Multi-Omics Analysis of Heat Stress-Induced Memory in Arabidopsis
Authors: Thirumlaikumar, V. P. P., Yu, L., Arora, D., Mubeen, U., Wisniewski, A., Walther, D., Giavalisco, P., Alseekh, S., DL Nelson, A., Skirycz, A., Balazadeh, S.
The study uses a high‑throughput comparative multi‑omics strategy to profile transcript, metabolite, and protein dynamics in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings throughout the heat‑stress memory (HSM) phase following acquired thermotolerance. Early recovery stages show rapid transcriptional activation of memory‑related genes, while protein levels stay elevated longer, and distinct metabolite patterns emerge, highlighting temporal layers of the memory process.
The study introduced full-length SOC1 genes from maize and soybean, and a partial SOC1 gene from blueberry, into tomato plants under constitutive promoters. While VcSOC1K and ZmSOC1 accelerated flowering, all three transgenes increased fruit number per plant mainly by promoting branching, and transcriptomic profiling revealed alterations in flowering, growth, and stress‑response pathways.
The study employed a multi‑omics workflow (transcriptomics, ribosome profiling, and proteomics) to uncover small peptides encoded by long non‑coding RNAs (LSEPs) in rice, finding that over 40% of surveyed lncRNAs associate with ribosomes. An optimized small‑peptide extraction followed by LC‑MS/MS identified 403 LSEPs, confirming the peptide‑coding capacity of plant lncRNAs and providing a scalable pipeline for large‑scale screening.
The study investigated unexpected leaf spot symptoms in Psa3‑resistant kiwifruit (Actinidia) germplasm, finding that Psa3 was detectable by qPCR and metabarcoding despite poor culturing. Metabarcoding revealed distinct bacterial community shifts in lesions versus healthy tissue, and whole‑genome sequencing identified diverse Pseudomonas spp. that, while not individually more pathogenic, could enhance Psa3 growth, suggesting pathogenic consortia on resistant hosts.