Publikationen - Molekulare Signalverarbeitung

Jasmonate:amino acid synthetase (JAR1) is involved in the function of jasmonic acid (JA) as a plant hormone. It catalyzes the synthesis of several JA‐amido conjugates, the most important of which appears to be JA‐Ile. Structurally, JAR1 is a member of the firefly luciferase superfamily that comprises enzymes that adenylate various organic acids. This study analyzed the substrate specificity of recombinant JAR1 and determined whether it catalyzes the synthesis of mono‐ and dinucleoside polyphosphates, which are side‐reaction products of many enzymes forming acyl ∼ adenylates. Among different oxylipins tested as mixed stereoisomers for substrate activity with JAR1, the highest rate of conversion to Ile‐conjugates was observed for (±)‐JA and 9,10‐dihydro‐JA, while the rate of conjugation with 12‐hydroxy‐JA and OPC‐4 (3‐oxo‐2‐(2Z ‐pentenyl)cyclopentane‐1‐butyric acid) was only about 1–2% that for (±)‐JA. Of the two stereoisomers of JA, (−)‐JA and (+)‐JA, rate of synthesis of the former was about 100‐fold faster than for (+)‐JA. Finally, we have demonstrated that (1) in the presence of ATP, Mg2+, (−)‐JA and tripolyphosphate the ligase produces adenosine 5′‐tetraphosphate (p4A); (2) addition of isoleucine to that mixture halts the p4A synthesis; (3) the enzyme produces neither diadenosine triphosphate (Ap3A) nor diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A) and (4) Ap4A cannot substitute ATP as a source of adenylate in the complete reaction that yields JA‐Ile.

A rapid multiresidue method to quantify three different classes of plant hormones has been developed. The reduced concentrations of these metabolites in real samples with complex matrixes require sensitive techniques for their quantification in small amounts of plant tissue. The method described combines high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Deuterium-labeled standards were added prior to sample extraction to achieve an accurate quantification of abscisic acid, indole-3-acetic acid, and jasmonic acid in a single run. A simple method of extraction and purification involving only centrifugation, a partition against diethyl ether, and filtration was developed and the analytical method validated in four different plant tissues, citrus leaves, papaya roots, barley seedlings, and barley immature embryos. This method represents a clear advantage because it extensively reduces sample preparation and total time for routine analysis of phytohormones in real plant samples.

In seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana the thionin gene Thi2.1 is inducible by methyl jasmonate, wounding, silver nitrate, coronatine, and sorbitol. We have used a biochemical and genetic approach to test the signal transduction of these different inducers. Both exogenously applied jasmonates and jasmonates produced endogenously upon stress induction, lead to GUS expression in a Thi2.1 promoter-uidA transgenic line. No GUS expression was observed in a coi1 mutant background which lacks jasmonate perception whereas methyl jasmonate and coronatine but not the other inducers were able to overcome the block in jasmonic acid production in a fad3-2 fad7-2 fad8 mutant background. Our results show conclusively that all these inducers regulate Thi2-1 gene expression via the octadecanoid pathway.