Publikationen - Molekulare Signalverarbeitung

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Accumulation of incompletely folded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) leads to ER stress, activates ER protein degradation pathways, and upregulates genes involved in protein folding. This process is known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). The role of ER protein folding in plant responses to nutrient deficiencies is unclear. We analyzed Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants affected in ER protein quality control and established that both CALNEXIN (CNX) genes function in the primary root’s response to phosphate (Pi) deficiency. CNX1 and CNX2 are homologous ER lectins promoting protein folding of N-glycosylated proteins via the recognition of the GlcMan9GlcNAc2 glycan. Growth of cnx1-1 and cnx2-2 single mutants was similar to that of the wild type under high and low Pi conditions, but the cnx1-1 cnx2-2 double mutant showed decreased primary root growth under low Pi conditions due to reduced meristematic cell division. This phenotype was specific to Pi deficiency; the double mutant responded normally to osmotic and salt stress. Expression of CNX2 mutated in amino acids involved in binding the GlcMan9GlcNAc2 glycan failed to complement the cnx1-1 cnx2-2 mutant. The root growth phenotype was Fe dependent and was associated with root apoplastic Fe accumulation. Two genes involved in Fe-dependent inhibition of primary root growth under Pi deficiency, the ferroxidase LOW PHOSPHATE 1 (LPR1) and P5-type ATPase PLEIOTROPIC DRUG RESISTANCE 2 (PDR2) were epistatic to CNX1/CNX2. Overexpressing PDR2 failed to complement the cnx1-1 cnx2-2 root phenotype. The cnx1-1 cnx2-2 mutant showed no evidence of UPR activation, indicating a limited effect on ER protein folding. CNX might process a set of N-glycosylated proteins specifically involved in the response to Pi deficiency.

Despite the vital roles of jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile) in governing plant growth and environmental acclimation, it remains unclear what intracellular processes lead to its induction. Here, we provide compelling genetic evidence that mechanical and osmotic regulation of turgor pressure represents a key elicitor of JA-Ile biosynthesis. After identifying cell wall mutant alleles in KORRIGAN1 (KOR1) with elevated JA-Ile in seedling roots, we found that ectopic JA-Ile resulted from cell nonautonomous signals deriving from enlarged cortex cells compressing inner tissues and stimulating JA-Ile production. Restoring cortex cell size by cell type–specific KOR1 complementation, by isolating a genetic kor1 suppressor, and by lowering turgor pressure with hyperosmotic treatments abolished JA-Ile signaling. Conversely, hypoosmotic treatment activated JA-Ile signaling in wild-type plants. Furthermore, constitutive JA-Ile levels guided mutant roots toward greater water availability. Collectively, these findings enhance our understanding on JA-Ile biosynthesis initiation and reveal a previously undescribed role of JA-Ile in orchestrating environmental resilience.

ELF3 and GI are two important components of the Arabidopsis circadian clock. They are not only essential for the oscillator function but are also pivotal in mediating light inputs to the oscillator. Lack of either results in a defective oscillator causing severely compromised output pathways, such as photoperiodic flowering and hypocotyl elongation. Although single loss of function mutants of ELF3 and GI have been well‐studied, their genetic interaction remains unclear. We generated an elf3 gi double mutant to study their genetic relationship in clock‐controlled growth and phase transition phenotypes. We found that ELF3 and GI repress growth differentially during the night and the day, respectively. Circadian clock assays revealed that ELF3 and GI are essential Zeitnehmers that enable the oscillator to synchronize the endogenous cellular mechanisms to external environmental signals. In their absence, the circadian oscillator fails to synchronize to the light‐dark cycles even under diurnal conditions. Consequently, clock‐mediated photoperiod‐responsive growth and development are completely lost in plants lacking both genes, suggesting that ELF3 and GI together convey photoperiod sensing to the central oscillator. Since ELF3 and GI are conserved across flowering plants and represent important breeding and domestication targets, our data highlight the possibility of developing photoperiod‐insensitive crops by adjusting the allelic combination of these two key genes.

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is often a limiting plant nutrient. In members of the Brassicaceae family, such as Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), Pi deprivation reshapes root system architecture to favor topsoil foraging. It does so by inhibiting primary root extension and stimulating lateral root formation. Root growth inhibition from phosphate (Pi) deficiency is triggered by iron-stimulated, apoplastic reactive oxygen species generation and cell wall modifications, which impair cell-to-cell communication and meristem maintenance. These processes require LOW PHOSPHATE RESPONSE1 (LPR1), a cell wall-targeted ferroxidase, and PHOSPHATE DEFICIENCY RESPONSE2 (PDR2), the single endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident P5-type ATPase (AtP5A), which is thought to control LPR1 secretion or activity. Autophagy is a conserved process involving the vacuolar degradation of cellular components. While the function of autophagy is well established under nutrient starvation (C, N, or S), it remains to be explored under Pi deprivation. Because AtP5A/PDR2 likely functions in the ER stress response, we analyzed the effect of Pi limitation on autophagy. Our comparative study of mutants defective in the local Pi deficiency response, ER stress response, and autophagy demonstrated that ER stress-dependent autophagy is rapidly activated as part of the developmental root response to Pi limitation and requires the genetic PDR2-LPR1 module. We conclude that Pi-dependent activation of autophagy in the root apex is a consequence of local Pi sensing and the associated ER stress response, rather than a means for systemic recycling of the macronutrient.

Background/Aims: Free amino acids (FAAs) and urea, present inside the corneocytes, can be important indicators of skin condition. However, due to the lack of a standard extraction protocol for FAAs from corneocytes, conflicting research results have been reported. Therefore, the purpose of this study was (1) to standardize the extraction protocol and (2) to investigate FAA profiles in healthy young and healthy old volunteers, as well as in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis patients. Methods: Skin samples were collected from four groups (healthy young, healthy old, and psoriasis and atopic dermatitis patients) with 5 volunteers per group. Corneocytes were isolated and examined microscopically. FAAs and urea were extracted from the isolated corneocytes, and their amounts were quantified using LC-ESI/MS/MS (after derivatization with Fmoc-Cl) and colorimetric methods, respectively. Results: The micrographs of the corneocytes showed no morphological features attributable to age or disease conditions. The highest and lowest concentrations of total FAAs and urea were observed in the healthy old group and the healthy young group, respectively. Unlike the other FAAs and urea, citrulline was found at a higher level in the healthy young group than in the disease groups. Conclusion: This study suggests that the levels of FAAs and urea in the skin are affected by age and skin conditions (healthy/diseased). However, further studies are needed to show the effects of different skin conditions on the levels of FAAs and urea.

Multicellular organisms rely on the movement of signaling molecules across cells, tissues, and organs to communicate among distal sites. In plants, localized leaf damage activates jasmonic acid (JA)-dependent transcriptional reprogramming in both harmed and unharmed tissues. Although it has been indicated that JA species can translocate from damaged into distal sites, the identity of the mobile compound(s), the tissues through which they translocate, and the effect of their relocation remain unknown. Here, we found that following shoot wounding, the relocation of endogenous jasmonates through the phloem is essential to initiate JA signaling and stunt growth in unharmed roots of Arabidopsis thaliana. By employing grafting experiments and hormone profiling, we uncovered that the hormone precursor cis-12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA) and its derivatives, but not the bioactive JA-Ile conjugate, translocate from wounded shoots into undamaged roots. Upon root relocation, the mobile precursors cooperatively regulated JA responses through their conversion into JA-Ile and JA signaling activation. Collectively, our findings demonstrate the existence of long-distance translocation of endogenous OPDA and its derivatives, which serve as mobile molecules to coordinate shoot-to-root responses, and highlight the importance of a controlled redistribution of hormone precursors among organs during plant stress acclimation.

Soil pollutants may affect root growth through interactions among phytohormones like auxin and jasmonates. Rice is frequently grown in paddy fields contaminated by cadmium and arsenic, but the effects of these pollutants on jasmonates/auxin crosstalk during adventitious and lateral roots formation are widely unknown. Therefore, seedlings of Oryza sativa cv. Nihonmasari and of the jasmonate-biosynthetic mutant coleoptile photomorphogenesis2 were exposed to cadmium and/or arsenic, and/or jasmonic acid methyl ester, and then analysed through morphological, histochemical, biochemical and molecular approaches.In both genotypes, arsenic and cadmium accumulated in roots more than shoots. In the roots, arsenic levels were more than twice higher than cadmium levels, either when arsenic was applied alone, or combined with cadmium. Pollutants reduced lateral root density in the wild -type in every treatment condition, but jasmonic acid methyl ester increased it when combined with each pollutant. Interestingly, exposure to cadmium and/or arsenic did not change lateral root density in the mutant. The transcript levels of OsASA2 and OsYUCCA2, auxin biosynthetic genes, increased in the wild-type and mutant roots when pollutants and jasmonic acid methyl ester were applied alone. Auxin (indole-3-acetic acid) levels transiently increased in the roots with cadmium and/or arsenic in the wild-type more than in the mutant. Arsenic and cadmium, when applied alone, induced fluctuations in bioactive jasmonate contents in wild-type roots, but not in the mutant. Auxin distribution was evaluated in roots of OsDR5::GUS seedlings exposed or not to jasmonic acid methyl ester added or not with cadmium and/or arsenic. The DR5::GUS signal in lateral roots was reduced by arsenic, cadmium, and jasmonic acid methyl ester. Lipid peroxidation, evaluated as malondialdehyde levels, was higher in the mutant than in the wild-type, and increased particularly in As presence, in both genotypes.Altogether, the results show that an auxin/jasmonate interaction affects rice root system development in the presence of cadmium and/or arsenic, even if exogenous jasmonic acid methyl ester only slightly mitigates pollutants toxicity.

Jasmonic acid biosynthesis starts in chloroplasts and is finalized in peroxisomes. The required export of a crucial intermediate out of the chloroplast is now shown to be mediated by a protein from the outer envelope called JASSY.

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