MAD_project

🥳Meet our secondees!
☘️Dr. Tamunonengiye-ofori Lawson
🌿Cambridge, UK, NIAB
🍀CERZOS (Argentina), from May 20, 2023 to July 19, 2023
The objective of this secondment at CERZOS was to gain deeper knowledge, skills and practical experiencein teh area of in-situ hybridization and DIC microscopy in plants.

🥳Meet our secondees!
🍀Dr. Luciana Delgado
🌿Rosario, Argentina, IICAR
🌿IRD (France), from May 20, 2023 to August 19, 2023
This secondment continues the tasks initiated in 2022 with Dr. Daphné Autran to build a 3D atlas of early ovule development in Paspalum rufum. We will segment and classify the cells within ovules primordia using high resolution images obtained previously, and a previously established and partially automated workflow using the open source software MorphoGraphX. In parallel, we will test different staining protocols to allow incorporation and detection of a thymidine analogue (EdU) for quantifying location and duration of cell divisions during ovule development in different grasses, including two sexual model species (rice and maize) and Paspalum apomicts. This protocol was successfully used in Arabidopsis and a few other species, it will be useful optimizing conditions for grass species showing disparities in flower and ovule morphologies. Quantitative information from the 3D Atlas and cell division in sexual and apomictic genotypes should help us understand the switch between the two reproductive pathways.
Picture: Interphase cell in a young ovule of Paspalum rufum showing fluorescent signal from DNA containing EdU (@ Luciana Delgado, IICAR).

🥳Meet our secondees!
🍀Samela Draga, PhD student
🍀University of Padova, Italy
IICAR (Rosario, Argentina) from May 16, 2023 to Aug. 2, 2023
The general objective of Samela’s work at IICAR is to contribute to the elucidation of the role of the splicing protein BUD13 in the apomixis-sexuality switch. During her stay she will analyze the representation of BUD13 in transcriptomic and genomic databases of Paspalum notatum and generate suitable RNA hybridization probes. Moreover, she will classify ovules of sexual and apomictic Paspalum notatum plants according to developmental stages by using DIC cytoembryology, dehydrate them in an ethanol/xylol series and include them in paraffin. In a second visit (from October to December) she will prepare ovule sections for hybridization using sense and antisense digoxigenine-labelled RNA probes detected by colorimetric reaction using an anti-DIG conjugated with alkaline phosphase and NBT/BCIP substrates. We expect to produce information on the spatial differential expression of these candidate genes in apomictic and sexual genotypes.
Samela Draga (right) & Silvina Pessino (left)

🥳Meet our secondees
🍀Nicola Babolin, PhD student
🍀University of Milan, Italy
University of Adelaide (Australia) from April 10, 2023 to October 13, 2023
During my secondment in the University of Adelaide (Australia) in A/Prof. Matthew Tucker laboratory I’m willing to better characterize the molecular network between the two MADS-box genes STK and ABS during the fertilization process and seed development in Arabidopsis thaliana.
At the same time I will be involved on the projects run by Prof. Tucker team on barley plant concerning ovule and seed development highly interconnected with my project in Arabidopsis.
​From left to right: Nicola Babolin, Mathew Tucker, Rosanna Petrella

🥳Meet our secondees!
🌿Dr. Rosanna Petrella
🍀University of Milan, Italy
🍀University of Adelaide (Australia) from April 10, 2023 to October 13, 2023
During my secondment at The University of Adelaide (Matthew Tucker’s lab) my work will be focused on unravelling the molecular mechanisms determining a correct female germline progression in Arabidopsis thaliana. In particular, I will try to characterize the main players involved in spore degeneration and functional megaspore selection and differentiation at the end of megasporogenesis in the ovule. I will determine the contribution of phytohormone cross-talk by trying to rescue mutants defective in this key processes using specific regulatory regions active in different domain of the ovule to specifically drive the expression of candidate genes.
From left to right: Rosanna Petrella, Skippy the Kangaroo, Nicola Babolin

MAD_project updated their website address.

Meet our secondees!🤩
🌿Mattia Spano, PhD student;
🍀University of Milan, Italy;
LANGEBIO (Mexico) from April 1, 2023 to July 20, 2023
The aim of this secondment is to investigate molecular mechanism determining female germline. In particular, I will investigate the contributions of phytohormones, auxin and cytokinines, in MMC differentiation. The species investigated are Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa var. Kitaake. In this frame, I will perform Immunolocalization assays in different backgrounds to localize phytohormones during ovule development using spl/nzz mutant and wild type Arabidopsis and wild type for Oryza sativa.

Great news! 🤩🥳

The registrations are now OPEN
for the "IV International Congress on Apomixis" to be held in Rosario Board Trade Convention Center - Rosario city - Argentina from December 3 to 7! 🍀🌿🌱☘️

All the MAD members are looking forward to discuss the new discovers in the Apomixis world with all of you!🤩🥳🌎

Subscribe as soon as you can! 💻

Deadline for abstract submission is fixed at 31 August!!!!⏰

IV International Congress APOMIXIS 2023 – IV International Congress APOMIXIS 2023 IV International Congress on Apomixis Save the date! December 3-7, 2023Rosario Board Trade Convention Center, Rosario city, Argentina Important Deadlines Check out the approaching dates & deadlines. Early bird registration From June 10 to August 31, 2023 REGISTER now! Abstract submission Deadline: A...

Paper out 🤩🥳

A great story about 3D cellular morphometrics of ovule primordial in Zea mays is out 🥳
Some of our consortium members propose a model where anisotropic ovule growth in maize coupling ovule geometry with MMC fate!
Enjoy!

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1174171/full?fbclid=IwAR2MGgxuZ6rRimTWdHZwUExaU-vRX5_ZNcYWNxdDi5hPI4MKfZAy8HIhF90

3D cellular morphometrics of ovule primordium development in Zea mays reveal differential division and growth dynamics specifying megaspore mother cell singleness IntroductionDifferentiation of spore mother cells marks the somatic-to-reproductive transition in higher plants. Spore mother cells are critical for fitness because they differentiate into gametes, leading to fertilization and seed formation. The female spore mother cell is called the megaspore moth...

Paper out 🥳
☘️Dr. Pupilli’s group succeeded in cloning the genetic determinant that controls the development of unbalanced parental genome contribution in the endos***m (4 maternal : 1 paternal instead of the canonical 2m:1p) in Paspalum simplex as one of components of apomictic reproduction of the same species. This achievement, will contribute to develop an artificial apomixis system to be introduced in those crops that are not tolerant to deviation of the 2m:1p parental genome ratio in the endos***m and, in perspective, to overcome the sterility problems encountered in interploidy crosses. This is the result of a join research between IBBR_CNR of Perugia (Italy) and IICAR_CONICET of Rosario (Argentina)
☘️🍀🌿https://academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jxb/erad069/7051163

Meet our secondees!
Dr. Olivier Le Blanc, our project coordinator went to Bahia Blanca to have very important scientific discussions with Viviana Echenique group! 🌱🌿☘️🍀🧬😀

Meet our secondees!
Dra. Maria Cielo Pasten from Bahia Blanca, Argentina, CERZOS went to the University of Milan (Italy) from Sept. 30, 2022 and will stay until March 1, 2023.
The objective of this detachment was to analyze genes that show differential expression between sexual and apomictic ovules of Eragrostis curvula plants and, which are also present in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. For this purpose, we studied the phenotype of A. thaliana mutants publicly available for some of these genes but, also, that of new transgenic mutant lines generated by the CRISPR-Cas9 strategy. In addition, ovule development in apomictic and sexual genotypes of E. curvula was characterized using confocal microscopy to further our knowledge on the structures and differences between sexual and asexual modes of reproduction. 🌱🌿☘️🍀

Paper out🥳👋👏
The Gillmor lab recently demonstrated that crossing different varieties of Arabidopsis thaliana can cause an increase in the paternal contribution to early seed development, altering the normal contributions of egg and s***m genomes to embryogenesis!
Hereby the link!
https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.201025

Productive Friday!🤩
Gianni Barcaccia, Mimmo Albertini and Silvina Pessino, working in the DSA department of the UniPG, planning next visits of PhD students from the University of Padova and the University of Perugia students to IICAR CONICET, Rosario, Argentina (MAD project)🥳🌿🌱☘️

Our Argentinian partners from Rosario together with the University of Milan are organizing the next Apomixis meeting!
The IV International Congress on Apomixis, after Bellagio (Italy), Wernigerode (Germany) and Prague (Czech Republic) will be held at the Rosario Board of Trade from December 3 to 7, 2023! Save the date and spread the news! The congress webpage will be available in a few days. 😀🥳🌿🌱☘️🍀