Translation Efficiency Test Using Polysome Profiles Under Heat Stress

Summary

The protocol presented here involves polysomal profiling to isolate translatome, mRNAs associated with ribosomes, into non-polysomal and polysomal RNAs from Arabidopsis through sucrose density gradient centrifugation. This method demonstrates the translation efficiency of heat-stressed Arabidopsis.

Abstract

Translational control of different genes under heat stress is a critical step for plant adaptation to the environment. Assessing the translational activities of various genes can help us understand the molecular mechanisms underlying plant resilience, contributing to the development of crops with enhanced stress tolerance in the face of global climate change. This paper presents a detailed methodology for assessing translation efficiency through polysome profiling in plants exposed to heat stress. The procedure is divided into three parts: heat stress treatment for Arabidopsis, translation efficiency test using polysome profiles, and calculation of translation efficiency by isolating non-polysomal and polysomal RNA based on the profile. In the first part, Arabidopsis plants are subjected to controlled heat stress conditions to mimic environmental challenges. The treatment involves exposing the plants to high temperatures for specified durations, ensuring consistent and reproducible stress induction. This step is crucial for studying the plant's physiological and molecular responses to heat stress. The second part involves the translation efficiency test using polysome profiling. Polysomes are extracted through sucrose gradient centrifugation, which separates mRNAs based on ribosomal loading. This allows for the examination of ribosome occupancy on mRNAs, providing insights into the translational control mechanisms under stress conditions. In the third part, RNA is isolated from both polysomal and non-polysomal fractions. Spike-in RNA is used to accurately measure the amount of RNA in each fraction. The calculation of translation efficiency is performed by comparing the distribution of mRNAs across these fractions under normal and heat stress conditions. The translation activities of specific genes are further assessed by performing quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) with ribosome-associated RNA and total RNA. This methodology focuses exclusively on the effects of heat stress, providing a detailed protocol for analyzing translational regulation in plants.

Introduction

Translation is crucial for organisms to synthesize functional proteins from mRNA, supporting essential cellular functions and biological processes like metabolism and signaling and enabling stress responses. Without translation, cells cannot produce vital proteins, impacting their structure, function, and regulation, thereby affecting sustaining life and fostering biological diversity^1,2. Therefore, studying the translational efficiency of plants is crucial. Translation involves several essential steps. First, initiation occurs as mRNA binds to a ribosome, facilitated by initiation factors such as eIFs in euka....

Protocol

1. Heat stress-treated Arabidopsis seedling sample preparation

1. Plate 250 seeds for each replicate and each condition with a dropper on the filter paper placed on the Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal media agar plate without sucrose (pH 5.6) supplemented with 1.2% phytoagar.
   NOTE: To plant seedlings on MS plates, sterile filter paper is placed on the plate to prevent seedling roots from penetrating deep into the medium, facilitating easier sampli.......

Discussion

This protocol outlines a straightforward and standardized method for measuring the translation efficiency of Arabidopsis seedlings. The critical steps of this protocol are ensuring RNA stability with secondary centrifugation and RNA extraction reagent extraction, as well as meticulous preparation of the sucrose gradient. Moreover, we provide critical steps for normalizing and quantifying the non-polysomal and polysomal RNA with the spike-in normalization method. It is very important that all procedures should be conducte.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
1.5 mL eppendorf tube	Labcon	3012-870-000-9	RNA extraction
13.2 mL centrifuge tube	Beckman Coulter	331372	ultracentrifugation
Bromophenol blue	Honeywell	32712	Polysome profile
Chloroform	Honeywell	32211	RNA extraction
Cycloheximide (CHX)	Sigma-Aldrich	SI-C7698	Polysome profile
Diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC)	Sigma-Aldrich	D5758	RNA extraction
Ethanol	Sigma-Aldrich	32221	RNA extraction
GeneChip Eukaryotic Poly-A RNA Control Kit	Invitrogen	900433	Normalization
Glycerol	Honeywell	15523	Normalization
Heparin	Sigma-Aldrich	SI-H3149	Polysome profile
HiScript III RT SuperMix for qPCR kit	Vazyme	R323-01	Normalization
KCl	J.T.Baker	3040-01	Polysome profile
MgCl2	Sigma-Aldrich	SI-M8266	Polysome profile
MS basal medium	Phyto	M524	Plant culture
Peak Chart Syringe Pump	Brandel	SYN4007LS	Polysome profile
Polyoxyethylene-10-Tridecyl-Ether (PTE)	Sigma-Aldrich	P2393	Polysome profile
RNasin	Promega	N251B	Polysome profile
Sodium deoxycholate (DOC)	Sigma-Aldrich	SI-D6750	Polysome profile
Sucrose	Sigma-Aldrich	S5391	Polysome profile
SYBR Green Supermix	Bio-Rad	BP170-8882	Normalization
TRI reagent	MRC	TR118	RNA extraction
Tris-HCl	J.T.Baker	4109-06	Polysome profile
Ultracentrifuge	Beckman Coulter	Optima L-100K	ultracentrifugation
UV/VISDETECTOR	Brandel	UA-6	Polysome profile