Publikationen - Molekulare Signalverarbeitung

This article is a Commentary on Gimenez‐Ibanez et al., 213: 1378–1392.

This article is a Commentary on Major et al., 215: 1533–1547.

Two cDNAs encoding allene oxide cyclases (PpAOC1, PpAOC2), key enzymes in the formation of jasmonic acid (JA) and its precursor (9S,13S)‐12‐oxo‐phytodienoic acid (cis‐(+)‐OPDA), were isolated from the moss Physcomitrella patens.Recombinant PpAOC1 and PpAOC2 show substrate specificity against the allene oxide derived from 13‐hydroperoxy linolenic acid (13‐HPOTE); PpAOC2 also shows substrate specificity against the allene oxide derived from 12‐hydroperoxy arachidonic acid (12‐HPETE).In protonema and gametophores the occurrence of cis‐(+)‐OPDA, but neither JA nor the isoleucine conjugate of JA nor that of cis‐(+)‐OPDA was detected.Targeted knockout mutants for PpAOC1 and for PpAOC2 were generated, while double mutants could not be obtained. The ΔPpAOC1 and ΔPpAOC2 mutants showed reduced fertility, aberrant sporophyte morphology and interrupted sporogenesis.

The cpr5‐1 Arabidopsis thaliana mutant exhibits constitutive activation of salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET) signalling pathways and displays enhanced tolerance of heat stress (HS).cpr5‐1 crossed with jar1‐1 (a JA‐amino acid synthetase) was compromised in basal thermotolerance, as were the mutants opr3 (mutated in OPDA reductase3) and coi1‐1 (affected in an E3 ubiquitin ligase F‐box; a key JA‐signalling component). In addition, heating wild‐type Arabidopsis led to the accumulation of a range of jasmonates: JA, 12‐oxophytodienoic acid (OPDA) and a JA‐isoleucine (JA‐Ile) conjugate. Exogenous application of methyl jasmonate protected wild‐type Arabidopsis from HS.Ethylene was rapidly produced during HS, with levels being modulated by both JA and SA. By contrast, the ethylene mutant ein2‐1 conferred greater thermotolerance.These data suggest that JA acts with SA, conferring basal thermotolerance while ET may act to promote cell death.

In potato 12‐hydroxyjasmonic acid (12‐OH‐JA) is a tuber‐inducing compound. Here, it is demonstrated that 12‐OH‐JA, as well as its sulfated and glucosylated derivatives, are constituents of various organs of many plant species. All accumulate differentially and usually to much higher concentrations than jasmonic acid (JA).In wounded tomato leaves, 12‐OH‐JA and its sulfated, as well as glucosylated, derivative accumulate after JA, and their diminished accumulation in wounded leaves of the JA‐deficient mutants spr2 and acx1 and also a JA‐deficient 35S::AOCantisense line suggest their JA‐dependent formation.To elucidate how signaling properties of JA/JAME (jasmonic acid methyl ester) are affected by hydroxylation and sulfation, germination and root growth were recorded in the presence of the different jasmonates, indicating that 12‐OH‐JA and 12‐hydroxyjasmonic acid sulfate (12‐HSO4‐JA) were not bioactive. Expression analyses for 29 genes showed that expression of wound‐inducible genes such as those coding for PROTEINASE INHIBITOR2, POLYPHENOL OXIDASE, THREONINE DEAMINASE or ARGINASE was induced by JAME and less induced or even down‐regulated by 12‐OH‐JA and 12‐HSO4‐JA. Almost all genes coding for enzymes in JA biosynthesis were up‐regulated by JAME but down‐regulated by 12‐OH‐JA and 12‐HSO4‐JA.The data suggest that wound‐induced metabolic conversion of JA/JAME into 12‐OH‐JA alters expression pattern of genes including a switch off in JA signaling for a subset of genes.

Enzymatic and non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation has been implicated in programmed cell death, which is a major process of leaf senescence. To test this hypothesis we developed a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for a simultaneous analysis of the major hydro(pero)xy polyenoic fatty acids. Quantities of lipid peroxidation products in leaves of different stages of development including natural senescence indicated a strong increase in the level of oxygenated polyenoic fatty acids (PUFAs) during the late stages of leaf senescence. Comprehensive structural elucidation of the oxygenation products by means of HPLC, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance suggested a non-enzymatic origin. However, in some cases a small share of specifically oxidized PUFAs was identified suggesting involvement of lipid peroxidizing enzymes. To inspect the possible role of enzymatic lipid peroxidation in leaf senescence, we analyzed the abundance of lipoxygenases (LOXs) in rosette leaves of Arabidopsis. LOXs and their product (9Z,11E,13S,15Z)-13-hydroperoxy-9,11,15-octadecatrienoic acid were exclusively detected in young green leaves. In contrast, in senescing leaves the specific LOX products were overlaid by large amounts of stereo-random lipid peroxidation products originating from non-enzymatic oxidation. These data indicate a limited contribution of LOXs to total lipid peroxidation, and a dominant role of non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation in late stages of leaf development.