Plant adaptation to frequent alterations between high and low temperatures: remodelling of membrane lipids and maintenance of unsaturation levels.

One major strategy by which plants adapt to temperature change is to decrease the degree of unsaturation of membrane lipids under high temperature and increase it under low temperature. We hypothesize that this strategy cannot be adopted by plants in ecosystems and environments with frequent alterations between high and low temperatures, because changes in lipid unsaturation are complex and require large energy inputs. To test this hypothesis, we used a lipidomics approach to profile changes in molecular species of membrane glycerolipids in two plant species sampled from alpine screes and in another two plant species grown in a growth chamber, with the temperature cycling daily between heat and freezing. We found that six classes of phospholipid and two classes of galactolipid showed significant changes, but the degree of unsaturation of total lipids and of three lysophospholipid classes remained unchanged. This pattern of changes in membrane lipids was distinct from that occurring during slow alterations in temperature. We propose two types of model for the adaptation of plants to temperature change: (1) remodelling of membrane lipids but maintenance of the degree of unsaturation are used to adapt to frequent temperature alterations; and (2) both remodelling and changes in the degree of unsaturation to adapt to infrequent temperature alterations.

Characterisation of manganese toxicity tolerance in Arabis paniculata.

Manganese (Mn) contamination limits the production and quality of crops, and affects human health by disrupting the food chain. Arabis paniculata is a pioneer species of Brassicaceae found in mining areas, and has the ability to accumulate heavy metals. However, little is known about the genetic mechanisms of Mn tolerance in A. paniculata. In this study, we found that Mn tolerance and ability to accumulate Mn were higher in A. paniculata than in Arabidopsis thaliana. The mechanisms underlying the response and recovery of A. paniculata to Mn toxicity were further investigated using transcriptome analysis. A total of 69,862,281 base pair clean reads were assembled into 61,627 high-quality unigenes, of which 41,591 (67.5%) and 39,297 (63.8%) were aligned in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO), respectively. In response to Mn toxicity, genes were expressed in twelve distinct patterns, which can be divided into four general categories: initial, stable, dose-dependent, and lineage. Genes that were differentially expressed during Mn response and recovery belong to several dominant KEGG pathways. An early response to Mn toxicity in A. paniculata includes the upregulation of genes involved in glutathione metabolism. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins were up-regulated during the entire response phase, and genes involved in glycerophospholipid metabolism were up-regulated during the late phase of the Mn response. Genes in the phenylpropanoid pathway were differentially expressed in the repair process after Mn treatment. These findings reveal ideal material and genetic resources for phytoremediation in Mn-contaminated areas and highlight new knowledge and theoretical perspectives on the mechanisms of Mn tolerance.

Polar auxin transport May Be responsive to specific features of flavonoid structure.

Polar auxin transport (PAT) is essential to control root growth. Flavonoids are widely thought to be PAT inhibitors leading to short root developments. However, we found that the flavonoids scutellarin and scutellarein, which both have a 6-hydroxyl group unlike the structure of known flavonoid-PAT-inhibitors, promote PAT in roots. They increase root length; rescue the short roots induced by the PAT-specific inhibitor TIBA; enhance the expression of the PAT mediators PIN1, PIN2 and AUX1; increase the auxin concentration at the quiescent center; and change the distribution of the meristem organizer WOX5. In contrast, rutin and naringenin, which have no 6-hydroxyl group and have different structural features in B-ring, shows the opposite/no effects. Our evidence suggests that flavonoids with and without a 6-hydroxyl group might result in opposite effects on root growth and thus act as chemical switches in regulating PAT.

Submergence induced changes of molecular species in membrane lipids in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The composition of membrane lipids is sensitive to environmental stresses. Submergence is a type of stress often encountered by plants. However, how the molecular species of membrane lipids respond to submergence has not yet been characterised. In this study, we used a lipidomic approach to profile the molecular species of membrane lipids in whole plants of Arabidopsis thaliana that were completely submerged for three days. The plants survived one day of submergence, after which, we found that the total membrane lipids were only subtly decreased, showing significant decreases of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) and an increase of phosphatidic acid (PA); however, the basic lipid composition was retained. In contrast, three days of submergence caused plants to die, and the membranes deteriorated via the rapid loss of 96% of lipid content together with a 229% increase in PA. The turnover of molecular species from PG and MGDG to PA indicated that submergence-induced lipid changes occurred through PA-mediated degradation. In addition, molecular species of extraplastidic PG degraded sooner than plastidic ones, lyso-phospholipids exhibited various patterns of change, and the double-bond index (DBI) remained unchanged until membrane deterioration. Our results revealed the unique changes of membrane lipids upon submergence and suggested that the major cause of the massive lipid degradation could be anoxia.

Lipid profiling demonstrates that suppressing Arabidopsis phospholipase Dδ retards ABA-promoted leaf senescence by attenuating lipid degradation.

Senescence is the last phase of the plant life cycle and has an important role in plant development. Degradation of membrane lipids is an essential process during leaf senescence. Several studies have reported fundamental changes in membrane lipids and phospholipase D (PLD) activity as leaves senesce. Suppression of phospholipase Dα1 (PLDα1) retards abscisic acid (ABA)-promoted senescence. However, given the absence of studies that have profiled changes in the compositions of membrane lipid molecules during leaf senescence, there is no direct evidence that PLD affects lipid composition during the process. Here, we show that application of n-butanol, an inhibitor of PLD, and N-Acylethanolamine (NAE) 12∶0, a specific inhibitor of PLDα1, retarded ABA-promoted senescence to different extents. Furthermore, phospholipase Dδ (PLDδ) was induced in leaves treated with ABA, and suppression of PLDδ retarded ABA-promoted senescence in Arabidopsis. Lipid profiling revealed that detachment-induced senescence had different effects on plastidic and extraplastidic lipids. The accelerated degradation of plastidic lipids during ABA-induced senescence in wild-type plants was attenuated in PLDδ-knockout (PLDδ-KO) plants. Dramatic increases in phosphatidic acid (PA) and decreases in phosphatidylcholine (PC) during ABA-induced senescence were also suppressed in PLDδ-KO plants. Our results suggest that PLDδ-mediated hydrolysis of PC to PA plays a positive role in ABA-promoted senescence. The attenuation of PA formation resulting from suppression of PLDδ blocks the degradation of membrane lipids, which retards ABA-promoted senescence.