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…
Cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]cyt) elevation is an early signaling response upon exposure to pathogen-derived molecules (so-called microbe-associated molecular patterns, MAMPs) and has been successfully used as a quantitative read-out in genetic screens to identify MAMP receptors or their associated components. Here, we isolated and identified by mass spectrometry the dipeptide γ-Glu-Leu as a component of a Phytophthora infestans mycelium extract that induces [Ca2+]cyt elevation. Treatment of Arabidopsis seedlings with synthetic γ-Glu-Leu revealed stimulatory effects on defense signaling, including a weak enhancement of the expression of some MAMP-inducible genes or affecting the refractory period to a second MAMP elicitation. However, γ-Glu-Leu is not a classical MAMP since pH adjustment abolished these activities and importantly, the observed effects of γ-Glu-Leu could be recapitulated by mimicking extracellular acidification. Thus, although γ-Glu-Leu can act as a direct agonist of calcium sensing receptors in animal systems, the Ca2+-mobilizing activity in plants reported here is due to acidification. Low pH also shapes the Ca2+ signature of well-studied MAMPs (e.g. flg22) or excitatory amino acids such as glutamate. Overall, this work serves as a cautionary reminder that in defense signaling studies where Ca2+ flux measurements are concerned, it is important to monitor and consider the effects of pH.
Publikation
Ruttkies, C.; Schymanski, E. L.; Strehmel, N.; Hollender, J.; Neumann, S.; Williams, A. J.; Krauss, M.;Supporting non-target identification by adding hydrogen deuterium exchange MS/MS capabilities to MetFragAnal. Bioanal. Chem.4114683-4700(2019)DOI: 10.1007/s00216-019-01885-0
Liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) is increasingly popular for the non-targeted exploration of complex samples, where tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is used to characterize the structure of unknown compounds. However, mass spectra do not always contain sufficient information to unequivocally identify the correct structure. This study investigated how much additional information can be gained using hydrogen deuterium exchange (HDX) experiments. The exchange of “easily exchangeable” hydrogen atoms (connected to heteroatoms), with predominantly [M+D]+ ions in positive mode and [M-D]− in negative mode was observed. To enable high-throughput processing, new scoring terms were incorporated into the in silico fragmenter MetFrag. These were initially developed on small datasets and then tested on 762 compounds of environmental interest. Pairs of spectra (normal and deuterated) were found for 593 of these substances (506 positive mode, 155 negative mode spectra). The new scoring terms resulted in 29 additional correct identifications (78 vs 49) for positive mode and an increase in top 10 rankings from 80 to 106 in negative mode. Compounds with dual functionality (polar head group, long apolar tail) exhibited dramatic retention time (RT) shifts of up to several minutes, compared with an average 0.04 min RT shift. For a smaller dataset of 80 metabolites, top 10 rankings improved from 13 to 24 (positive mode, 57 spectra) and from 14 to 31 (negative mode, 63 spectra) when including HDX information. The results of standard measurements were confirmed using targets and tentatively identified surfactant species in an environmental sample collected from the river Danube near Novi Sad (Serbia). The changes to MetFrag have been integrated into the command line version available at http://c-ruttkies.github.io/MetFrag and all resulting spectra and compounds are available in online resources and in the Electronic Supplementary Material (ESM).
Publikation
Cotrim, C. A.; Weidner, A.; Strehmel, N.; Bisol, T. B.; Meyer, D.; Brandt, W.; Wessjohann, L. A.; Stubbs, M. T.;A Distinct Aromatic Prenyltransferase Associated with the Futalosine PathwayChemistrySelect29319-9325(2017)DOI: 10.1002/slct.201702151
Menaquinone (MK) is an electron carrier molecule essential for respiration in most Gram positive bacteria. A crucial step in MK biosynthesis involves the prenylation of an aromatic molecule, catalyzed by integral membrane prenyltransferases of the UbiA (4‐hydroxybenzoate oligoprenyltransferase) superfamily. In the classical MK biosynthetic pathway, the prenyltransferase responsible is MenA (1,4‐dihydroxy‐2‐naphthoate octaprenyltransferase). Recently, an alternative pathway for formation of MK, the so‐called futalosine pathway, has been described in certain micro‐organisms. Until now, five soluble enzymes (MqnA‐MqnE) have been identified in the first steps. In this study, the genes annotated as ubiA from T. thermophilus and S. lividans were cloned, expressed and investigated for prenylation activity. The integral membrane proteins possess neither UbiA nor MenA activity and represent a distinct class of prenyltransferases associated with the futalosine pathway that we term MqnP. We identify a critical residue within a highly conserved Asp‐rich motif that serves to distinguish between members of the UbiA superfamily.
Publikation
Strehmel, N.; Hoehenwarter, W.; Mönchgesang, S.; Majovsky, P.; Krüger, S.; Scheel, D.; Lee, J.;Stress-Related Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases Stimulate the Accumulation of Small Molecules and Proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana Root ExudatesFront. Plant Sci.81292(2017)DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01292
A delicate balance in cellular signaling is required for plants to respond to microorganisms or to changes in their environment. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are one of the signaling modules that mediate transduction of extracellular microbial signals into appropriate cellular responses. Here, we employ a transgenic system that simulates activation of two pathogen/stress-responsive MAPKs to study release of metabolites and proteins into root exudates. The premise is based on our previous proteomics study that suggests upregulation of secretory processes in this transgenic system. An advantage of this experimental set-up is the direct focus on MAPK-regulated processes without the confounding complications of other signaling pathways activated by exposure to microbes or microbial molecules. Using non-targeted metabolomics and proteomics studies, we show that MAPK activation can indeed drive the appearance of dipeptides, defense-related metabolites and proteins in root apoplastic fluid. However, the relative levels of other compounds in the exudates were decreased. This points to a bidirectional control of metabolite and protein release into the apoplast. The putative roles for some of the identified apoplastic metabolites and proteins are discussed with respect to possible antimicrobial/defense or allelopathic properties. Overall, our findings demonstrate that sustained activation of MAPKs alters the composition of apoplastic root metabolites and proteins, presumably to influence the plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere. The reported metabolomics and proteomics data are available via Metabolights (Identifier: MTBLS441) and ProteomeXchange (Identifier: PXD006328), respectively.