Geschmack ist vorhersagbar: Mit FlavorMiner. FlavorMiner heißt das Tool, das IPB-Chemiker und Partner aus Kolumbien jüngst entwickelt haben. Das Programm kann, basierend auf maschinellem Lernen (KI), anhand der…
Seit Februar 2021 bietet Wolfgang Brandt, ehemaliger Leiter der Arbeitsgruppe Computerchemie am IPB, sein Citizen Science-Projekt zur Pilzbestimmung an. Dafür hat er in regelmäßigen Abständen öffentliche Vorträge zur Vielfalt…
Salinity poses a serious threat to global agriculture and human food security. A better understanding of plant adaptation to salt stress is, therefore, mandatory. In the non-photosynthetic cells of the root, salinity perturbs oxidative balance in mitochondria, leading to cell death. In parallel, plastids accumulate the jasmonate precursor cis (+)12-Oxo-Phyto-Dienoic Acid (OPDA) that is then translocated to peroxisomes and has been identified as promoting factor for salt-induced cell death as well. In the current study, we probed for a potential interaction between these three organelles that are primarily dealing with oxidative metabolism. We made use of two tools: (i) Rice OPDA Reductase 7 (OsOPR7), an enzyme localised in peroxisomes converting OPDA into the precursors of the stress hormone JA-Ile. (ii) A Trojan Peptoid, Plant PeptoQ, which can specifically target to mitochondria and scavenge excessive superoxide accumulating in response to salt stress. We show that overexpression of OsOPR7 as GFP fusion in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bright Yellow 2, BY-2) cells, as well as a pretreatment with Plant PeptoQ can mitigate salt stress with respect to numerous aspects including proliferation, expansion, ionic balance, redox homeostasis, and mortality. This mitigation correlates with a more robust oxidative balance, evident from a higher activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), lower levels of superoxide and lipid peroxidation damage, and a conspicuous and specific upregulation of mitochondrial SOD transcripts. Although both, Plant PeptoQ and ectopic OsOPR7, were acting in parallel and mostly additive, there are two specific differences: (i) OsOPR7 is strictly localised to the peroxisomes, while Plant PeptoQ found in mitochondria. (ii) Plant PeptoQ activates transcripts of NAC, a factor involved in retrograde signalling from mitochondria to the nucleus, while these transcripts are suppressed significantly in the cells overexpressing OsOPR7. The fact that overexpression of a peroxisomal enzyme shifting the jasmonate pathway from the cell-death signal OPDA towards JA-Ile, a hormone linked with salt adaptation, is accompanied by more robust redox homeostasis in a different organelle, the mitochondrion, indicates that cross-talk between peroxisome and mitochondrion is a crucial factor for efficient adaptation to salt stress.
Publikation
Verhertbruggen, Y.; Bouder, A.; Vigouroux, J.; Alvarado, C.; Geairon, A.; Guillon, F.; Wilkinson, M. D.; Stritt, F.; Pauly, M.; Lee, M. Y.; Mortimer, J. C.; Scheller, H. V.; Mitchell, R. A.; Voiniciuc, C.; Saulnier, L.; Chateigner-Boutin, A.-L.;The TaCslA12 gene expressed in the wheat grain endosperm synthesizes wheat-like mannan when expressed in yeast and ArabidopsisPlant Sci.302110693(2021)DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2020.110693
Mannan is a class of cell wall polysaccharides widespread in the plant kingdom. Mannan structure and properties vary according to species and organ. The cell walls of cereal grains have been extensively studied due to their role in cereal processing and to their beneficial effect on human health as dietary fiber. Recently, we showed that mannan in wheat (Triticum aestivum) grain endosperm has a linear structure of β-1,4-linked mannose residues. The aim of this work was to study the biosynthesis and function of wheat grain mannan. We showed that mannan is deposited in the endosperm early during grain development, and we identified candidate mannan biosynthetic genes expressed in the endosperm. The functional study in wheat was unsuccessful therefore our best candidate genes were expressed in heterologous systems. The endosperm-specificTaCslA12 gene expressed in Pichia pastoris and in an Arabidopsis thaliana mutant depleted in glucomannan led to the production of wheat-like linear mannan lacking glucose residues and with moderate acetylation. Therefore, this gene encodes a mannan synthase and is likely responsible for the synthesis of wheat endosperm mannan.
Publikation
Jablonická, V.; Ziegler, J.; Vatehová, Z.; Lišková, D.; Heilmann, I.; Obložinský, M.; Heilmann, M.;Inhibition of phospholipases influences the metabolism of wound-induced benzylisoquinoline alkaloids in Papaver somniferum L.J. Plant Physiol.2231-8(2018)DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2018.01.007
Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are important secondary plant metabolites and include medicinally relevant drugs, such as morphine or codeine. As the de novo synthesis of BIA backbones is (still) unfeasible, to date the opium poppy plant Papaver somniferum L. represents the main source of BIAs. The formation of BIAs is induced in poppy plants by stress conditions, such as wounding or salt treatment; however, the details about regulatory processes controlling BIA formation in opium poppy are not well studied. Environmental stresses, such as wounding or salinization, are transduced in plants by phospholipid-based signaling pathways, which involve different classes of phospholipases. Here we investigate whether pharmacological inhibition of phospholipase A2 (PLA2, inhibited by aristolochic acid (AA)) or phospholipase D (PLD; inhibited by 5-fluoro-2-indolyl des-chlorohalopemide (FIPI)) in poppy plants influences wound-induced BIA accumulation and the expression of key biosynthetic genes. We show that inhibition of PLA2 results in increased morphinan biosynthesis concomitant with reduced production of BIAs of the papaverine branch, whereas inhibition of PLD results in increased production of BIAs of the noscapine branch. The data suggest that phospholipid-dependent signaling pathways contribute to the activation of morphine biosynthesis at the expense of the production of other BIAs in poppy plants. A better understanding of the effectors and the principles of regulation of alkaloid biosynthesis might be the basis for the future genetic modification of opium poppy to optimize BIA production.
Publikation
Frolov, A.; Bilova, T.; Paudel, G.; Berger, R.; Balcke, G. U.; Birkemeyer, C.; Wessjohann, L. A.;Early responses of mature Arabidopsis thaliana plants to reduced water potential in the agar-based polyethylene glycol infusion drought modelJ. Plant Physiol.20870-83(2017)DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2016.09.013
Drought is one of the most important environmental stressors resulting in increasing losses of crop plant productivity all over the world. Therefore, development of new approaches to increase the stress tolerance of crop plants is strongly desired. This requires precise and adequate modeling of drought stress. As this type of stress manifests itself as a steady decrease in the substrate water potential (ψw), agar plates infused with polyethylene glycol (PEG) are the perfect experimental tool: they are easy in preparation and provide a constantly reduced ψw, which is not possible in soil models. However, currently, this model is applicable only to seedlings and cannot be used for evaluation of stress responses in mature plants, which are obviously the most appropriate objects for drought tolerance research. To overcome this limitation, here we introduce a PEG-based agar infusion model suitable for 6–8-week-old A. thaliana plants, and characterize, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, the early drought stress responses of adult plants grown on PEG-infused agar. We describe essential alterations in the primary metabolome (sugars and related compounds, amino acids and polyamines) accompanied by qualitative and quantitative changes in protein patterns: up to 87 unique stress-related proteins were annotated under drought stress conditions, whereas further 84 proteins showed a change in abundance. The obtained proteome patterns differed slightly from those reported for seedlings and soil-based models.