Publikationen - Molekulare Signalverarbeitung

Jasmonates (JAs) are lipid-derived signals in plant stress responses and development. A crucial step in JA biosynthesis is catalyzed by allene oxide cyclase (AOC). Four genes encoding functional AOCs (AOC1, AOC2, AOC3 and AOC4) have been characterized for Arabidopsis thaliana in terms of organ- and tissue-specific expression, mutant phenotypes, promoter activities and initial in vivo protein interaction studies suggesting functional redundancy and diversification, including first hints at enzyme activity control by protein-protein interaction. Here, these analyses were extended by detailed analysis of recombinant proteins produced in Escherichia coli. Treatment of purified AOC2 with SDS at different temperatures, chemical cross-linking experiments and protein structure analysis by molecular modelling approaches were performed. Several salt bridges between monomers and a hydrophobic core within the AOC2 trimer were identified and functionally proven by site-directed mutagenesis. The data obtained showed that AOC2 acts as a trimer. Finally, AOC activity was determined in heteromers formed by pairwise combinations of the four AOC isoforms. The highest activities were found for heteromers containing AOC4 + AOC1 and AOC4 + AOC2, respectively. All data are in line with an enzyme activity control of all four AOCs by heteromerization, thereby supporting a putative fine-tuning in JA formation by various regulatory principles.

Jasmonic acid (JA) and its derivatives are well‐characterized signaling molecules in plant defense and development, but the site of their localization within plant tissue is entirely unknown. To address the question whether applied JA accumulates extracellularly or intracellularly, leaves of tomato and barley were fed with 14C‐labeled JA and the label was localized in cryofixed and lyophilized leaf tissues by microautoradiography. In tomato the radioactivity was detectable within the apoplast, but no label was found within the mesophyll cells. By contrast, in barley leaf tissues, radioactivity was detected within the mesophyll cells suggesting a cellular uptake of exogenously applied JA. JA, applied to leaves of both plants as in the labeling experiments, led in all leaf cells to the expression of JA‐inducible genes indicating that the perception is completed by JA signal transduction.

From a cDNA library generated from mRNA of white leaf tissues of the ribosome‐deficient mutant ‘albostrians' of barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Haisa) a cDNA was isolated carrying 54.2% identity to a recently published cDNA which codes for the diadenosine‐5′,5′′′‐P1,P4‐tetraphosphate (Ap4A) hydrolase of Lupinus angustifolius (Maksel et al. (1998) Biochem. J. 329, 313–319), and 69% identity to four partial peptide sequences of Ap4A hydrolase of tomato. Overexpression in Escherichia coli revealed a protein of about 19 kDa, which exhibited Ap4A hydrolase activity and cross‐reactivity with an antibody raised against a purified tomato Ap4A hydrolase (Feussner et al. (1996) Z. Naturforsch. 51c, 477–486). Expression studies showed an mRNA accumulation in all organs of a barley seedling. Possible functions of Ap4A hydrolase in plants will be discussed.

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.