Transcriptional profiling of <it>Medicago truncatula </it>meristematic root cells

• Main Authors: Rolfe Barry G, Weiller Georg F, Goffard Nicolas, Holmes Peta, Imin Nijat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2008-02-01
• Series: BMC Plant Biology
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/8/21

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The root apical meristem of crop and model legume <it>Medicago truncatula </it>is a significantly different stem cell system to that of the widely studied model plant species <it>Arabidopsis thaliana</it>. In this study we used the Affymetrix <it>Medicago </it>GeneChip^®to compare the transcriptomes of meristem and non-meristematic root to identify root meristem specific candidate genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using mRNA from root meristem and non-meristem we were able to identify 324 and 363 transcripts differentially expressed from the two regions. With bioinformatics tools developed to functionally annotate the <it>Medicago </it>genome array we could identify significant changes in metabolism, signalling and the differentially expression of 55 transcription factors in meristematic and non-meristematic roots.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first comprehensive analysis of <it>M. truncatula </it>root meristem cells using this genome array. This data will facilitate the mapping of regulatory and metabolic networks involved in the open root meristem of <it>M. truncatula </it>and provides candidates for functional analysis.</p>