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Publications - Cell and Metabolic Biology
Publications
In contrast to animal lectins, no evidence has indicated the occurrence of plant lectins, which recognize and bind “endogenous” receptors and accordingly are involved in recognition mechanisms within the organism itself. Here we show that the plant hormone jasmonic acid methyl ester (JAME) induces in leaves of Nicotiana tabacum (var. Samsun NN) the expression of a lectin that is absent from untreated plants. The lectin specifically binds to oligomers of N‐acetylglucosamine and is detected exclusively in the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Both the subcellular location and specificity indicate that the Nicotiana tabacum agglutinin (called Nictaba) may be involved in the regulation of gene expression in stressed plants through specific protein‐carbohydrate interactions with regulatory cytoplasmic/nuclear glycoproteins. Searches in the databases revealed that many flowering plants contain sequences encoding putative homologues of the tobacco lectin, which suggest that Nictaba is the prototype of a widespread or possibly ubiquitous family of lectins with a specific endogenous role.
Publications
Carbohydrates are synthesised in photosynthetically active source tissues and exported, in most species in the form of sucrose, to photosynthetically less active or inactive sink tissues. Sucrose hydrolysis at the site of utilisation contributes to phloem unloading. This phenomenon links sink metabolism with phloem transport to, and partitioning between, sinks. Invertases catalyse the irreversible hydrolysis of sucrose and thus are expected to contribute to carbohydrate partitioning. Different invertase isoenzymes may be distinguished based on their intracellular location, their isoelectric points and pH optima. Extracellular, cell-wall-bound invertase is uniquely positioned to supply carbohydrates to sink tissues via an apoplasmic pathway, and links the transport sugar sucrose to hexose transporters. A number of studies demonstrate an essential function of this invertase isoenzyme for phloem unloading, carbohydrate partitioning and growth of sink tissues. Extracellular invertases were shown to be specifically expressed under conditions that require a high carbohydrate supply to sink tissues. Further, their expression is upregulated by a number of stimuli that affect source–sink relations. Substrate and reaction products of invertases are not only nutri-ents, but also signal molecules. Like hormones and in combination with hormones and other stimuli, they can regu-late many aspects of plant development from gene expression to long-distance nutrient allocation. Based on studies in Chenopodium rubrum, tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), the regulation of extracellular invertase and its function in assimilate partitioning, defence reactions and sugar signal transduction pathways are discussed.
This page was last modified on 27 Jan 2025 .
