Phytoecdysteroid C2-hydroxylase is microsomal in spinach, Spinacia oleracea L.

An enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of phytoecdysteroids, the C2-hydroxylase, has been investigated in spinach, Spinacia oleracea. This enzyme is microsomal and its K(m) has been determined using 2-deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone as substrate (K(m)=3.72 microM). It is much more efficient with 2-deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone than with 2-deoxyecdysone and, conversely, the C20-hydroxylase is more active on 2-deoxyecdysone than on ecdysone. These data support the conclusion that C20-hydroxylation precedes C2-hydroxylation. The C2-hydroxylase is inhibited by high concentrations of 20E. Substrate specificity and subcellular localization of C2-hydroxylase differ between plants and insects, and these data, as well as those previously reported on other biosynthetic steps, show the great difference between plant and insect ecdysteroid biosynthetic pathways and suggest an independent origin for the pathways in both kingdoms.

Changes in the endoplasmic reticulum lipid properties in response to low temperature in Brassica napus.

Cold is an abiotic stress known to induce changes in membrane lipid composition. However, there is only limited information on the differential reactivity to environmental temperature of distinct cellular compartments. Therefore, we focused our attention on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that was never studied in this respect in plants. The ER membranes of etiolated Brassica napus (oilseed rape) hypocotyls grown at low temperature (4 degrees C) has been shown to be enriched in polyunsaturated fatty acids and phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) compared to hypocotyls grown at 22 degrees C. Despite the significant changes in their lipid composition upon cold exposure, the ER membranes showed a very partial physico-chemical adaptation as determined by measurement of membrane fluidity parameters such as local microviscosity of acyl chains and lipid lateral diffusion. To investigate the implication of transcriptional regulations during cold acclimation, we compared the abundance of transcripts for genes related to the fatty acid and the phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho)/PtdEtn biosynthesis pathways between normal temperature (22 degrees C)-acclimated and cold temperature (4 degrees C)-treated seedlings, using heterologous cDNA-array technology based on the knowledge on the Arabidopsis genome. Our studies demonstrate that a putative stearoyl-ACP desaturase isogene (orthologous to At1g43800) was up-regulated in response to low temperature.

Changes in electron transport pathways in endoplasmic reticulum of rapeseed in response to cold.

We studied changes induced by cold on electron transfer pathways (linked to NADH or NADPH oxidation) in endoplasmic reticulum of rapeseed hypocotyls (Brassica napus L.) from a freezing-sensitive variety (ISL) and freezing-tolerant variety (Tradition). Plantlets were grown at 22 degrees C then submitted to a cold shock of 13 or 35 days at 4 degrees C. We measured the content in NADH, NADPH, NAD and NADP of the hypocotyls and the redox power was estimated by the reduced versus oxidized nucleotide ratio. The contents in cytochromes b (5) and P-450, electron acceptors of NADH and NADPH respectively, were determined by differential spectrophotometry. Finally, activity of both NADH-cytochrome b (5) reductase (E.C.1.6.2.2) and NADPH cytochrome P-450 reductase (E.C.1.6.2.4) was determined by reduction of exogenous cytochrome c. Results show that during cold shock, along with an increase of linolenic acid content, there was a general activation of the NADPH pathway which was observed more quickly in Tradition plantlets than in ISL ones. Due to transfer of electrons that can occur between NADPH reductase and cytochrome b (5), this could favor fatty acid desaturation in Tradition, explaining why linolenic acid accumulation was more pronounced in this variety. Besides, more cytochrome P-450 accumulated in ISL that could compete for electrons needed by the FAD3 desaturase, resulting in a relative slower enrichment in 18:3 fatty acid in these plantlets.