Mode of Action of Jasmonates

We investigated transgenic tobacco lines which express different amounts of the barley JIP 23. In these plants the amount of several proteins decreased proportionally to increasing amounts of JIP 23 whereas the transcript levels were constant as determined for the small and the large subunit of RuBPCase. However, the translation initiation of the rbcS transcript was found to be less efficient than in the wild type. In contrast, the jip 23 transcript was efficiently initiated, indicating that no unspecific impairment of initiation occurred. The data suggest that the barley JIP 23 leads to discrimination among certain tobacco transcripts during translation initiation.

In this paper we report the in-planta activity of the ribosome-inactivating protein JIP60, a 60-kDa jasmonate-induced protein from barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants. All plants expressing the complete JIP60 cDNA under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter exhibited conspicuous and similar phenotypic alterations, such as slower growth, shorter internodes, lanceolate leaves, reduced root development, and premature senescence of leaves. Microscopic inspection of developing leaves showed a loss of residual meristems and higher degree of vacuolation of mesophyll cells as compared to the wild type. When probed with an antiserum which was immunoreactive against both the N- and the C-terminal half of JIP60, a polypeptide with a molecular mass of about 30 kDa, most probably a processed JIP60 product, could be detected. Phenotypic alterations could be correlated with the differences in the detectable amount of the JIP60 mRNA and processed JIP60 protein. The protein biosynthesis of the transformants was characterized by an increased polysome/monosome ratio but a decreased in-vivo translation activity. These findings suggest that JIP60 perturbs the translation machinery in planta. An immunohistological analysis using the JIP60 antiserum indicated that the immunoreactive polypeptide(s) are located mainly in the nucleus of transgenic tobacco leaf cells and to a minor extent in the cytoplasm.

Changes in lipoxygenase (LOX) protein pattern and/or activity were investigated in relation to acquired resistance of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) leaves against two powdery mildews, Sphaerotheca fuliginea (Schlecht) Salmon and Erysiphe cichoracearum DC et Merat. Acquired resistance was established by spraying leaves with salicylic acid (SA) or 2,6‐dichloroisonicotinic acid (INA) and estimated in whole plants by infested leaf area compared to control plants. SA was more effective than INA. According to Western blots, untreated cucumber leaves contained a 97 kDa LOX form, which remained unchanged for up to 48 h after pathogen inoculation. Upon treatment with SA alone for 24 h or with INA plus pathogen, an additional 95 kDa LOX form appeared which had an isoelectric point in the alkaline range. For the induction of this form, a threshold concentration of 1 mM SA was required, higher SA concentrations did not change LOX‐95 expression which remained similar between 24 h and 96 h but further increased upon mildew inoculation. Phloem exudates contained only the LOX‐97 form, in intercellular washing fluid no LOX was detected. dichloroisonicotinic localization revealed LOX protein in the cytosol of the mesophyll cells without differences between the forms.

The germination process of oilseed plants is characterized by a mobilization of the storage lipids which constitute the major carbon source for the growing seedling. Despite the physiological importance of the lipid mobilization, the mechanism of this process is not well understood. Recently, it was found that a specific linoleate 13-lipoxygenase is induced during the stage of lipid mobilization in various oilseed plants and that this enzyme is translocated to the membranes of the lipid storage organelles, the so called lipid bodies. Lipoxygenase expression was paralleled by the occurrence of enantiospecific hydro(pero)xy polyenoic fatty acid derivatives in the storage lipids suggesting the in vivo action of the enzyme. Furthermore, it was reported that oxygenated polyenoic fatty acids, in particular as 13(S)-hydro(pero)xy-9(Z),11(E)-octadecanoic acid [13(S)-H(P)ODE], are cleaved preferentially from the storage lipids when compared with their non-oxygenated linoleate residues. These findings may suggest that 13(S)-H(P)ODE may constitute the endogenous substrate for β-oxidation during lipid mobilization of oilseed plants.

At early stages of germination, a special lipoxygenase is expressed in cotyledons of cucumber and several other plants. This enzyme is localized at the lipid storage organelles and oxygenates their storage triacylglycerols. We have isolated this lipid body lipoxygenase from cucumber seedlings and found that it is capable of oxygenating in vitro di- and trilinolein to the corresponding mono-, di-, and trihydroperoxy derivatives. To investigate the in vivo activity of this enzyme during germination, lipid bodies were isolated from cucumber seedlings at different stages of germination, and the triacylglycerols were analyzed for oxygenated derivatives by a combination of high pressure liquid chromatography, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We identified as major oxygenation products triacylglycerols that contained one, two, or three 13S-hydroperoxy-9(Z),11(E)-octadecadienoic acid residues. During germination, the amount of oxygenated lipids increased strongly, reaching a maximum after 72 h and declining afterward. The highly specific pattern of hydroperoxy lipids formed suggested the involvement of the lipid body lipoxygenase in their biosynthesis.These data suggest that this lipoxygenase may play an important role during the germination process of cucumber and other plants and support our previous hypothesis that the specific oxygenation of the storage lipids may initiate their mobilization as a carbon and energy source for the growing seedling.

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A clone of an ubiquitin‐conjugating enzyme (UBC) was isolated from a λ‐ZAP‐cDNA library, generated from mRNA of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) cells grown in suspension for 3 days. The open reading frame called Le UBC1, encodes for a polypeptide with a predicted molecular mass of 21.37 kDa, which was confirmed by bacterial overexpression and SDS‐PAGE. Database searches with Le UBC1 showed highest sequence similarities to UBC1 of bovine and yeast. By Southern blot analysis Le UBC1 was identified as a member of a small E2 subfamily of tomato, presumably consisting of at least two members. As revealed by Northern blot analysis Le UBC1 is constitutively expressed in an exponentially growing tomato cell culture. In response to heat shock an increase in Le UBC1‐mRNA was detectable. A strong accumulation of the Le UBC1‐transcript was observed by exposure to heavy metal stress which was performed by treatment with cadmium chloride (CdCl2). The cellular uptake of cadmium was controlled via ICP‐MS measurements. The data suggest that like in yeast, in plants a certain subfamily of UBC is specifically involved in the proteolytic degradation of abnormal proteins as result of stress.

Synthetic amide conjugates of (−)-jasmonic acid and its (+)-enantiomer were resolved by means of chiral liquid chromatography. The diastereomeric pairs prepared by chemical reaction of (±)-jasmonic acid with a series of (S)- or (R)-amino acids and with some (S)-amino acid alcohols were completely separated on Chiralpak AS using a mixture of n-hexane/2-propanal as mobile phase. The retention data indicate that the (−)-jasmonic acid conjugates eluted faster than those of the (+)-enantiomer, independent on the configuration of the bound amino acid. Likewise, enantiomeric derivatives of (±)-jasmonic acid and non-chiral amino acids were completely separated on the chiral stationary phase and showed the same elution sequence. The resolution factors,Rs, were found to range between 1.13 and 6.64. The separated compounds were chiropatically analyzed by measurement of the circular dichroism.

Leaves of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Salome ) treated with jasmonic acid (JA), its methyl ester (JM), or its amino acid conjugates exhibit up‐regulation of specific genes and down‐regulation of house‐keeping genes. This transcriptional regulation exhibits several specificities. (i) The (−)‐enantiomers are more active, and conjugates are mainly active if they carry an l ‐amino acid moiety. (ii) The various JA‐responsive genes respond differentially to enantiomeric and chiralic forms. (iii) Both JA and its amino acid conjugates exhibiting no or negligible interconversion induce/repress genes.

A protein preparation from the mycelium of the tropical pathogenic fungus Botryodiplodia theobromae revealed a novel peptidase activity. This enzyme was capable of cleaving conjugates of jasmonic acid with α-amino acids. The protein was enriched 108-fold by gel filtration, ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The enzyme was found to be a glycoprotein with a molecular mass of about 107 kDa. The amidohydrolase seems to be very specific with regard to (−)-jasmonic acid and α-amino acids with (S)-configuration.