Publikation
Montpetit, J.; Clúa, J.; Hsieh, Y.-F.; Vogiatzaki, E.; Müller, J.; Abel, S.; Strasser, R.; Poirier, Y.; Endoplasmic reticulum calnexins participate in the primary root growth response to phosphate deficiency Plant Physiol. 191, 1719-1733, (2023) DOI: 10.1093/plphys/kiac595
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.
Publikation
Meena, S. K.; Heidecker, M.; Engelmann, S.; Jaber, A.; de Vries, T.; Triller, S.; Baumann‐Kaschig, K.; Abel, S.; Behrens, S.; Gago-Zachert, S.; Altered expression levels of long noncoding natural antisense transcripts overlapping the
UGT73C6
gene affect rosette size in
Arabidopsis thaliana Plant J. 113, 460-477, (2023) DOI: 10.1111/tpj.16058
Natural antisense long noncoding RNAs (lncNATs) are involved in the regulation of gene expression in plants, modulating different relevant developmental processes and responses to various stimuli. We have identified and characterized two lncNATs (NAT1UGT73C6 and NAT2UGT73C6, collectively NATsUGT73C6) from Arabidopsis thaliana that are transcribed from gene fully overlapping UGT73C6, a member of the UGT73C subfamily of genes encoding UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs). Expression of both NATsUGT73C6 is developmentally controlled and occurs independently of the transcription of UGT73C6 in cis. Downregulation of NATsUGT73C6 levels through artificial microRNAs results in a reduction of the rosette area, while constitutive overexpression of NAT1UGT73C6 or NAT2UGT73C6 leads to the opposite phenotype, an increase in rosette size. This activity of NATsUGT73C6 relies on its RNA sequence, and, although modulation of UGT73C6 in cis cannot be excluded, the observed phenotypes are not a consequence of the regulation of UGT73C6 in trans. The NATsUGT73C6 levels were shown to affect cell proliferation and thus individual leaf size. Consistent with this concept, our data suggest that the NATsUGT73C6 influence the expression levels of key transcription factors involved in regulating leaf growth by modulating cell proliferation. These findings thus reveal an additional regulatory layer on the process of leaf growth.
Publikation
Martens, M.; Stierum, R.; Schymanski, E. L.; Evelo, C. T.; Aalizadeh, R.; Aladjov, H.; Arturi, K.; Audouze, K.; Babica, P.; Berka, K.; Bessems, J.; Blaha, L.; Bolton, E. E.; Cases, M.; Damalas, D. ?.; Dave, K.; Dilger, M.; Exner, T.; Geerke, D. P.; Grafström, R.; Gray, A.; Hancock, J. M.; Hollert, H.; Jeliazkova, N.; Jennen, D.; Jourdan, F.; Kahlem, P.; Klanova, J.; Kleinjans, J.; Kondić, T.; Kone, B.; Lynch, I.; Maran, U.; Martinez Cuesta, S.; Ménager, H.; Neumann, S.; Nymark, P.; Oberacher, H.; Ramirez, N.; Remy, S.; Rocca-Serra, P.; Salek, R. M.; Sallach, B.; Sansone, S.-A.; Sanz, F.; Sarimveis, H.; Sarntivijai, S.; Schulze, T.; Slobodnik, J.; Spjuth, O.; Tedds, J.; Thomaidis, N.; Weber, R. J.; van Westen, G. J.; Wheelock, C. E.; Williams, A. J.; Witters, H.; Zdrazil, B.; Županič, A.; Willighagen, E. L.; ELIXIR and Toxicology: a community in development F1000Research 10, 1129, (2023) DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.74502.2
Toxicology has been an active research field for many decades, with academic, industrial and government involvement. Modern omics and computational approaches are changing the field, from merely disease-specific observational models into target-specific predictive models. Traditionally, toxicology has strong links with other fields such as biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine. With the rise of synthetic and new engineered materials, alongside ongoing prioritisation needs in chemical risk assessment for existing chemicals, early predictive evaluations are becoming of utmost importance to both scientific and regulatory purposes. ELIXIR is an intergovernmental organisation that brings together life science resources from across Europe. To coordinate the linkage of various life science efforts around modern predictive toxicology, the establishment of a new ELIXIR Community is seen as instrumental. In the past few years, joint efforts, building on incidental overlap, have been piloted in the context of ELIXIR. For example, the EU-ToxRisk, diXa, HeCaToS, transQST, and the nanotoxicology community have worked with the ELIXIR TeSS, Bioschemas, and Compute Platforms and activities. In 2018, a core group of interested parties wrote a proposal, outlining a sketch of what this new ELIXIR Toxicology Community would look like. A recent workshop (held September 30th to October 1st, 2020) extended this into an ELIXIR Toxicology roadmap and a shortlist of limited investment-high gain collaborations to give body to this new community. This Whitepaper outlines the results of these efforts and defines our vision of the ELIXIR Toxicology Community and how it complements other ELIXIR activities.
Publikation
Naumann, C.; Heisters, M.; Brandt, W.; Janitza, P.; Alfs, C.; Tang, N.; Toto Nienguesso, A.; Ziegler, J.; Imre, R.; Mechtler, K.; Dagdas, Y.; Hoehenwarter, W.; Sawers, G.; Quint, M.; Abel, S.; Bacterial-type ferroxidase tunes iron-dependent phosphate sensing during Arabidopsis root development Curr. Biol. 32, 2189-2205, (2022) DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.005
Access to inorganic phosphate (Pi), a principal intermediate of energy and nucleotide metabolism, profoundly affects cellular activities and plant performance. In most soils, antagonistic Pi-metal interactions restrict Pi bioavailability, which guides local root development to maximize Pi interception. Growing root tips scout the essential but immobile mineral nutrient; however, the mechanisms monitoring external Pi sta-tus are unknown. Here, we show that Arabidopsis LOW PHOSPHATE ROOT 1 (LPR1), one key determinant of Fe-dependent Pi sensing in root meristems, encodes a novel ferroxidase of high substrate specificity and affinity (apparent KM ∼2 μmM Fe2+). LPR1 typifies an ancient, Fe-oxidizing multicopper protein family that evolved early upon bacterial land colonization. The ancestor of streptophyte algae and embryophytes (land plants) acquired LPR1-type ferroxidase from soil bacteria via horizontal gene transfer, a hypothesis supported by phylogenomics, homology modeling, and biochemistry. Our molecular and kinetic data on LPR1 regulation indicate that Pi-dependent Fe substrate availability determines LPR1 activity and function. Guided by the metabolic lifestyle of extant sister bacterial genera, we propose that Arabidopsis LPR1 monitors subtle concentration differentials of external Fe availability as a Pi-dependent cue to adjust root meristem maintenance via Fe redox signaling and cell wall modification. We further hypothesize that the acquisition of bacterial LPR1-type ferroxidase by embryophyte progenitors facilitated the evolution of local Pi sensing and acquisition during plant terrestrialization.
Publikation
Schymanski, E. L.; Kondić, T.; Neumann, S.; Thiessen, P. A.; Zhang, J.; Bolton, E. E.; Empowering large chemical knowledge bases for exposomics: PubChemLite meets MetFrag J. Cheminform. 13, 19, (2021) DOI: 10.1186/s13321-021-00489-0
Compound (or chemical) databases are an invaluable resource for many scientific disciplines. Exposomics researchers need to find and identify relevant chemicals that cover the entirety of potential (chemical and other) exposures over entire lifetimes. This daunting task, with over 100 million chemicals in the largest chemical databases, coupled with broadly acknowledged knowledge gaps in these resources, leaves researchers faced with too much—yet not enough—information at the same time to perform comprehensive exposomics research. Furthermore, the improvements in analytical technologies and computational mass spectrometry workflows coupled with the rapid growth in databases and increasing demand for high throughput “big data” services from the research community present significant challenges for both data hosts and workflow developers. This article explores how to reduce candidate search spaces in non-target small molecule identification workflows, while increasing content usability in the context of environmental and exposomics analyses, so as to profit from the increasing size and information content of large compound databases, while increasing efficiency at the same time. In this article, these methods are explored using PubChem, the NORMAN Network Suspect List Exchange and the in silico fragmentation approach MetFrag. A subset of the PubChem database relevant for exposomics, PubChemLite, is presented as a database resource that can be (and has been) integrated into current workflows for high resolution mass spectrometry. Benchmarking datasets from earlier publications are used to show how experimental knowledge and existing datasets can be used to detect and fill gaps in compound databases to progressively improve large resources such as PubChem, and topic-specific subsets such as PubChemLite. PubChemLite is a living collection, updating as annotation content in PubChem is updated, and exported to allow direct integration into existing workflows such as MetFrag. The source code and files necessary to recreate or adjust this are jointly hosted between the research parties (see data availability statement). This effort shows that enhancing the FAIRness (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability) of open resources can mutually enhance several resources for whole community benefit. The authors explicitly welcome additional community input on ideas for future developments.
Publikation
Mercier, C.; Roux, B.; Havé, M.; Le Poder, L.; Duong, N.; David, P.; Leonhardt, N.; Blanchard, L.; Naumann, C.; Abel, S.; Cuyas, L.; Pluchon, S.; Laurent, N.; Desnos, T.; Root responses to aluminium and iron stresses require the SIZ1 SUMO ligase to modulate the STOP1 transcription factor Plant J. 108, 1507-1521, (2021) DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15525
STOP1, an Arabidopsis transcription factor favouring root growth
tolerance against Al toxicity, acts in the response to iron under low Pi
(-Pi). Previous studies have shown that Al and Fe regulate the
stability and accumulation of STOP1 in roots, and that the STOP1 protein
is sumoylated by an unknown E3 ligase. Here, using a forward genetics
suppressor screen, we identified the E3 SUMO (small ubiquitin-like
modifier) ligase SIZ1 as a modulator of STOP1 signalling. Mutations in
SIZ1 increase the expression of ALMT1 (a direct target of STOP1) and
root growth responses to Al and Fe stress in a STOP1-dependent manner.
Moreover, loss-of-function mutations in SIZ1 enhance the abundance of
STOP1 in the root tip. However, no sumoylated STOP1 protein was detected
by western blot analysis in our sumoylation assay in E. coli,
suggesting the presence of a more sophisticated mechanism. We conclude
that the sumo ligase SIZ1 negatively regulates STOP1 signalling, at
least in part by modulating STOP1 protein in the root tip. Our results
will allow a better understanding of this signalling pathway.
Publikation
Kumari, P.; Dahiya, P.; Livanos, P.; Zergiebel, L.; Kölling, M.; Poeschl, Y.; Stamm, G.; Hermann, A.; Abel, S.; Müller, S.; Bürstenbinder, K.; IQ67 DOMAIN proteins facilitate preprophase band formation and division-plane orientation Nat. Plants 7, 739-747, (2021) DOI: 10.1038/s41477-021-00923-z
Spatiotemporal control of cell division is essential for the growth and development of multicellular organisms. In plant cells, proper cell plate insertion during cytokinesis relies on the premitotic establishment of the division plane at the cell cortex. Two plant-specific cytoskeleton arrays, the preprophase band (PPB) and the phragmoplast, play important roles in division-plane orientation and cell plate formation, respectively1. Microtubule organization and dynamics and their communication with membranes at the cortex and cell plate are coordinated by multiple, mostly distinct microtubule-associated proteins2. How division-plane selection and establishment are linked, however, is still unknown. Here, we report members of the Arabidopsis IQ67 DOMAIN (IQD) family3 as microtubule-targeted proteins that localize to the PPB and phragmoplast and additionally reside at the cell plate and a polarized cortical region including the cortical division zone (CDZ). IQDs physically interact with PHRAGMOPLAST ORIENTING KINESIN (POK) proteins4,5 and PLECKSTRIN HOMOLOGY GTPase ACTIVATING (PHGAP) proteins6, which are core components of the CDZ1. The loss of IQD function impairs PPB formation and affects CDZ recruitment of POKs and PHGAPs, resulting in division-plane positioning defects. We propose that IQDs act as cellular scaffolds that facilitate PPB formation and CDZ set-up during symmetric cell division.
Publikation
Klionsky, D. J.; Abdel-Aziz, A. K.; Abdelfatah, S.; Abdellatif, M.; Abdoli, A.; Abel, S.; Naumann, C.; et al., .; Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition) Autophagy 17, 1-382, (2021) DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2020.1797280
In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct auto-phagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.
Publikation
Chutia, R.; Scharfenberg, S.; Neumann, S.; Abel, S.; Ziegler, J.; Modulation of phosphate deficiency-induced metabolic changes by iron availability in Arabidopsis thaliana Int. J. Mol. Sci. 22, 7609, (2021) DOI: 10.3390/ijms22147609
Concurrent suboptimal supply of several nutrients requires the coordination of nutrient-specific transcriptional, phenotypic, and metabolic changes in plants in order to optimize growth and development in most agricultural and natural ecosystems. Phosphate (Pi) and iron (Fe) deficiency induce overlapping but mostly opposing transcriptional and root growth responses in Arabidopsis thaliana. On the metabolite level, Pi deficiency negatively modulates Fe deficiency-induced coumarin accumulation, which is controlled by Fe as well as Pi deficiency response regulators. Here, we report the impact of Fe availability on seedling growth under Pi limiting conditions and on Pi deficiency-induced accumulation of amino acids and organic acids, which play important roles in Pi use efficiency. Fe deficiency in Pi replete conditions hardly changed growth and metabolite profiles in roots and shoots of Arabidopsis thaliana, but partially rescued growth under conditions of Pi starvation and severely modulated Pi deficiency-induced metabolic adjustments. Analysis of T-DNA insertion lines revealed the concerted coordination of metabolic profiles by regulators of Fe (FIT, bHLH104, BRUTUS, PYE) as well as of Pi (SPX1, PHR1, PHL1, bHLH32) starvation responses. The results show the interdependency of Pi and Fe availability and the interplay between Pi and Fe starvation signaling on the generation of plant metabolite profiles.
Preprints
Wang, M.; Rogers, S.; Bittremieux, W.; Chen, C.; Dorrestein, P. C.; Schymanski, E. L.; Schulze, T.; Neumann, S.; Meier, R.; Interactive MS/MS Visualization with the Metabolomics Spectrum Resolver Web Service bioRxiv (2020) DOI: 10.1101/2020.05.09.086066
The growth of online mass spectrometry metabolomics resources, including data repositories, spectral library databases, and online analysis platforms has created an environment of online/web accessibility. Here, we introduce the Metabolomics Spectrum Resolver (https://metabolomics-usi.ucsd.edu/), a tool that builds upon these exciting developments to allow for consistent data export (in human and machine-readable forms) and publication-ready visualisations for tandem mass spectrometry spectra. This tool supports the draft Human Proteome Organizations Proteomics Standards Initiative’s USI specification, which has been extended to deal with the metabolomics use cases. To date, this resource already supports data formats from GNPS, MassBank, MS2LDA, MassIVE, MetaboLights, and Metabolomics Workbench and is integrated into several of these resources, providing a valuable open source community contribution (https://github.com/mwang87/MetabolomicsSpectrumResolver).