title: Linking genes of unknown function with abiotic stress responses by high-throughput phenotype screening.
abstract: Over 13% of all genes in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome encode for proteins classified as having a completely unknown function, with the function of >30% of the Arabidopsis proteome poorly characterized. Although empirical data in the form of mRNA and proteome profiling experiments suggest that many of these proteins play an important role in different biological processes, their functional characterization remains one of the major challenges in modern biology. To expand the annotation of genes with unknown function involved in the response of Arabidopsis to different environmental stress conditions, we selected 1007 such genes and tested the response of their corresponding homozygous T-DNA insertional mutants to salinity, oxidative, osmotic, heat, cold and hypoxia stresses. Depending on the specific abiotic stresses tested, 12-31% of mutants had an altered stress-response phenotype. Interestingly, 832 out of 1007 mutants showed tolerance or sensitivity to more than one abiotic stress treatment, suggesting that genes of unknown function could play an important role in abiotic stress-response signaling, or general acclimation mechanisms. Further analysis of multiple stress-response phenotypes within different populations of mutants revealed interesting links between acclimation to heat, cold and oxidative stresses, as well as between sensitivity to ABA, osmotic, salinity, oxidative and hypoxia stresses. Our findings provide a significant contribution to the biological characterization of genes with unknown function in Arabidopsis and demonstrate that many of these genes play a key role in the response of plants to abiotic stresses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle, #305220, Denton, TX 76203-5017, USA.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luhua
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hegie
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shulaev
authors.forename: Xiaozhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cenariu
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Jennie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Meryem Betul
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Gunay
authors.forename: Teruko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oosumi
authors.forename: Seung Cho
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jeffery
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cushman
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gollery
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Girke
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bailey-Serres
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: Jian-Kang
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mittler
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D036226:Seedlings / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; C036483:T-DNA; D000040:Abscisic Acid