Publikationen - Molekulare Signalverarbeitung

We tested citrus samples from Tunisia using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and for the first time, Citrus viroid V (CVd-V) was reported in North Africa. Fourteen of 38 tested citrus trees were infected by CVd-V including the majority of varieties grown in Tunisia. Some RT-PCR results were also supported by biological indexing. After sequencing the RT-PCR products, three new CVd-V variants were identified, showing 80–91 % nucleotide sequence identity with those reported previously. Based on phylogenetic analysis using all CVd-V sequences in GenBank, two main CVd-V groups were identified. Furthermore, construction of a genetic network of the detected haplotypes using the same sequences shows a clear geographical structuring of Tunisian CVd-V variants.

A somatic embryogenesis receptor kinase like (SERKL) cDNA, designated PhSERKL, was isolated from date palm (Phoenix Dactylifera L) using RACE PCR. PhSERKL protein shared all the characteristic domains of the SERK family, including five leucine-rich repeats, one proline-rich region motif, a transmembrane domain, and kinase domains. Phylogenetic analyses using PHYLIP and Notung 2.7 programs suggest that the SERK proteins of some plant species resulted from relatively ancient duplication events. We predict an ancestor protein of monocots and dicots SERK using FASTML program. Somatic embryogenic cultures of date palm were established following transfer of callus cultures to medium containing 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. The role of PhSERKL gene during establishment of somatic embryogenesis in culture was investigated using quantitative real-time PCR. PhSERKL gene was highly expressed during embryogenic competence acquisition and globular embryo formation in culture. Overall, levels of expression of PhSERKL gene were lower in nonembryogenic tissues and organs than in embryogenic callus.

BackgroundDNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are highly cytotoxic and mutagenic. MRE11 plays an essential role in repairing DNA by cleaving broken ends through its 3′ to 5′ exonuclease and single-stranded DNA endonuclease activities.MethodsThe present study aimed to in silico characterization and molecular modeling of MRE11 from Phoenix dactylifera L cv deglet nour (DnMRE11) by various bioinformatic approaches. To identify DnMRE11 cDNA, assembled contigs from our cDNA libraries were analysed using the Blast2GO2.8 program.ResultsThe DnMRE11 protein length was 726 amino acids. The results of HUMMER show that DnMRE11 is formed by three domains: the N-terminal core domain containing the nuclease and capping domains, the C-terminal half containing the DNA binding and coiled coil region. The structure of DnMRE11 is predicted using the Swiss-Model server, which contains the nuclease and capping domains. The obtained model was verified with the structure validation programs such as ProSA and QMEAN servers for reliability. Ligand binding studies using COACH indicated the interaction of DnMRE11 protein with two Mn2+ ions and dAMP. The ConSurf server predicted that residues of the active site and Nbs binding site have high conservation scores between plant species.ConclusionsA model structure of DnMRE11 was constructed and validated with various bioinformatics programs which suggested the predicted model to be satisfactory. Further validation studies were conducted by COACH analysis for active site ligand prediction, and revealed the presence of six ligands binding sites and two ligands (2 Mn2+ and dAMP).

The effects of copper on germination and growth of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) was investigated separately using different concentrations of CuSO4. The germination percentage and radical length had different responses to cupric ions: the root growth increased with increasing copper concentration up to 1 mM and Cu2+ was inhibited thereafter. In contrast, the germination percentage was largely unaffected by concentrations of copper below 10 mM.The reduction in root growth may have been due to inhibition of hydrolytic enzymes such as amylase. Indeed, the average total amylolytic activity decreased from the first day of treatment with [Cu2+] greater than 1 mM. Furthermore, copper affected various plant growth parameters. Copper accumulation was markedly higher in roots as compared to shoots. While both showed a gradual decrease in growth, this was more pronounced in roots than in leaves and in stems. Excess copper induced an increase in the rate of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production and lipid peroxidation in all plant parts, indicating oxidative stress. This redox stress affected leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid content which decreased in response to augmented Cu levels. Additionally, the activities of proteins involved in reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification were affected. Cu stress elevated the ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity more than two times at 10 mM CuSO4. In contrast, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels showed only minor variations, only at 1 mM Cu2+. Likewise, total phenol and flavonoid contents were strongly induced by low concentrations of copper, consistent with the role of these potent antioxidants in scavenging ROS such as H2O2, but returned to control levels or below at high [Cu2+]. Taken together, these results indicate a fundamental shift in the plant response to copper toxicity at low versus high concentrations.

Viroids and viroid-like satellite RNAs from plants, and the human hepatitis delta virus (HDV) RNA share some properties that include small size, circularity and replication through a rolling-circle mechanism. Replication occurs in different cell compartments (nucleus, chloroplast and membrane-associated cytoplasmatic vesicles) and has three steps: RNA polymerization, cleavage and ligation. The first step generates oligomeric RNAs that result from the reiterative transcription of the circular templates of one or both polarities, and is catalyzed by either the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of the helper virus on which viroid-like satellite RNAs are functionally dependent, or by host DNA-dependent RNA polymerases that, remarkably, viroids and HDV redirect to transcribe RNA templates. Cleavage is mediated by host enzymes in certain viroids and viroid-like satellite RNAs, while in others and in HDV is mediated by cis-acting ribozymes of three classes. Ligation appears to be catalyzed mainly by host enzymes. Replication most likely also involves many other non-catalytic proteins of host origin and, in HDV, the single virus-encoded protein.

The role of systemin in Pin2 gene expression was analyzed in wild-type plants of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), as well as in abscisic acid (ABA)-deficient tomato (sitiens) and potato (droopy) plants. The results showed that systemin initiates Pin2 mRNA accumulation only in wildtype tomato and potato plants. As in the situation after mechanical wounding,Pin2 gene expression in ABA-deficient plants was not activated by systemin. Increased endogenous levels of jasmonic acid (JA) and accumulation of Pin2 mRNA were observed following treatment with α-linolenic acid, the precursor of JA biosynthesis, suggesting that these ABA mutants still have the capability to synthesize de novo JA. Measurement of endogenous levels of ABA and JA showed that systemin leads to an increase of both phytohormones (ABA and JA) only in wild-type but not in ABA-deficient plants.

The synthesis of jasmonate-induced proteins in leaves of tobacco (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) was studied in order to find a possible functional link in the actions of abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonates. ABA-deficient mutants of tobacco (CKR1) and of tomato (sitiens, flacca), and their corresponding wild-types, were compared with respect to endogenous contents of jasmonates and ABA, and polypeptide and transcript patterns in water- or jasmonate-floated leaves, leaves stressed by floating on sorbitol, or by weak desiccation. Our results indicate that in tobacco the synthesis of proteins induced by jasmonate differed from those induced by ABA, whereas in tomato some jasmonate-induced proteins were also induced by ABA. The results provide further evidence that different signalling pathways exist for jasmonate/ABA-responsive gene expression in various plant species.