Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification (TRAP) to Investigate Arabidopsis thaliana Root Development at a Cell Type-Specific Scale

Summary

Translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) offers the possibility to dissect developmental programs with minimal processing of organs and tissues. The protocol yields high-quality RNA from cells targeted with a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labeled ribosomal subunit. Downstream analysis tools, such as qRT-PCR or RNA-seq, reveal tissue and cell type-specific expression profiles.

Abstract

In this article, we give hands-on instructions to obtain translatome data from different Arabidopsis thaliana root cell types via the translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) method and consecutive optimized low-input library preparation.

As starting material, we employ plant lines that express GFP-tagged ribosomal protein RPL18 in a cell type-specific manner by use of adequate promoters. Prior to immunopurification and RNA extraction, the tissue is snap frozen, which preserves tissue integrity and simultaneously allows execution of time series studies with high temporal resolution. Notably, cell wall structures remain intact, which is a major drawback in alternative procedures such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting-based approaches that rely on tissue protoplasting to isolate distinct cell populations. Additionally, no tissue fixation is necessary as in laser capture microdissection-based techniques, which allows high-quality RNA to be obtained.

However, sampling from subpopulations of cells and only isolating polysome-associated RNA severely limits RNA yields. It is, therefore, necessary to apply sufficiently sensitive library preparation methods for successful data acquisition by RNA-seq.

TRAP offers an ideal tool for plant research as many developmental processes involve cell wall-related and mechanical signaling pathways. The use of promoters to target specific cell populations is bridging the gap between organ and single-cell level that in turn suffer from little resolution or very high costs. Here, we apply TRAP to study cell-cell communication in lateral root formation.

Introduction

Driven by the increasing application of next-generation sequencing techniques, spatial resolution in developmental biology could be augmented. Contemporary studies aim at dissecting tissues down to specialized cell types, if not single-cell level^1,2,3,4. To this end, a plethora of different methods has been devised over the last fifty years (see Figure 1A)^5,6,7,8,9

Protocol

1. Cloning of transgene, transgenic line production and selection

1. Clone the promoter of choice in the appropriate entry vector. Use a recombination-based cloning method (Table of Materials) and recombine the promoters in pDONRP4-P1r. Clone RPL18 (with affinity tag or fluorescent protein of choice) using recombination-based cloning in pDONRP1-P2⁴⁹.
2. Combine the entry vector containing RPL18 with the promoter-containing entry vector in a two fragment recombination reaction into the appropriate destination vector with FAST-red selection cassette⁵⁰ to facilitate direct selection....

Results

For quality assessment, the above-mentioned procedure should be probed at several intermediate steps: expression pattern validation in planta, quality control of the isolated polysomal RNA as well as of the final libraries. qRT-PCR using known marker genes can, in addition, be performed to confirm the response to the treatment condition or to fine-tune the experimental conditions.

Confocal analysis of GFP signal distribu.......

Discussion

Verification of RPL18 localization pattern
Crucial to avoid misinterpretation of data from any TRAP experiment is the proper expression pattern of the tagged ribosomal subunit. Therefore, the incorporation of GFP as an epitope tag to RPL18 very elegantly allows verification of the desired expression pattern and consecutively, pulldown of the polysome fraction from the same tissue. More invasive approaches to assure proper promoter patterns are followed by Jiao and Mayerowitz 2010, which requires GU.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Sterilization
bleach, 13%	Sigma	71696
beaker	VWR	214-1172/74/75
desiccator with porcelaine plate (DURAN)	Sigma/Merck	Z317454-1EA/Z317594-1EA
EtOH, p.a.	Honeywell	02860-1L
HCl, 37%	Roth	4625.1
Tween 20	Sigma	P9416
Plate growth + harvesting
MS salts, basal salt mixture, incl. MES buffer	Duchefa	M0254
agar plant for cell culture	Applichem/Panreac	A2111.1000
DMSO	Sigma	D4540
forcepts	Rubis Switzerland	5-SA model
KOH	Fluka	60370
micropore/surgical tape	3M	1530-0
NAA	Duchefa	N0903
petri dishes 120x120 mm	Greiner bio-one	688102
scalpel	VWR/Swann-Morton	233-5454
tissues, neutral, two-layered			any supplier of your choice
Immunoprecipitation
GFP-beads: gtma-100 GFP-Trap_MA	Chromotek	e.g. gtma-100
Brij-35	Sigma	P1254-500G
centrifuge tubes (in accordance with centrifuge)	Beckman Coulter	357001
Chloramphenicol	Applichem	C0378-25G
cotton gloves	VWR	113-7355
Cycloheximide, HPLC grade	Sigma	01810-1G
DEPC	VWR	E174	might have long delivery times
DTT	Fluka	43815
EGTA	Sigma	3054.3
homogenizers DUALL 23	KONTES GLASS CO (via VWR)	SCERSP885450-0023 (set)	SCERSP885451-0023 pestle only - SCERSP885452-0023 cylinder only; long delivery times
Igepal CA-360	Sigma	I3021-100ml
KCl	Sigma	60130
MgCl2 hexahydrat	Roth	2189.2
mortar and pestle	VWR	470148-960 & 470019-978
PMSF	Roche	10 837 091 001
Polyoxyethylene-(10)-tridecylether/PTE	Sigma	P2393-500G
RNase-free water	Roth	T143.3
RNAZap	Thermo Fisher	AM9780/AM9782	for cleaning surfaces
Tris, >99.3%	Roth	AE15.3
Triton X-100	Fluka	T8787-250ml
Tween 20	Sigma	P9416-100ml
RNA extraction
2-Propanol, p.a.	Sigma	33539-1L-GL-R
Chloroform, HPLC grade	Scharlau	CL02181000
EtOH, p.a.	Honeywell	02860-1L
low-retention microcentrifuge tubes, 1.5 ml	Eppendorf/Sigma	Z666548-250EA	LoBind
RNase-free DNase set	Qiagen	79254
RNeasy MiniElute Cleanup Kit	Qiagen	74204
TRIzol reagent	ThermoFisher/Ambion	15596018
Library preparation
15/50 mL Tube Magnetic Separator	Abraxis	PN 472250
AMPure beads	Beckman Coulter	A63881
Index Kit A	Illumina	FC-131-2001
Index Kit D	Illumina	FC-131-2004
neodymium magnets	Amazon/other	6 x 1.5 mm range: N42 (NdFeB)
Nextera XT kit	Illumina	FC-131-1024/1096	https://emea.support.illumina.com/
PCR strips	ThermoScientific	AB-0266
SMARTer v4 kit	Takara Bioscience	634892	https://www.takarabio.com/
Bioanalyzer	Agilent	2100 Bioanalyzer Instrument	specialized equipment for RNA/DNA quality control
Tapestation	Agilent	4200 Tapestation Instrument	specialized equipment for RNA/DNA quality control
Fragment Analyzer	Agilent	5400 Fragment Analyzer System	specialized equipment for RNA/DNA quality control (high throughput)
LabChip	PerkinElmer	LabChip GX Touch Nucleic Acid Analyzer	specialized equipment for RNA/DNA quality control (high throughput)
Qubit 4 Fluorometer	ThermoFisher	Q33239	specialized equipment for RNA/DNA concentration determination
qRT-PCR
GATA23	Microsynth		fwd: AGTGAGAATGAA AGAAGAGAAGGG; rev: GTGGCTGCGAAT AATATGAATACC
GH3.3	Microsynth		fwd: CAAACCAATCCT CCAAATGAC; rev: ACTTATCCGCAA CCCGACT
LBD29	Microsynth		fwd: TCTCCAACAACA GGTTGTGAAT; rev: AAGGAGCCTTAG TAGTGTCTCCA
UBC21	Microsynth		fwd: TGCGACTCAGGG AATCTTCT; rev: TCATCCTTTCTT AGGCATAGCG
SsoAdvanced Universal SYBR Green	Bio-Rad	#172-5270
iScript Adv cDNA Kit	Bio-Rad	#172-5038
miscellaneous
Falcon tubes 15 ml, Cellstar	Greiner bio-one	188261
Falcon tubes 50 ml, Cellstar	Greiner bio-one	210261
filter tips 1 ml	Axygen	TF-1000-R-S
filter tips 10 µl	Axygen	TF-10-R-S
filter tips 100 µl	Axygen	TF-100-R-S
filter tips 20 µl	Axygen	TF-20-R-S
filter tips 200 µl	Axygen	TF-200-R-S
microcentrifuge tubes 1.5 ml	SARSTEDT	72.690.001
Propidium iodide	Sigma	P4170-100MG
sequencing company	Novogene		en.novogene.com