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Publications - Molecular Signal Processing

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Publications

Weichert, H.; Kolbe, A.; Kraus, A.; Wasternack, C.; Feussner, I.; Metabolic profiling of oxylipins in germinating cucumber seedlings - lipoxygenase-dependent degradation of triacylglycerols and biosynthesis of volatile aldehydes Planta 215, 612-619, (2002) DOI: 10.1007/s00425-002-0779-4

A particular isoform of lipoxygenase (LOX) localized on lipid bodies was shown by earlier investigations to play a role in initiating the mobilization of triacylglycerols during seed germination. Here, further physiological functions of LOXs within whole cotyledons of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) were analyzed by measuring the endogenous amounts of LOX-derived products. The lipid-body LOX-derived esterified (13S)-hydroperoxy linoleic acid was the dominant metabolite of the LOX pathway in this tissue. It accumulated to about 14 µmol/g fresh weight, which represented about 6% of the total amount of linoleic acid in cotyledons. This LOX product was not only reduced to its hydroxy derivative, leading to degradation by β-oxidation, but alternatively it was metabolized by fatty acid hydroperoxide lyase leading to formation of hexanal as well. Furthermore, the activities of LOX forms metabolizing linolenic acid were detected by measuring the accumulation of volatile aldehydes and the allene oxide synthase-derived metabolite jasmonic acid. The first evidence is presented for an involvement of a lipid-body LOX form in the production of volatile aldehydes.
Publications

Wang, Q.; Grubb, C. D.; Abel, S.; Direct analysis of single leaf disks for chemopreventive glucosinolates Phytochem. Anal. 13, 152-157, (2002) DOI: 10.1002/pca.636

Natural isothiocyanates, produced during plant tissue damage from methionine‐derived glucosinolates, are potent inducers of mammalian phase 2 detoxification enzymes such as quinone reductase (QR). A greatly simplified bioassay for glucosinolates based on induction and colorimetric detection of QR activity in murine hepatoma cells is described. It is demonstrated that excised leaf disks of Arabidopsis thaliana (ecotype Columbia) can directly and reproducibly substitute for cell‐free leaf extracts as inducers of murine QR, which reduces sample preparation to a minimum and maximizes throughput. A comparison of 1 and 3 mm diameter leaf disks indicated that QR inducer potency was proportional to disk circumference (extent of tissue damage) rather than to area. When compared to the QR inducer potency of the corresponding amount of extract, 1 mm leaf disks were equally effective, whereas 3 mm disks were 70% as potent. The QR inducer potency of leaf disks correlated positively with the content of methionine‐derived glucosinolates, as shown by the analysis of wild‐type plants and mutant lines with lower or higher glucosinolate content. Thus, the microtitre plate‐based assay of single leaf disks provides a robust and inexpensive visual method for rapidly screening large numbers of plants in mapping populations or mutant collections and may be applicable to other glucosinolate‐producing species.
Publications

Vigliocco, A.; Bonamico, B.; Alemano, S.; Miersch, O.; Abdala, G.; Stimulation of jasmonic acid production in Zea Mays L. infected by the maize rough dwarf virus - Río Cuarto. Reversion of symptoms by salicylic acid Biocell 26, 369-374, (2002)

In the present paper we study the possible biological relevance of endogenous jasmonic acid (JA) and exogenous salicylic acid (SA) in a plant-microbial system maize-virus. The virus disease "Mal de Río Cuarto" is caused by the maize rough dwarf virus - Río Cuarto. The characteristic symptoms are the appearance of galls or "enations" in leaves, shortening of the stem internodes, poor radical system and general stunting. Changes in JA and protein pattern in maize control and infected plants of a virus-tolerant cultivar were investigated. Healthy and infected-leaf discs were collected for JA measurement at different post-infection times (20, 40, 60 and 68 days). JA was also measured in roots on day 60 after infection. For SDS-PAGE protein analysis, leaf discs were also harvested on day 60 after infection. Infected leaves showed higher levels of JA than healthy leaves, and the rise in endogenous JA coincided with the enation formation. The soluble protein amount did not show differences between infected and healthy leaves; moreover, no difference in the expression of soluble protein was revealed by SDS-PAGE. Our results show that the octadecanoid pathway was stimulated in leaves and roots of the tolerant maize cultivar when infected by this virus. This finding, together with fewer plants with the disease symptoms, suggest that higher foliar and roots JA content may be related to disease tolerance. SA exogenous treatment caused the reversion of the dwarfism symptom.
Publications

Schilling, S.; Hoffmann, T.; Rosche, F.; Manhart, S.; Wasternack, C.; Demuth, H.-U.; Heterologous Expression and Characterization of Human Glutaminyl Cyclase: Evidence for a Disulfide Bond with Importance for Catalytic Activity Biochemistry 41, 10849-10857, (2002) DOI: 10.1021/bi0260381

Glutaminyl cyclase (QC, EC 2.3.2.5) catalyzes the formation of pyroglutamate residues from glutamine at the N-terminus of peptides and proteins. In the current study, human QC was functionally expressed in the secretory pathway of Pichia pastoris, yielding milligram quantities after purification from the supernatant of a 5 L fermentation. Initial characterization studies of the recombinant QC using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry revealed correct proteolytic processing and N-glycosylation at both potential sites with similar 2 kDa extensions. CD spectral analysis indicated a high α-helical content, which contrasts with plant QC from Carica papaya. The kinetic parameters for conversion of H-Gln-Tyr-Ala-OH by recombinant human QC were almost identical to those previously reported for purified bovine pituitary QC. However, the results obtained for conversion of H-Gln-Gln-OH, H-Gln-NH2, and H-Gln-AMC were found to be contradictory to previous studies on human QC expressed intracellularly in E. coli. Expression of QC in E. coli showed that approximately 50% of the protein did not contain a disulfide bond that is present in the entire QC expressed in P. pastoris. Further, the enzyme was consistently inactivated by treatment with 15 mM DTT, whereas deglycosylation had no effect on enzymatic activity. Analysis of the fluorescence spectra of the native, reduced, and unfolded human QC point to a conformational change of the protein upon treatment with DTT. In terms of the different enzymatic properties, the consequences of QC expression in different environments are discussed.
Publications

Schilling, S.; Hoffmann, T.; Wermann, M.; Heiser, U.; Wasternack, C.; Demuth, H.-U.; Continuous Spectrometric Assays for Glutaminyl Cyclase Activity Anal. Biochem. 303, 49-56, (2002) DOI: 10.1006/abio.2001.5560

The enzymatic conversion of one chromogenic substrate, -glutamine-p-nitroanilide, and two fluorogenic substrates, -glutaminyl-2-naphthylamide and -glutaminyl-4-methylcoumarinylamide, into their respective pyroglutamic acid derivatives by glutaminyl cyclase (QC) was estimated by introducing a new coupled assay using pyroglutamyl aminopeptidase as the auxiliary enzyme. For the purified papaya QC, the kinetic parameters were found to be in the range of those previously reported for other glutaminyl peptides, such as Gln-Gln, Gln-Ala, or Gln-tert-butyl ester. The assay can be performed in the presence of ammonia up to a concentration of 50 mM. Increasing ionic strength, e.g., potassium chloride up to 300 mM, resulted in an increase in enzymatic activity of about 20%. This is the first report of a fast, continuous, and reliable determination of QC activity, even in the presence of ammonium ions, during the course of protein purification and enzymatic analysis.
Publications

Quint, M.; Mihaljevic, R.; Dussle, C.; Xu, M.; Melchinger, A.; Lübberstedt, T.; Development of RGA-CAPS markers and genetic mapping of candidate genes for sugarcane mosaic virus resistance in maize Theor. Appl. Genet. 105, 355-363, (2002) DOI: 10.1007/s00122-002-0953-x

Three previously published resistance gene analogues (RGAs), pic13, pic21 and pic19, were mapped in relation to sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) resistance genes (Scmv1, Scmv2) in maize. We cloned these RGAs from six inbreds including three SCMV-resistant lines (D21, D32, FAP1360A) and three SCMV-susceptible lines (D145, D408, F7). Pairwise sequence alignments among the six inbreds revealed a frequency of one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) per 33 bp for the three RGAs, indicating a high degree of polymorphism and a high probability of success in converting RGAs into codominant cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers compared to other sequences. SNPs were used to develop CAPS markers for mapping of the three RGAs in relation to Scmv1 (chromosome 6) and Scmv2 (chromosome 3), and for pedigree analyses of resistant inbred lines. By genetic mapping pic21 was shown to be different from Scmv2, whereas pic19 and pic13 are still candidates for Scmv1 and Scmv2, respectively, due to genetic mapping and consistent restriction patterns of ancestral lines.
Publications

Nibbe, M.; Hilpert, B.; Wasternack, C.; Miersch, O.; Apel, K.; Cell death and salicylate- and jasmonate-dependent stress responses in Arabidopsis are controlled by single cet genes Planta 216, 120-128, (2002) DOI: 10.1007/s00425-002-0907-1

The jasmonic acid (JA)-dependent regulation of the Thi2.1 gene had previously been exploited for setting up a genetic screen for the isolation of signal transduction mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. that constitutively express the thionin gene. Several cet mutants had been isolated which showed a constitutive expression of the thionin gene. These cet mutants, except for one, also showed spontaneous leaf cell necrosis and were up-regulated in the expression of the PR1 gene, reactions often associated with the systemic acquired resistance (SAR) pathway. Four of these cet mutants, cet1, cet2, cet3 and cet4.1 were crossed with the fad triple and coi1 mutants that are blocked at two steps within the JA-dependent signaling pathway, and with transgenic NahG plants that are deficient in salicylic acid (SA) and are unable to activate SAR. Analysis of the various double-mutant lines revealed that the four cet genes act within a signaling cascade at or prior to branch points from which not only JA-dependent signals but also SA-dependent signaling and cell death pathways diverge.
Publications

Laskowski, M. J.; Dreher, K. A.; Gehring, M. A.; Abel, S.; Gensler, A. L.; Sussex, I. M.; FQR1, a Novel Primary Auxin-Response Gene, Encodes a Flavin Mononucleotide-Binding Quinone Reductase Plant Physiol. 128, 578-590, (2002) DOI: 10.1104/pp.010581

FQR1 is a novel primary auxin-response gene that codes for a flavin mononucleotide-binding flavodoxin-like quinone reductase. Accumulation of FQR1 mRNA begins within 10 min of indole-3-acetic acid application and reaches a maximum of approximately 10-fold induction 30 min after treatment. This increase in FQR1 mRNA abundance is not diminished by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide, demonstrating thatFQR1 is a primary auxin-response gene. Sequence analysis reveals that FQR1 belongs to a family of flavin mononucleotide-binding quinone reductases. Partially purified His-tagged FQR1 isolated fromEscherichia coli catalyzes the transfer of electrons from NADH and NADPH to several substrates and exhibits in vitro quinone reductase activity. Overexpression of FQR1 in plants leads to increased levels of FQR1 protein and quinone reductase activity, indicating that FQR1 functions as a quinone reductase in vivo. In mammalian systems, glutathione S-transferases and quinone reductases are classified as phase II detoxification enzymes. We hypothesize that the auxin-inducible glutathioneS-transferases and quinone reductases found in plants also act as detoxification enzymes, possibly to protect against auxin-induced oxidative stress.
Publications

Hause, B.; Maier, W.; Miersch, O.; Kramell, R.; Strack, D.; Induction of Jasmonate Biosynthesis in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Barley Roots Plant Physiol. 130, 1213-1220, (2002) DOI: 10.1104/pp.006007

Colonization of barley (Hordeum vulgare cv Salome) roots by an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus intraradices Schenck & Smith, leads to elevated levels of endogenous jasmonic acid (JA) and its amino acid conjugate JA-isoleucine, whereas the level of the JA precursor, oxophytodienoic acid, remains constant. The rise in jasmonates is accompanied by the expression of genes coding for an enzyme of JA biosynthesis (allene oxide synthase) and of a jasmonate-induced protein (JIP23). In situ hybridization and immunocytochemical analysis revealed that expression of these genes occurred cell specifically within arbuscule-containing root cortex cells. The concomitant gene expression indicates that jasmonates are generated and act within arbuscule-containing cells. By use of a near-synchronous mycorrhization, analysis of temporal expression patterns showed the occurrence of transcript accumulation 4 to 6 d after the appearance of the first arbuscules. This suggests that the endogenous rise in jasmonates might be related to the fully established symbiosis rather than to the recognition of interacting partners or to the onset of interaction. Because the plant supplies the fungus with carbohydrates, a model is proposed in which the induction of JA biosynthesis in colonized roots is linked to the stronger sink function of mycorrhizal roots compared with nonmycorrhizal roots.
Publications

Grubb, C. D.; Gross, H. B.; Chen, D. L.; Abel, S.; Identification of Arabidopsis mutants with altered glucosinolate profiles based on isothiocyanate bioactivity Plant Sci. 162, 143-152, (2002) DOI: 10.1016/S0168-9452(01)00550-7

Glucosinolates are a diverse class of nitrogen- and sulfur-containing secondary metabolites. They are rapidly hydrolyzed on tissue disruption to a number of biologically active compounds that are increasingly attracting interest as anticarcinogenic phytochemicals and crop protectants. Several glucosinolate-derived isothiocyanates are potent chemopreventive agents that favorably modulate carcinogen metabolism in mammals. Methylsulfinylalkyl isothiocyanates, in particular the 4-methylsulfinylbutyl derivative, are selective and potent inducers of mammalian detoxification enzymes such as quinone reductase (QR). Cruciferous plants including Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heyhn, synthesize methylsulfinylalkyl glucosinolates, which are derived from methionine. Using a colorimetric assay for QR activity in murine hepatoma cells and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of desulfoglucosinolates, we have demonstrated a strong positive correlation between leaf QR inducer potency and leaf content of methionine-derived glucosinolates in various A. thaliana ecotypes and available glucosinolate mutants. In a molecular genetic approach to glucosinolate biosynthesis, we screened 3000 chemically mutagenized M2 plants of the Columbia ecotype for altered leaf QR inducer potency. Subsequent HPLC analysis of progeny of putative mutants identified six lines with significant and heritable changes in leaf glucosinolate content and composition.
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