DR. RONAN SULPICE

Dr. Ronan Sulpice, PhD

Head of Plant Systems Biology Research Lab

Email: ronan.sulpice[at]nuigalway.ie or sulpice[at]mpimp-golm.mpg.de


Office: C314 Aras de Brun

Research specialisations: Plant System Biology, Metabolomics, Enzymology, Primary metabolism, Biomass production, Genetics

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

The Plant Systems Biology Lab aims at understanding how plants cope with the fluctuating environmental conditions they encounter in nature, i.e. understand what are the genetic/physiological bases of plant robustness.

Plants are sessile organisms and have to survive in very unstable and largely unpredictable environmental conditions, even within a single photoperiod. These daily fluctuations lead to unpredictable amounts of C and N fixed within the light period, and as a result unpredictable amounts of resources available for surviving and eventually grow during the night.

As a first step towards understanding, we are focusing on the effects of daily fluctuations in temperature and light intensity, which are probably the most variable environmental parameters fluctuating daily.

Some of the questions investigated:

How plants regulate their growth in relation to the amount of photosynthetates available?

Growth and C-N assimilation are spatially largely separated, especially in grasses. How is the necessary cross talk between these two tissues achieved? What is the role of the phloem? Which kind of molecules are involved?

Plants need to keep a certain amount of photosynthates for maintenance and growth at night, otherwise they will go into starvation and impair their growth/metabolism (Smith and Stitt, 2007). But this amount should strictly fit the requirements, otherwise an excess storage will be at the cost of growth efficiency (Sulpice et al. 2009). How do plants manage to achieve that?

Is the circadian clock involved? The network of genes (we expect many genes behind such complex regulation) involved is of obvious plant breeding interest. Manipulating such genes should theoretically allow the production of new plant varieties fitting closely the environmental conditions they will be grown in.

In other words, we should be able to manipulate the robustness of the plants which is at the cost of growth efficiency. For example, decrease robustness for varieties grown in glasshouse or increase it for crops growing in regions experiencing harmful climatic conditions.



Motivated researchers and students willing to help us resolve these questions are welcome to contact Dr. Ronan Sulpice.

Plant Models

Arabidopsis thaliana, Brachypodium distachyon, Setaria viridis

Our lab aims to identify the relationships between metabolism and growth. The choice of a C3 dicot (Arabidopsis thaliana), and 2 monocots (Brachypodium distachyon, a C3 and Setaria viridis, a C4) has been motivated by:

• The relatively small genomes of these three species, with 2 of them already sequenced, the third (setaria viridis) ongoing.
• The genetic tools available in the scientific community for the three species.
• The small size of these plants, which allows to grow them in small growth chambers under highly controlled environment.
• The choice of both a C3 and C4 organisms will allow to compare their growth strategies.
• Grasses have a mostly longitudinal leaf growth pattern, which makes it easy to determine growth rates, even at high temporal resolution. This point is critical for us as our main objective is to investigate the regulation of diurnal growth in response to daily fluctuating environment.
• Dividing, expanding, and mature zones of a growing grass leaf are spatially separated, contrary to an Arabidopsis leaf. That is an enormous advantage if you want to study the relations between the growth and C assimilation, or in other words between source and sink tissues.
• Grasses are important species for Biofuel production and also for Irish and European farming
  

PUBLICATIONS

Pyl E-T., Ivakov A., Schulze W.X., Piques M.C., Stitt M. Sulpice R.* (2012) Contrasting responses of growth, protein contents and primary metabolites uncover differing compensatory responses to moderate changes of the temperature in the daytime and the night in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell (In press)

Riedelsheimer C., Lisec J., Czedik-Eysenberg A. , Sulpice R., Flis A., Grieder C., Altmann T., Stitt M., Willmitzer L., Melchinger A.E. (2012) Genome-wide association mapping of leaf metabolic profiles for dissecting complex traits in maize. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (In Press)

Riedelsheimer C., Czedik-Eysenberg A., Grieder C., Lisec J., Sulpice R., Altmann T., Stitt M., Willmitzer L., Melchinger A.E. (2012) Boosting maize breeding with metabolic and genomic prediction of hybrid performance. Nature Genetics 44:217-220.

Carillo P., Parisi D., Woodrow P., Pontecorvo G., Massaro G., Annunziata M.G., Fuggi A.A., Sulpice R. (2011) Salt induced accumulation of glycine betaine is inhibited by high light in Durum wheat. Functional Plant Physiology 38: 139-150

Yazdanbakhsh N., Sulpice R., Graf A., Stitt M., Fisahn J. (2011) Circadian control of root elongation and C partitioning in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell & Environment 34:877-894

Caldana C., Degenkolbe T., Cuadros-Inostroza A., Klie S., Sulpice R., Leisse A., Fernie A.R., Steinhauser D., Willmitzer L., Hannah M.A. (2011) High-density kinetic analysis of the metabolomic and transcriptomic response of Arabidopsis to eight environmental conditions. Plant Journal 67:869-884

Diaz C., Kusano M., Sulpice R., Mitsutaka A., Redestig H., Saito K., Stitt M., Shin R. Determining novel functions of Arabidopsis 14-3-3 proteins in central metabolic processes. BMC Systems Biology 5:192 DOI: 10.1186/1752-0509-5-192

Gur A., Zhang N., Gibon Y., Sulpice R., Sherry Flint-Garcia S., McMullen M.D., Stitt M., Buckler E.S. Association Mapping of Central Carbon Metabolism Enzyme Activities in Maize. Plos One 5: e9991.

Sulpice R.**, Sienkiewicz-Porzucek A.**.,Osorio S., Krahnert I., Leisse A., Urbanczyk-Wochniak E., Hodges M., Fernie A.R., and Nunes-Nesi A. (2010) Mild Reductions in Mitochondrial Isocitrate Dehydrogenase Activity Result in Compromised Nitrate Assimilation, Pigmentation and Maximum Photosynthetic Efficiency but do not impact Growth. Molecular Plant 3: 156-173

Stitt M., Sulpice R., Keurentjes J. (2010) Metabolic Networks: How to Identify Key Components in the Regulation of Metabolism and Growth. Plant Physiology. 152: 428-444

Childs L., Witucka-Wall H., Günther T., Sulpice R., Stitt M., Walther D., Schmid K., Altmann T. (2010) Natural selection mapping of genomic regions affecting complex growth-related traits in Arabidopsis thaliana. BMC Genomics 11: 188.

Sulpice R.**, Sienkiewicz-Porzucek A.**, Osorio S., Krahnert I., Stitt M., Fernie A.R., Nunes-Nesi A. (2010) Mild Reductions in Cytosolic NADP-dependent Isocitrate Dehydrogenase Activity Result in Lower Amino Acid Contents and Pigmentation without Impact in Growth. Amino Acids 39: 1055-1066.

Gonzalez N., De Bodt S., Sulpice R., Jikumaru Y., Chae E., Van Daele T., De Milde L.; Weigel D., Kamiya Y., Stitt M., Beemster G.T.S., Inzé D. (2010) Increased leaf size: different means to an end. Plant Physiology 153: 1261-1279.

Hummel I, Pantin F., Sulpice R., Piques M., Rolland G., Dauzat M., Christophe A., Pervent M., Bouteillé M., Stitt M., Gibon Y., Muller B. (2010) Arabidopsis thaliana plants adapt to water deficit at low cost through changes of C usage; an integrated perspective using growth, metabolite, enzyme and gene expression analysis. Plant Physiology 154: 357-372.

Sulpice R.*, Trenkamp S., Steinfath M., Usadel B., Gibon Y., Witucka-Wall H., Pyl E.T., Tschoep H., Steinhauser M.C., Guenther M., Hoehne M., Rohwer J.M., Altmann T., Fernie A.R., Stitt M. (2010) Network Analysis of Enzyme Activities and Metabolite Levels and Their Relationship to Biomass in a Large Panel of Arabidopsis Accessions Plant Cell. 22:2872-2893.

Thi Do P., Prudent M., Sulpice R., Causse M., Fernie A.R. The influence of fruit load on the tomato pericarp metabolome in a Solanum chmielewskii introgression line population. (2010) Plant Physiology 154: 1128-1142

Armengaud P, Zambaux K, Hills A, Sulpice, R, Blatt M; Amtmann, A. (2009) EZ-Rhizo: Integrated Software for Fast and Accurate Measurement of Root System Architecture. Plant Journal 57: 945-956.

Gibon Y., Pyl E.T., Sulpice R., Lunn J.E., Höhne M., Günther M., Stitt M. (2009) Adjustment of growth, starch turnover, protein content and central metabolism to a decrease of the carbon supply when Arabidopsis is grown in very short photoperiods. Plant Cell & Environment. 32: 859-874.

Armengaud P., Sulpice R., Miller A.J., Stitt M., Amtmann A., Gibon Y. (2009) Multi-level analysis of transcripts, enzymes and metabolites provides new insight into the role of potassium nutrition for sugar and nitrogen metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology 150: 772-785

Arrivault S., Günther M., Ivakov A., Feil R., Vosloh D., van Dongen J., Sulpice R., Stitt M. (2009) Use of Reverse Phase Liquid Chromatography linked to Tandem Mass Spectrometry to Profile the Calvin Cycle and other Metabolic Intermediates in Arabidopsis Rosettes at Different Carbon Dioxide Concentrations.. Plant Journal 59: 823-839.

Zanor M.I., Osorio S., Nunes-Nesi A., Carrari F., Lohse M., Usadel B., Kühn C., Bleiss W., Giavalisco P., Willmitzer L., Sulpice R., Zhou Y-H., Fernie A.R. (2009) RNA interference of LIN5 in Solanum lycopersicum confirms its role in controlling Brix content, uncovers the influence of sugars on the levels of fruit hormones and demonstrates the importance of sucrose cleavage for normal fruit development and fertility. Plant Physiology 150: 1204-1218.

Keurentjes J.J.B., Sulpice R. (2009) The role of natural variation in dissecting genetic regulation of primary metabolism. Plant Signaling & Behaviour 4: 244-246.

Sulpice R.*, Pyl E.T., Trenkamp S., Steinfath M., Witucka-Wall H., Gibon Y., Usadel B., Poree F., Piques M.C., Von Korff M., Steinhauser M.C., Guenther M., Hoehne M., Selbig J., Fernie A.R., Altmann T., Stitt M. (2009) Starch as a major integrator in the regulation of plant growth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 106: 10348-10353.

Nunes-Nesi A, Sulpice R, Gibon Y, Fernie AR. (2008) The enigmatic contribution of mitochondrial function in photosynthesis. Journal of Experimental Botany 59: 1675-1684.

Sienkiewicz-Porzucek A, Nunes-Nesi A, Sulpice R, Lisec J, Centeno DC, Carillo P, Leisse A, Urbanczyk-Wochniak E, Fernie AR. (2008) Mild reductions in mitochondrial citrate synthase activity result in a compromised nitrate assimilation and reduced leaf pigmentation but have no effect on photosynthetic performance or growth. Plant Physiology 147: 115-27.

Bieniawska Z, Espinoza C, Schlereth A, Sulpice R, Hincha DK, Hannah MA. (2008). Disruption of the Arabidopsis circadian clock is responsible for extensive variation in the cold-responsive transcriptome. Plant Physiology 147: 263-79.

Hoehenwarter W, van Dongen JT, Wienkoop S., Steinfath M., Hummel J., Erban A, Sulpice R, Regierer B, Kopka J, Geigenberger P, Weckwerth W. (2008) A rapid approach for phenotype-screening and database independent detection of cSNP/protein polymorphism using mass accuracy precursor alignment. Proteomics 8: 4214-4225.

Keurentjes J. J. B., Sulpice R., Gibon Y., Steinhauser MC., Fu J., Koornneef M., Stitt M., and Vreugdenhil D. (2008) Integrative analyses of genetic variation in enzyme activities of primary carbohydrate metabolism reveal distinct modes of regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genome Biology 9(8):R129.

Nunes-Nesi A., Carrari F., Gibon Y., Sulpice R., Graham J., Lytovchenko A., Fisahn J., Ratcliffe R.J., Sweetlove L.J., Graham J., and Fernie A. R. (2007) Deficiency of mitochondrial fumarase activity in tomato plants impairs photosynthesis via an effect on stomatal function. The Plant Journal 50: 1093-1106.

Sulpice R., Tschoep H., Von Korff M., Bussis D., Usadel B., Hohne M., Witucka-Wall H., Altmann T., Stitt M., Gibon Y. (2007) Description and applications of a rapid and sensitive non-radioactive microplate-based assay for maximum and initial activity of D-ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. Plant Cell & Environment 30: 1163-1175.

Huege J., Sulpice R., Gibon Y., Lisec J., Koehl K., Kopka J. (2007) GC-EI-TOF-MS analysis of in vivo carbon-partitioning into soluble metabolite pools of higher plants by monitoring isotope dilution after 13CO2 labelling. Phytochemistry 68: 2258-72.

Yang Y., Sulpice R., Himmelbach A., Meinhard M., Christmann A., and Grill E., (2006) Fibrillin expression is regulated by abscisic acid response regulators and is involved in abscisic acid-mediated photoprotection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103 (15): 6061-6066.

Cross J.M., Von Korff M., Altmann T., Bartzetko L., Sulpice R., Gibon Y., Palacios N., and Stitt M. (2006) Variation of enzyme activities and metabolite levels in 24 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions growing in carbon-limited conditions.  Plant Physiology. 142 (4): 1574-1588.

Sakamoto A., Sulpice R., Hou C. X., Kinoshita M., Higashi S. I., Kanaseki T., Nonaka H., Yong Moon B. and Norio Murata (2004) Genetic modification of the fatty acid unsaturation of phosphatidylglycerol in chloroplasts alters the sensitivity of tobacco plants to cold stress. Plant Cell & Environment, 27, 99-105.

Larher F.R., Aziz A., Gibon Y., Trotel-Aziz P., Sulpice R., Bouchereau A. (2003) An assessment of the physiological properties of the so-called compatible solutes using in vitro experiments with leaf discs. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 41, 657-666.

Ferjani A., Mustardy L., Sulpice R., Marin K., Hagemann M. and Murata N (2003). Glucosyl glycerol, a compatible solute, sustains cell division under salt stress. Plant Physioogy. 131, 1628-37.

Huguet-Robert V., Sulpice R., Lefort C., Maerskalck V., Emery R. J. N. and Larher F. (2003) The suppression of osmoinduced proline response of Brassica napus L. leaf discs by polyinsaturated fatty acids and methyl-jasmonate. Plant Science 164, 119-127.

Sulpice R., Tsukaya H., Nonaka H., Chen T. H. H. and Murata N. (2003) Enhanced formation of flowers and seeds in salt-stressed Arabidopsis after genetic engineering of the accumulation of glycinebetaine. The Plant Journal, 36, 165-176.

Sulpice R., Gibon Y., Cornic G. and Larher F. R. (2002) Interaction between exogenous glycine betaine and the photorespiratory pathway in canola leaf discs. Physiologia Plantarum 116, 460-467.

Gibon Y., Sulpice R. and Larher F. (2000) Proline accumulation and osmotic stress resistance in canola leaf discs. Physiologia Plantarum 110, 469-476.

Dorin D., Alano P., Boccaccio I., Cicéron L., Doerig C., Sulpice R., Parzy D. and Doerig C. (1999) An atypical mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) homologue expressed in gametocytes of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 274, 29912-29920.

Sulpice R., Gibon Y., Bouchereau A. and Larher F. (1998) Exogenously supplied glycine betaine in spinach and rapeseeed leaf discs: compatibility or non compatibility? Plant Cell & Environment, 21, 1285-1292.

    

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