A Transcription Factor γMYB1 Binds to the P1BS cis-Element and Activates PLA2-γ Expression with its Co-Activator γMYB2.

Phospholipase A2(PLA2) hydrolyzes phospholipid molecules to produce two products that are both precursors of second messengers of signaling pathways and signaling molecules per se.Arabidopsis thaliana PLA2 paralogs (-ß,-γ and -δ) play critical roles during pollen development, pollen germination and tube growth. In this study, analysis of the PLA2-γ promoter using a deletion series revealed that the promoter region -153 to -1 is crucial for its pollen specificity. Using a yeast one-hybrid screening assay with the PLA2-γ promoter and an Arabidopsis transcription factor (TF)-only library, we isolated two novel MYB-like TFs belonging to the MYB-CC family, denoted here as γMYB1 and γMYB2. By electrophoretic mobility shift assay, we found that these two TFs bind directly to the P1BS (phosphate starvation response 1-binding sequence)cis-element of the PLA2-γ promoter. γMYB1 alone functioned as a transcriptional activator for PLA2-γ expression, whereas γMYB2 directly interacted with γMYB1 and enhanced its activation. Overexpression of γMYB1 in the mature pollen grain led to increased expression of not only the PLA2-γ gene but also of several genes whose promoters contain the P1BS cis-element and which are involved in the Pi starvation response, phospholipid biosynthesis and sugar synthesis. Based on these results, we suggest that the TF γMYB1 binds to the P1BS cis-element, activates the expression of PLA2-γ with the assistance of its co-activator, γMYB2, and regulates the expression of several target genes involved in many plant metabolic reactions.

Calcineurin B-like 3 calcium sensor associates with and inhibits 5'-methylthioadenosine nucleosidase 2 in Arabidopsis.

Calcineurin B-like (CBL) proteins constitute a unique family of calcium sensor relays in plants. It is well known that CBLs detect the calcium signals elicited by a variety of abiotic stresses and relay the information to a group of serine/threonine protein kinases called CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs). In this study, we found that a few CBL members can also target another group of enzymes 5'-methylthioadenosine nucleosidases (MTANs), which are encoded by two genes in Arabidopsis, AtMTAN1 and AtMTAN2. In the yeast two-hybrid system, AtMTAN1 interacted with multiple CBL members such as CBL2, CBL3 and CBL6, whereas AtMTAN2 associated exclusively with CBL3. We further demonstrated that the CBL3-AtMTAN2 association occurs in a calcium-dependent manner, which results in a significant decrease in the enzyme activity of the AtMTAN2 protein. Taken together, these results clearly indicate that the CBL family can target at least two distinct groups of enzymes (CIPKs and MTANs), conferring an additional level of complexity on the CBL-mediated signaling networks. In addition, our finding also provides a novel molecular mechanism by which calcium signals are transduced to alter metabolite profiles in plants.

A sweetpotato SRD1 promoter confers strong root-, taproot-, and tuber-specific expression in Arabidopsis, carrot, and potato.

Harvestable, starch-storing organs of plants, such as fleshy taproots and tubers, are important agronomic products that are also suitable target organs for use in the molecular farming of recombinant proteins due to their strong sink strength. To exploit a promoter directing strong expression restricted to these storage organs, we isolated the promoter region (3.0 kb) of SRD1 from sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas cv. 'White Star') and characterized its activity in transgenic Arabidopsis, carrot, and potato using the ß-glucuronidase (GUS) gene (uidA) as a reporter gene. The SRD1 promoter conferred root-specific expression in transgenic Arabidopsis, with SRD1 promoter activity increasing in response to exogenous IAA. A time-course study of the effect of IAA (50 µM) revealed a maximum increase in SRD1 promoter activity at 24 h post-treatment initiation. A serial 5' deletion analysis of the SRD1 promoter identified regions related to IAA-inducible expression as well as regions containing positive and negative elements, respectively, controlling the expression level. In transgenic carrot, the SRD1 promoter mediated strong taproot-specific expression, as evidenced by GUS staining being strong in almost the entire taproot, including secondary phloem, secondary xylem and vascular cambium. The activity of the SRD1 promoter gradually increased with increasing diameter of the taproot in the transgenic carrot and was 10.71-fold higher than that of the CaMV35S promoter. The SRD1 promoter also directed strong tuber-specific expression in transgenic potato. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the SRD1 promoter directs strong expression restricted to the underground storage organs, such as fleshy taproots and tubers, as well as fibrous root tissues.

Endoplasmic reticulum- and Golgi-localized phospholipase A2 plays critical roles in Arabidopsis pollen development and germination.

The phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) superfamily of lipolytic enzymes is involved in a number of essential biological processes, such as inflammation, development, host defense, and signal transduction. Despite the proven involvement of plant PLA(2)s in many biological functions, including senescence, wounding, elicitor and stress responses, and pathogen defense, relatively little is known about plant PLA(2)s, and their genes essentially remain uncharacterized. We characterized three of four Arabidopsis thaliana PLA(2) paralogs (PLA(2)-ß, -γ, and -δ) and found that they (1) are expressed during pollen development, (2) localize to the endoplasmic reticulum and/or Golgi, and (3) play critical roles in pollen development and germination and tube growth. The suppression of PLA(2) using the RNA interference approach resulted in pollen lethality. The inhibition of pollen germination by pharmacological PLA(2) inhibitors was rescued by a lipid signal molecule, lysophosphatidyl ethanolamine. Based on these results, we propose that plant reproduction, in particular, male gametophyte development, requires the activities of the lipid-modifying PLA(2)s that are conserved in other organisms.

The Arabidopsis calcium sensor calcineurin B-like 3 inhibits the 5'-methylthioadenosine nucleosidase in a calcium-dependent manner.

Calcineurin B-like (CBL) proteins represent a unique family of calcium sensors in plant cells. Sensing the calcium signals elicited by a variety of abiotic stresses, CBLs transmit the information to a group of serine/threonine protein kinases (CBL-interacting protein kinases [CIPKs]), which are currently known as the sole targets of the CBL family. Here, we report that the CBL3 member of this family has a novel interaction partner in addition to the CIPK proteins. Extensive yeast two-hybrid screenings with CBL3 as bait identified an interesting Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) cDNA clone (named AtMTAN, for 5'-methylthioadenosine nucleosidase), which encodes a polypeptide similar to EcMTAN from Escherichia coli. Deletion analyses showed that CBL3 utilizes the different structural modules to interact with its distinct target proteins, CIPKs and AtMTAN. In vitro and in vivo analyses verified that CBL3 and AtMTAN physically associate only in the presence of Ca(2+). In addition, we empirically demonstrated that the AtMTAN protein indeed possesses the MTAN activity, which can be inhibited specifically by Ca(2+)-bound CBL3. Overall, these findings suggest that the CBL family members can relay the calcium signals in more diverse ways than previously thought. We also discuss a possible mechanism by which the CBL3-mediated calcium signaling regulates the biosynthesis of ethylene and polyamines, which are involved in plant growth and development as well as various stress responses.

Modified suppression subtractive hybridization identifies an AP2-containing protein involved in metal responses in Physcomitrella patens.

The moss Physcomitrella patens has two life cycles, filamentous protonema and leafy gametophore. A modified from of suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH), mirror orientation selection (MOS), was applied to screen genes differentially expressed in the P. patens protonema. Using reverse Northern blot analysis, differentially expressed clones were identified. The identified genes were involved mainly in metal binding and detoxification. One of these genes was an AP2 (APETALA2) domain-containing protein (PpACP1), which was highly up-regulated in the protonema. Alignment with other AP2/EREBPs (Ethylene Responsive Element Binding Proteins) revealed significant sequence homology of the deduced amino acid sequence in the AP2/EREBP DNA binding domain. Northern analysis under various stress conditions showed that PpACP1 was induced by ethephon, cadmium, copper, ABA, IAA, and cold. In addition, it was highly expressed in suspension-cultured protonema. We suggest that PpACP1 is involved in responses to metals, and that suspension culture enhance the expression of genes responding to metals.

Characterization of Arabidopsis secretory phospholipase A2-gamma cDNA and its enzymatic properties.

Plant secretory phospholipases A(2) (sPLA(2)s) probably play important roles in phospholipid signaling based on the data reported from other organisms, but their functions are poorly understood because of the lack of cloned sPLA(2) genes. In this study, we cloned and characterized an Arabidopsis secretory phospholipase A(2)-gamma (AtsPLA(2)-gamma) cDNA, and examined its enzymatic properties. The recombinant protein of AtsPLA(2)-gamma showed maximal enzyme activity at pH 8.0, and required Ca(2+) for activity. Moreover, AtsPLA(2)-gamma showed sn-2 position specificity but no prominent acyl preference, though it showed head group specificity to phosphatidylethanolamine rather than to phosphatidylcholine. AtsPLA(2)-gamma was found to predominate in the mature flower rather than in other tissues, and subcellular localization analysis confirmed that AtsPLA(2)-gamma is secreted into the intercellular space.