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Publications - Cell and Metabolic Biology

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Publications

Grützner, R.; Martin, P.; Horn, C.; Mortensen, S.; Cram, E. J.; Lee-Parsons, C. W.; Stuttmann, J.; Marillonnet, S.; High-efficiency genome editing in plants mediated by a Cas9 gene containing multiple introns Plant Communications 2, 100135, (2021) DOI: 10.1016/j.xplc.2020.100135

The recent discovery of the mode of action of the CRISPR/Cas9 system has provided biologists with a useful tool for generating site-specific mutations in genes of interest. In plants, site-targeted mutations are usually obtained by the stable transformation of a Cas9 expression construct into the plant genome. The efficiency of introducing mutations in genes of interest can vary considerably depending on the specific features of the constructs, including the source and nature of the promoters and terminators used for the expression of the Cas9 gene and the guide RNA, and the sequence of the Cas9 nuclease itself. To optimize the efficiency of the Cas9 nuclease in generating mutations in target genes in Arabidopsis thaliana, we investigated several features of its nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence, including the codon usage, the number of nuclear localization signals (NLSs), and the presence or absence of introns. We found that the Cas9 gene codon usage had some effect on its activity and that two NLSs worked better than one. However, the highest efficiency of the constructs was achieved by the addition of 13 introns into the Cas9 coding sequence, which dramatically improved the editing efficiency of the constructs. None of the primary transformants obtained with a Cas9 gene lacking introns displayed a knockout mutant phenotype, whereas between 70% and 100% of the primary transformants generated with the intronized Cas9 gene displayed mutant phenotypes. The intronized Cas9 gene was also found to be effective in other plants such as Nicotiana benthamiana and Catharanthus roseus.
Publications

Grützner, R.; Schubert, R.; Horn, C.; Yang, C.; Vogt, T.; Marillonnet, S.; Engineering Betalain Biosynthesis in Tomato for High Level Betanin Production in Fruits Front. Plant Sci. 12, 682443, (2021) DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.682443

Betalains are pigments found in plants of the Caryophyllales order, and include the red-purple betacyanins and the yellow-orange betaxanthins. The red pigment from red beets, betanin, is made from tyrosine by a biosynthetic pathway that consists of a cytochrome P450, a L-DOPA dioxygenase, and a glucosyltransferase. The entire pathway was recently reconstituted in plants that do not make betalains naturally including potato and tomato plants. The amount of betanin produced in these plants was however not as high as in red beets. It was recently shown that a plastidic arogenate dehydrogenase gene involved in biosynthesis of tyrosine in plants is duplicated in Beta vulgaris and other betalain-producing plants, and that one of the two encoded enzymes, BvADHα, has relaxed feedback inhibition by tyrosine, contributing to the high amount of betanin found in red beets. We have reconstituted the complete betanin biosynthetic pathway in tomato plants with or without a BvADHα gene, and with all genes expressed under control of a fruit-specific promoter. The plants obtained with a construct containing BvADHα produced betanin at a higher level than plants obtained with a construct lacking this gene. These results show that use of BvADHα can be useful for high level production of betalains in heterologous hosts. Unlike red beets that produce both betacyanins and betaxanthins, the transformed tomatoes produced betacyanins only, conferring a bright purple-fuschia color to the tomato juice.
Publications

Bittner, A.; Hause, B.; Baier, M.; Cold-priming causes oxylipin dampening during the early cold and light response of Arabidopsis thaliana J. Exp. Bot. 72, 7163-7179, (2021) DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erab314

Abstract The comparison of transcriptome time-courses of the first 2 h of the cold or highlight response of 24 h cold primed and naive Arabidopsis thaliana showed that priming quickly modifies gene expression in a trigger-specific manner. It dampened up- as well as down-regulation of genes in the cold and in the light. 1/3 of the priming-regulated genes were jasmonate sensitive, including the full set of genes required for oxylipin biosynthesis. qPCR-based analysis in wildtype plants and mutants demonstrated that OPDA (12-oxo phytenoic acid) biosynthesis relative to the jasmonic acid (JA) availability controls dampening of the genes for oxylipin biosynthetic enzymes: Gene regulation in oxylipin biosynthesis mutants more strongly depended on the biosynthesis of the JA precursor OPDA than on its conversion to JA. Additionally, priming-dependent dampening during triggering was more linked to OPDA than to JA level regulation and spray application of OPDA prior to triggering counteracted gene dampening. In contrast to cold-priming induced dampening of ZAT10, priming regulation of the oxylipin hub was insensitive to priming-induced accumulation of thylakoid ascorbate peroxidase and mediated by modulation of the oxylipin sensitivity of genes for OPDA biosynthesis.
Publications

Püllmann, P.; Knorrscheidt, A.; Münch, J.; Palme, P. R.; Hoehenwarter, W.; Marillonnet, S.; Alcalde, M.; Westermann, B.; Weissenborn, M. J.; A modular two yeast species secretion system for the production and preparative application of unspecific peroxygenases Commun. Biol. 4, 562, (2021) DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02076-3

AbstractFungal unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs) represent an enzyme class catalysing versatile oxyfunctionalisation reactions on a broad substrate scope. They are occurring as secreted, glycosylated proteins bearing a haem-thiolate active site and rely on hydrogen peroxide as the oxygen source. However, their heterologous production in a fast-growing organism suitable for high throughput screening has only succeeded once—enabled by an intensive directed evolution campaign. We developed and applied a modular Golden Gate-based secretion system, allowing the first production of four active UPOs in yeast, their one-step purification and application in an enantioselective conversion on a preparative scale. The Golden Gate setup was designed to be universally applicable and consists of the three module types: i) signal peptides for secretion, ii) UPO genes, and iii) protein tags for purification and split-GFP detection. The modular episomal system is suitable for use in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and was transferred to episomal and chromosomally integrated expression cassettes in Pichia pastoris. Shake flask productions in Pichia pastoris yielded up to 24 mg/L secreted UPO enzyme, which was employed for the preparative scale conversion of a phenethylamine derivative reaching 98.6 % ee. Our results demonstrate a rapid, modular yeast secretion workflow of UPOs yielding preparative scale enantioselective biotransformations.
Publications

Peters, K.; Balcke, G.; Kleinenkuhnen, N.; Treutler, H.; Neumann, S.; Untargeted in silico compound classification—A novel metabolomics method to assess the chemodiversity in bryophytes Int. J. Mol. Sci. 22, 3251, (2021) DOI: 10.3390/ijms22063251

In plant ecology, biochemical analyses of bryophytes and vascular plants are often conducted on dried herbarium specimen as species typically grow in distant and inaccessible locations. Here, we present an automated in silico compound classification framework to annotate metabolites using an untargeted data independent acquisition (DIA)–LC/MS–QToF-sequential windowed acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion mass spectra (SWATH) ecometabolomics analytical method. We perform a comparative investigation of the chemical diversity at the global level and the composition of metabolite families in ten different species of bryophytes using fresh samples collected on-site and dried specimen stored in a herbarium for half a year. Shannon and Pielou’s diversity indices, hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), sparse partial least squares discriminant analysis (sPLS-DA), distance-based redundancy analysis (dbRDA), ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD) test, and the Fisher’s exact test were used to determine differences in the richness and composition of metabolite families, with regard to herbarium conditions, ecological characteristics, and species. We functionally annotated metabolite families to biochemical processes related to the structural integrity of membranes and cell walls (proto-lignin, glycerophospholipids, carbohydrates), chemical defense (polyphenols, steroids), reactive oxygen species (ROS) protection (alkaloids, amino acids, flavonoids), nutrition (nitrogen- and phosphate-containing glycerophospholipids), and photosynthesis. Changes in the composition of metabolite families also explained variance related to ecological functioning like physiological adaptations of bryophytes to dry environments (proteins, peptides, flavonoids, terpenes), light availability (flavonoids, terpenes, carbohydrates), temperature (flavonoids), and biotic interactions (steroids, terpenes). The results from this study allow to construct chemical traits that can be attributed to biogeochemistry, habitat conditions, environmental changes and biotic interactions. Our classification framework accelerates the complex annotation process in metabolomics and can be used to simplify biochemical patterns. We show that compound classification is a powerful tool that allows to explore relationships in both molecular biology by “zooming in” and in ecology by “zooming out”. The insights revealed by our framework allow to construct new research hypotheses and to enable detailed follow-up studies.
Publications

Ordon, J.; Martin, P.; Erickson, J. L.; Ferik, F.; Balcke, G.; Bonas, U.; Stuttmann, J.; Disentangling cause and consequence: genetic dissection of the DANGEROUS MIX2 risk locus, and activation of the DM2h NLR in autoimmunity Plant J. 106, 1008-1023, (2021) DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15215

Nucleotide-binding domain–leucine-rich repeat-type immune receptors (NLRs) protect plants against pathogenic microbes through intracellular detection of effector proteins. However, this comes at a cost, as NLRs can also induce detrimental autoimmunity in genetic interactions with foreign alleles. This may occur when independently evolved genomes are combined in inter- or intraspecific crosses, or when foreign alleles are introduced by mutagenesis or transgenesis. Most autoimmunity-inducing NLRs are encoded within highly variable NLR gene clusters with no known immune functions, which were termed autoimmune risk loci. Whether risk NLRs differ from sensor NLRs operating in natural pathogen resistance and how risk NLRs are activated in autoimmunity is unknown. Here, we analyzed the DANGEROUS MIX2 risk locus, a major autoimmunity hotspot in Arabidopsis thaliana. By gene editing and heterologous expression, we show that a single gene, DM2h, is necessary and sufficient for autoimmune induction in three independent cases of autoimmunity in accession Landsberg erecta. We focus on autoimmunity provoked by an EDS1-yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)NLS fusion protein to characterize DM2h functionally and determine features of EDS1-YFPNLS activating the immune receptor. Our data suggest that risk NLRs function in a manner reminiscent of sensor NLRs, while autoimmunity-inducing properties of EDS1-YFPNLS in this context are unrelated to the protein\'s functions as an immune regulator. We propose that autoimmunity, at least in some cases, may be caused by spurious, stochastic interactions of foreign alleles with coincidentally matching risk NLRs.
Publications

Mielke, S.; Zimmer, M.; Meena, M. K.; Dreos, R.; Stellmach, H.; Hause, B.; Voiniciuc, C.; Gasperini, D.; Jasmonate biosynthesis arising from altered cell walls is prompted by turgor-driven mechanical compression Sci. Adv. 7, eabf0356, (2021) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf0356

Despite the vital roles of jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile) in governing plant growth and environmental acclimation, it remains unclear what intracellular processes lead to its induction. Here, we provide compelling genetic evidence that mechanical and osmotic regulation of turgor pressure represents a key elicitor of JA-Ile biosynthesis. After identifying cell wall mutant alleles in KORRIGAN1 (KOR1) with elevated JA-Ile in seedling roots, we found that ectopic JA-Ile resulted from cell nonautonomous signals deriving from enlarged cortex cells compressing inner tissues and stimulating JA-Ile production. Restoring cortex cell size by cell type–specific KOR1 complementation, by isolating a genetic kor1 suppressor, and by lowering turgor pressure with hyperosmotic treatments abolished JA-Ile signaling. Conversely, hypoosmotic treatment activated JA-Ile signaling in wild-type plants. Furthermore, constitutive JA-Ile levels guided mutant roots toward greater water availability. Collectively, these findings enhance our understanding on JA-Ile biosynthesis initiation and reveal a previously undescribed role of JA-Ile in orchestrating environmental resilience.
Preprints

Püllmann, P.; Knorrscheidt, A.; Münch, J.; Palme, P. R.; Hoehenwarter, W.; Marillonnet, S.; Alcalde, M.; Westermann, B.; Weissenborn, M. J.; A modular two yeast species secretion system for the production and preparative application of fungal peroxygenases bioRxiv (2020) DOI: 10.1101/2020.07.22.216432

Fungal unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs) are biocatalysts of outstanding interest. Providing access to novel UPOs using a modular secretion system was the central goal of this work. UPOs represent an enzyme class, catalysing versatile oxyfunctionalisation reactions on a broad substrate scope. They are occurring as secreted, glycosylated proteins bearing a haem-thiolate active site and solely rely on hydrogen peroxide as the oxygen source. Fungal peroxygenases are widespread throughout the fungal kingdom and hence a huge variety of UPO gene sequences is available. However, the heterologous production of UPOs in a fast-growing organism suitable for high throughput screening has only succeeded once—enabled by an intensive directed evolution campaign. Here, we developed and applied a modular Golden Gate-based secretion system, allowing the first yeast production of four active UPOs, their one-step purification and application in an enantioselective conversion on a preparative scale. The Golden Gate setup was designed to be broadly applicable and consists of the three module types: i) a signal peptide panel guiding secretion, ii) UPO genes, and iii) protein tags for purification and split-GFP detection. We show that optimal signal peptides could be selected for successful UPO secretion by combinatorial testing of 17 signal peptides for each UPO gene. The modular episomal system is suitable for use in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and was transferred to episomal and chromosomally integrated expression cassettes in Pichia pastoris. Shake flask productions in Pichia pastoris yielded up to 24 mg/L secreted UPO enzyme, which was employed for the preparative scale conversion of a phenethylamine derivative reaching 98.6 % ee. Our results demonstrate a rapid workflow from putative UPO gene to preparative scale enantioselective biotransformations.
Preprints

Grützner, R.; Martin, P.; Horn, C.; Mortensen, S.; Cram, E. J.; Lee-Parsons, C. W. T.; Stuttmann, J.; Marillonnet, S.; Addition of Multiple Introns to a Cas9 Gene Results in Dramatic Improvement in Efficiency for Generation of Gene Knockouts in Plants bioRxiv (2020) DOI: 10.1101/2020.04.03.023036

The recent discovery of the mode of action of the CRISPR/Cas9 system has provided biologists with a useful tool for generating site-specific mutations in genes of interest. In plants, site-targeted mutations are usually obtained by stably transforming a Cas9 expression construct into the plant genome. The efficiency with which mutations are obtained in genes of interest can vary considerably depending on specific features of the constructs, including the source and nature of the promoters and terminators used for expression of the Cas9 gene and the guide RNA, and the sequence of the Cas9 nuclease itself. To optimize the efficiency with which mutations could be obtained in target genes in Arabidopsis thaliana with the Cas9 nuclease, we have investigated several features of its nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence, including the codon usage, the number of nuclear localization signals (NLS) and the presence or absence of introns. We found that the Cas9 gene codon usage had some effect on Cas9 activity and that two NLSs work better than one. However, the most important impact on the efficiency of the constructs was obtained by addition of 13 introns into the Cas9 coding sequence, which dramatically improved editing efficiencies of the constructs; none of the primary transformants obtained with a Cas9 lacking introns displayed a knockout mutant phenotype, whereas between 70% and 100% of primary transformants generated with intronized Cas9 displayed mutant phenotypes. The intronized Cas9 was also found to be effective in other plants such as Nicotiana benthamiana and Catharanthus roseus.
Preprints

Barthel, K.; Martin, P.; Ordon, J.; Erickson, J. L.; Gantner, J.; Erickson, J. L.; Herr, R.; Kretschmer, C.; Ferik, F.; Berner, T.; Keilwagen, J.; Marillonnet, S.; Stuttmann, J.; Bonas, U.; One-shot generation of duodecuple (12x) mutant Arabidopsis: Highly efficient routine editing in model species bioRxiv (2020) DOI: 10.1101/2020.03.31.018671

Genome editing by RNA-guided nucleases in model species is still hampered by low efficiencies, and isolation of transgene-free individuals often requires tedious PCR screening. Here, we present a toolkit that mitigates these drawbacks for Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis thaliana. The toolkit is based on an intron-optimized SpCas9-coding gene (zCas9i), which conveys dramatically enhanced editing efficiencies. The zCas9i gene is combined with remaining components of the genome editing system in recipient vectors, which lack only the user-defined guide RNA transcriptional units. Up to 32 guide RNA transcriptional units can be introduced to these recipients by a simple and PCR-free cloning strategy, with the choice of three different RNA polymerase III promoters for guide RNA expression. We developed new markers to aid transgene counter-selection in N. benthamiana, and demonstrate their efficacy for isolation of several genome-edited N. benthamiana lines. In Arabidopsis, we explore the limits of multiplexing by simultaneously targeting 12 genes by 24 sgRNAs. Perhaps surprisingly, the limiting factor in such higher order multiplexing applications is Cas9 availability, rather than recombination or silencing of repetitive sgRNA TU arrays. Through a combination of phenotypic screening and pooled amplicon sequencing, we identify transgene-free duodecuple mutant Arabidopsis plants directly in the T2 generation. This demonstrates high efficiency of the zCas9i gene, and reveals new perspectives for multiplexing to target gene families and to generate higher order mutants.
  • Die Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
  • Digitalization in agriculture
  • Universität Halle
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