State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, Center for Evolutionary Biology, School of Sciences, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
Plant J. 2011 Feb;65(4):503-16. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2010.04439.x. Epub 2011 Jan 5.
Meiosis is essential for eukaryotic sexual reproduction, with two consecutive rounds of nuclear divisions, allowing production of haploid gametes. Information regarding the meiotic transcriptome should provide valuable clues about global expression patterns and detailed gene activities. Here we used RNA sequencing to explore the transcriptome of a single plant cell type, the Arabidopsis male meiocyte, detecting the expression of approximately 20 000 genes. Transcription of introns of >400 genes was observed, suggesting previously unannotated exons. More than 800 genes may be preferentially expressed in meiocytes, including known meiotic genes. Of the 3378 Pfam gene families in the Arabidopsis genome, 3265 matched meiocyte-expressed genes, and 18 gene families were over-represented in male meiocytes, including transcription factor and other regulatory gene families. Expression was detected for many genes thought to encode meiosis-related proteins, including MutS homologs (MSHs), kinesins and ATPases. We identified more than 1000 orthologous gene clusters that are also expressed in meiotic cells of mouse and fission yeast, including 503 single-copy genes across the three organisms, with a greater number of gene clusters shared between Arabidopsis and mouse than either share with yeast. Interestingly, approximately 5% transposable element genes were apparently transcribed in male meiocytes, with a positive correlation to the transcription of neighboring genes. In summary, our RNA-Seq transcriptome data provide an overview of gene expression in male meiocytes and invaluable information for future functional studies.
减数分裂对于真核生物的有性繁殖至关重要，它包含两轮连续的核分裂，从而产生单倍体配子。有关减数分裂转录组的信息应该为全面的表达模式和详细的基因活动提供有价值的线索。在这里，我们使用 RNA 测序来探索拟南芥雄性减数分裂细胞类型的转录组，检测到大约 20000 个基因的表达。观察到超过 400 个基因的内含子转录，这表明存在以前未注释的外显子。超过 800 个基因可能在减数分裂细胞中优先表达，包括已知的减数分裂基因。在拟南芥基因组中的 3378 个 Pfam 基因家族中，有 3265 个与减数分裂细胞表达的基因匹配，有 18 个基因家族在雄性减数分裂细胞中过度表达，包括转录因子和其他调节基因家族。许多被认为编码与减数分裂相关蛋白的基因的表达被检测到，包括 MutS 同源物 (MSHs)、驱动蛋白和 ATP 酶。我们鉴定了 1000 多个同源基因簇，这些基因簇也在小鼠和裂殖酵母的减数分裂细胞中表达，包括在这三个生物体中 503 个单拷贝基因，拟南芥和小鼠之间共享的基因簇数量多于与酵母之间共享的基因簇数量。有趣的是，大约 5%的转座元件基因显然在雄性减数分裂细胞中转录，与邻近基因的转录呈正相关。总之，我们的 RNA-Seq 转录组数据提供了雄性减数分裂细胞中基因表达的概述，并为未来的功能研究提供了宝贵的信息。
