Publikationen - Molekulare Signalverarbeitung

Polyamines (PAs) like putrescine, spermidine, and spermine are ubiquitous polycationic molecules that occur in all living cells and have a role in a wide variety of biological processes. High amounts of spermidine conjugated to hydroxycinnamic acids are detected in the tryphine of Arabidopsis thaliana pollen grains. Tapetum localized spermidine hydroxycinnamic acid transferase (SHT) is essential for the biosynthesis of these anther specific tris-conjugated spermidine derivatives. Sht knockout lines show a strong reduction of hydroxycinnamic acid amides (HCAAs). The effect of HCAA-deficient anthers on the level of free PAs was measured by a new sensitive and reproducible method using 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC) and fluorescence detection by HPLC. PA concentrations can be accurately determined even when very limited amounts of plant material, as in the case of A. thaliana stamens, are available. Analysis of free PAs in wild type stamens compared to sht deficient mutants and transcript levels of key PA biosynthetic genes revealed a highly controlled regulation of PA homeostasis in A. thaliana anthers.

The Lotus japonicus SYMBIOSIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE (SYMRK) is required for symbiotic signal transduction upon stimulation of root cells by microbial signaling molecules. Here, we identified members of the SEVEN IN ABSENTIA (SINA) E3 ubiquitin-ligase family as SYMRK interactors and confirmed their predicted ubiquitin-ligase activity. In Nicotiana benthamiana leaves, SYMRK–yellow fluorescent protein was localized at the plasma membrane, and interaction with SINAs, as determined by bimolecular fluorescence complementation, was observed in small punctae at the cytosolic interface of the plasma membrane. Moreover, fluorescence-tagged SINA4 partially colocalized with SYMRK and caused SYMRK relocalization as well as disappearance of SYMRK from the plasma membrane. Neither the localization nor the abundance of Nod-factor receptor1 was altered by the presence of SINA4. SINA4 was transcriptionally upregulated during root symbiosis, and rhizobia inoculated roots ectopically expressing SINA4 showed reduced SYMRK protein levels. In accordance with a negative regulatory role in symbiosis, infection thread development was impaired upon ectopic expression of SINA4. Our results implicate SINA4 E3 ubiquitin ligase in the turnover of SYMRK and provide a conceptual mechanism for its symbiosis-appropriate spatio-temporal containment.

Plant receptor-like kinases (RLKs) function in diverse signaling pathways, including the responses to microbial signals in symbiosis and defense. This versatility is achieved with a common overall structure: an extracytoplasmic domain (ectodomain) and an intracellular protein kinase domain involved in downstream signal transduction. Various surfaces of the leucine-rich repeat (LRR) ectodomain superstructure are utilized for interaction with the cognate ligand in both plant and animal receptors. RLKs with lysin-motif (LysM) ectodomains confer recognitional specificity toward N-acetylglucosamine-containing signaling molecules, such as chitin, peptidoglycan (PGN), and rhizobial nodulation factor (NF), that induce immune or symbiotic responses. Signaling downstream of RLKs does not follow a single pattern; instead, the detailed analysis of brassinosteroid (BR) signaling, innate immunity, and symbiosis revealed at least three largely nonoverlapping pathways. In this review, we focus on RLKs involved in plant-microbe interactions and contrast the signaling pathways leading to symbiosis and defense.

This chapter focuses on Ophioviridae family whose sole member genus is Ophiovirus. The member species of the genus include Citrus psorosis virus (CPsV), Freesia sneak virus(FreSV), Lettuce ring necrosis virus (LRNV), and Mirafiori lettuce big-vein virus (MiLBVV).The single stranded negative/possibly ambisense RNA genome is divided into 3–4 segments, each of which is encapsidated in a single coat protein (43–50 kDa) forming filamentous virions of about 3 nm in diameter, in shape of kinked or probably internally coiled circles of at least two different contour lengths. Ophioviruses can be mechanically transmitted to a limited range of test plants, inducing local lesions and systemic mottle. The natural hosts of CPsV, ranunculus white mottle virus (RWMV), MiLBVV, and LRNV are dicotyledonous plants of widely differing taxonomy. CPsV has a wide geographical distribution in citrus in the Americas, in the Mediterranean and in New Zealand. FreSV has been reported in two species of the family Ranunculacae from Northern Italy, and in lettuce in France and Germany. Tulip mild mottle mosaic virus (TMMMV) has been reported in tulips in Japan. LRNV is closely associated with lettuce ring necrosis disease in The Netherlands, Belgium, and France, and FreSV has been reported in Europe, Africa, North America and New Zealand.

Ribonuclease LE (RNaseLE) from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Lukullus) belongs to the widespread RNase T2 family of ribonucleases. With the exception of S-RNases of the solanaceous self-incompatibility system the functions of other members of the RNase T2 family are only barely understood. Using a 2.6-kbp putative promoter sequence of RNaseLE in front of the uidA reporter gene, expression of β-glucuronidase in developing phloem tissue and, especially, in the meristematic and elongation zones at root tips was detected. The tissue-specific expression accords with the range of cis-acting elements detected in the RNaseLE promoter. RNaseLE mRNA was localized in developing phloem cells but not in mature phloem tissue, suggesting association of RNaseLE expression with phloem development. Histochemical staining of β-glucuronidase activity as well as detailed inspection of RNaseLE at mRNA, protein and enzyme activity levels revealed that the wound-induced expression of RNaseLE was also restricted to vascular tissue. RNaseLE transcript accumulation detected by in situ hybridization occurred preferentially in phloem and cambial cells of stem sections upon wounding. The data provide evidence for a role of RNaseLE in a tissue-specific wound response and in wound healing of tomato.

Tomato RNaseLE is induced by phosphate deficiency and wounding and may play a role in macromolecular recycling as well as wound healing. Here, we analyzed the role of jasmonate and systemin in the wound-induced RNaseLE activation. The rapid expression of RNaseLE upon wounding of leaves leading to maximal RNase activity within 10 h, appeared only locally. Jasmonic acid (JA) or its molecular mimic ethyl indanoyl isoleucine conjugate did not induce RNaseLE expression. Correspondingly, RNaseLE was expressed upon wounding of 35S::allene oxide cyclase antisense plants known to be JA deficient. RNaseLE was not expressed upon systemin treatment, but was locally expressed in the spr1 mutant which is affected in systemin perception. In tomato plants carrying a PromLE::uidA construct, GUS activity could be detected upon wounding, but not following treatment with JA or systemin. The data indicate a locally acting wound-inducible systemin- and JA-independent signaling pathway for RNaseLE expression.RNaseLE expression was analyzed by pharmacological studies of different tomato lines and upon wounding of leaves. The gene is only locally activated via a new type of wound-induced signaling pathway in a jasmonate/systemin-independent manner.