis of a Plant Transcriptional Regulatory Network Using Transient Expression Systems. In: Kaufmann, K., Mueller-Roeber, B. (eds) Plant Gene Regulatory Networks. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1629. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7125-1_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7125-1_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7124-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7125-1
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols