Cell wall integrity signaling and innate immunity in plants.

All plant pathogens and parasites have had to develop strategies to overcome cell walls in order to access the host's cytoplasm. As a mechanically strong, multi-layered composite exoskeleton, the cell wall not only enables plants to grow tall but also protects them from such attacks. Many plant pathogens employ an arsenal of cell wall degrading enzymes, and it has long been thought that the detection of breaches in wall integrity contributes to the induction of defense. Cell wall fragments are danger-associated molecular patterns or DAMPs that can trigger defense signaling pathways comparable to microbial signals, but the picture is likely to be more complicated. A wide range of defects in cell wall biosynthesis leads to enhanced pathogen resistance. We are beginning to understand the essential role of cell wall integrity surveillance for plant growth, and the connection of processes like cell expansion, plasma membrane-cell wall contact and secondary wall biosynthesis with plant immunity is emerging.

Phosphoproteomics using iTRAQ.

The identification of phosphorylation on proteins has become practicable for many laboratories in recent years, largely due to improvements in mass spectrometry (MS) and the development of methods to selectively enrich for phosphorylated peptides and proteins. However, phosphorylation is a dynamic and reversible modification which plays a central role in many biological processes including intracellular signalling. Therefore, the quantitative analysis of phosphorylated proteins and peptides is a subject of intense interest. We discuss three applications of isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) to the analysis of phosphopeptides from a variety of sample materials.

Cell wall integrity controls root elongation via a general 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid-dependent, ethylene-independent pathway.

Cell expansion in plants requires cell wall biosynthesis and rearrangement. During periods of rapid elongation, such as during the growth of etiolated hypocotyls and primary root tips, cells respond dramatically to perturbation of either of these processes. There is growing evidence that this response is initiated by a cell wall integrity-sensing mechanism and dedicated signaling pathway rather than being an inevitable consequence of lost structural integrity. However, the existence of such a pathway in root tissue and its function in a broader developmental context have remained largely unknown. Here, we show that various types of cell wall stress rapidly reduce primary root elongation in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). This response depended on the biosynthesis of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC). In agreement with the established ethylene signaling pathway in roots, auxin signaling and superoxide production are required downstream of ACC to reduce elongation. However, this cell wall stress response unexpectedly does not depend on the perception of ethylene. We show that the short-term effect of ACC on roots is partially independent of its conversion to ethylene or ethylene signaling and that this ACC-dependent pathway is also responsible for the rapid reduction of root elongation in response to pathogen-associated molecular patterns. This acute response to internal and external stress thus represents a novel, noncanonical signaling function of ACC.

A proteomic and phosphoproteomic analysis of Oryza sativa plasma membrane and vacuolar membrane.

Proteomic and phosphoproteomic analyses of rice shoot and root tonoplast-enriched and plasma membrane-enriched membrane fractions were carried out to look at tissue-specific expression, and to identify putative regulatory sites of membrane transport proteins. Around 90 unique membrane proteins were identified, which included primary and secondary transporters, ion channels and aquaporins. Primary H(+) pumps from the AHA family showed little isoform specificity in their tissue expression pattern, whereas specific isoforms of the Ca(2+) pump ECA/ACA family were expressed in root and shoot tissues. Several ABC transporters were detected, particularly from the MDR and PDR subfamilies, which often showed expression in either roots or shoots. Ammonium transporters were expressed in root, but not shoot, tissue. Large numbers of sugar transporters were expressed, particularly in green tissue. The occurrence of phosphorylation sites in rice transporters such as AMT1;1 and PIP2;6 agrees with those previously described in other species, pointing to conserved regulatory mechanisms. New phosphosites were found in many transporters, including H(+) pumps and H(+):cation antiporters, often at residues that are well conserved across gene families. Comparison of root and shoot tissue showed that phosphorylation of AMT1;1 and several further transporters may be tissue dependent.

Quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis of plasma membrane proteins reveals regulatory mechanisms of plant innate immune responses.

Advances in proteomic techniques have allowed the large-scale identification of phosphorylation sites in complex protein samples, but new biological insight requires an understanding of their in vivo dynamics. Here, we demonstrate the use of a stable isotope-based quantitative approach for pathway discovery and structure-function studies in Arabidopsis cells treated with the bacterial elicitor flagellin. The quantitative comparison identifies individual sites on plasma membrane (PM) proteins that undergo rapid phosphorylation or dephosphorylation. The data reveal both divergent dynamics of different sites within one protein and coordinated regulation of homologous sites in related proteins, as found for the PM H(+)-ATPases AHA1, 2 and 3. Strongly elicitor-responsive phosphorylation sites may reflect direct regulation of protein activity. We confirm this prediction for RbohD, an NADPH oxidase that mediates the rapid production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in response to elicitors and pathogens. Plant NADPH oxidases are structurally distinct from their mammalian homologues, and regulation of the plant enzymes is poorly understood. On RbohD, we found both unchanging and strongly induced phosphorylation sites. By complementing an RbohD mutant plant with non-phosphorylatable forms of RbohD, we show that only those sites that undergo differential regulation are required for activation of the protein. These experiments demonstrate the potential for use of quantitative phosphoproteomics to determine regulatory mechanisms at the molecular level and provide new insights into innate immune responses.

The syntaxin SYP132 contributes to plant resistance against bacteria and secretion of pathogenesis-related protein 1.

In contrast to many mammalian pathogens, potential bacterial pathogens of plants remain outside the host cell. The plant must, therefore, promote an active resistance mechanism to combat the extracellular infection. How this resistance against bacteria is manifested and whether similar processes mediate basal, gene-for-gene, and salicylate-associated defense, however, are poorly understood. Here, we identify a specific plasma membrane syntaxin, NbSYP132, as a component contributing to gene-for-gene resistance in Nicotiana benthamiana. Silencing NbSYP132 but not NbSYP121, the apparent orthologue of a syntaxin required for resistance to powdery mildew fungus, compromised AvrPto-Pto resistance. Because syntaxins may play a role in secretion of proteins to the extracellular space, we performed a limited proteomic analysis of the apoplastic fluid. We found that NbSYP132-silenced plants were impaired in the accumulation of at least a subset of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins in the cell wall. These results were confirmed by both immunoblot analysis and imunolocalization of a PR protein, PR1a. These results implicate NbSYP132 as the cognate target soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor for exocytosis of vesicles containing antimicrobial PR proteins. NbSYP132 also contributes to basal and salicylate-associated defense, indicating that SYP132-dependent secretion is a component of multiple forms of defense against bacterial pathogens in plants.

Multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT) analysis of ubiquitinated proteins in plants.

Protein conjugation with ubiquitin, known as ubiquitination, is a key regulatory mechanism to control protein abundance, localization, and activity in eukaryotic cells. To identify ubiquitin-dependent regulatory steps in plants, we developed a robust affinity purification/identification system for ubiquitinated proteins. Using GST-tagged ubiquitin binding domains, we performed a large scale affinity purification of ubiquitinated proteins from Arabidopsis cell suspension culture. High molecular weight ubiquitinated proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE, and the trypsin-digested samples were then analyzed by a multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT) system. A total of 294 proteins specifically bound by the GST-tagged ubiquitin binding domains were identified. From these we determined 85 ubiquitinated lysine residues in 56 proteins, confirming the enrichment of the target class of proteins. Our data provide the first view of the ubiquitinated proteome in plants. We also provide evidence that this technique can be broadly applied to the study of protein ubiquitination in diverse plant species.

Peptide-based phosphoproteomics with immobilized metal ion chromatography.

The identification of protein phosphorylation sites has always been a challenging task, traditionally involving large amounts of radioactive phosphorus and high-performance liquid chromatography separation and Edman sequencing of phosphopeptides. The rapid development of mass spectrometric methods has advanced protein research significantly, and the identification of in vivo post-translational modifications of even rare proteins is now possible. Even with the new generation of machines, however, phosphopeptides do not lend themselves easily to mass spectrometric analysis. In complex mixtures of peptides, phosphopeptides are often difficult to detect because of suppression effects during ionization. This problem can be largely solved by affinity purification/enrichment of the phosphopeptides, and immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) on chelated Fe3+ or other metal ions has emerged as the simplest and most useful method. IMAC has been useful to identify several in vivo phosphorylation sites of individual proteins, but is easier to apply to complex mixtures. We describe a complete protocol as it has been used for Arabidopsis plasma membranes, and note where it can be adapted for soluble protein mixtures.

Modification-specific proteomics of plasma membrane proteins: identification and characterization of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins released upon phospholipase D treatment.

Plasma membrane proteins are displayed through diverse mechanisms, including anchoring in the extracellular leaflet via glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) molecules. GPI-anchored membrane proteins (GPI-APs) are a functionally and structurally diverse protein family, and their importance is well-recognized as they are candidate cell surface biomarker molecules with potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications in molecular medicine. GPI-APs have also attracted interest in plant biotechnology because of their role in root development and cell remodeling. Using a shave-and-conquer concept, we demonstrate that phospholipase D (PLD) treatment of human and plant plasma membrane fractions leads to the release of GPI-anchored proteins that were identified and characterized by capillary liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. In contrast to phospholipase C, the PLD enzyme is not affected by structural heterogeneity of the GPI moiety, making PLD a generally useful reagent for proteomic investigations of GPI-anchored proteins in a variety of cells, tissues, and organisms. A total of 11 human GPI-APs and 35 Arabidopsis thaliana GPI-APs were identified, representing a significant addition to the number of experimentally detected GPI-APs in both species. Computational GPI-AP sequence analysis tools were investigated for the characterization of the identified GPI-APs, and these demonstrated that there is some discrepancy in their efficiency in classification of GPI-APs and the exact assignment of omega-sites. This study highlights the efficiency of an integrative proteomics approach that combines experimental and computational methods to provide the selectivity, specificity, and sensitivity required for characterization of post-translationally modified membrane proteins.

Phosphoproteomics of the Arabidopsis plasma membrane and a new phosphorylation site database.

Functional genomic technologies are generating vast amounts of data describing the presence of transcripts or proteins in plant cells. Together with classical genetics, these approaches broaden our understanding of the gene products required for specific responses. Looking to the future, the focus of research must shift to the dynamic aspects of biology: molecular mechanisms of function and regulation. Phosphorylation is a key regulatory factor in all aspects of plant biology; but it is difficult, if not impossible, for most researchers to identify in vivo phosphorylation sites within their proteins of interest. We have developed a large-scale strategy for the isolation of phosphopeptides and identification by mass spectrometry (Nühse et al., 2003b). Here, we describe the identification of more than 300 phosphorylation sites from Arabidopsis thaliana plasma membrane proteins. These data will be a valuable resource for many fields of plant biology and overcome a major impediment to the elucidation of signal transduction pathways. We present an analysis of the characteristics of phosphorylation sites, their conservation among orthologs and paralogs, and the existence of putative motifs surrounding the sites. These analyses yield general principles for predicting other phosphorylation sites in plants and provide indications of specificity determinants for responsible kinases. In addition, more than 50 sites were mapped on receptor-like kinases and revealed an unexpected complexity of regulation. Finally, the data also provide empirical evidence on the topology of transmembrane proteins. This information indicates that prediction programs incorrectly identified the cytosolic portion of the protein in 25% of the transmembrane proteins found in this study. All data are deposited in a new searchable database for plant phosphorylation sites maintained by PlantsP (http://plantsp.sdsc.edu) that will be updated as the project expands to encompass additional tissues and organelles.

Proteomic analysis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored membrane proteins.

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) are a functionally and structurally diverse family of post-translationally modified membrane proteins found mostly in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane in a variety of eukaryotic cells. Although the general role of GPI-APs remains unclear, they have attracted attention because they act as enzymes and receptors in cell adhesion, differentiation, and host-pathogen interactions. GPI-APs may represent potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets in humans and are interesting in plant biotechnology because of their key role in root development. We here present a general mass spectrometry-based proteomic "shave-and-conquer" strategy that specifically targets GPI-APs. Using a combination of biochemical methods, mass spectrometry, and computational sequence analysis we identified six GPI-APs in a Homo sapiens lipid raft-enriched fraction and 44 GPI-APs in an Arabidopsis thaliana membrane preparation, representing the largest experimental dataset of GPI-anchored proteins to date.

A plasma membrane syntaxin is phosphorylated in response to the bacterial elicitor flagellin.

In vivo pulse labeling of suspension-cultured Arabidopsis cells with [32P]orthophosphate allows a systematic analysis of dynamic changes in protein phosphorylation. Here, we use this technique to investigate signal transduction events at the plant plasma membrane triggered upon perception of microbial elicitors of defense responses, using as a model elicitor flg22, a peptide corresponding to the most conserved domain of bacterial flagellin. We demonstrate that two-dimensional gel electrophoresis in conjunction with mass spectrometry is a suitable tool for the identification of intrinsic membrane proteins, and we show that among them a syntaxin, AtSyp122, is phosphorylated rapidly in response to flg22. Although incorporation of radioactive phosphate into the protein only occurs significantly after elicitation, immunoblot analysis after two-dimensional gel separation indicates that the protein is also phosphorylated prior to elicitation. These results indicate that flg22 elicits either an increase in the rate of turnover of phosphate or an additional de novo phosphorylation event. In vitro, phosphorylation of AtSyp122 is calcium-dependent. In vitro phosphorylated peptides separated by two-dimensional thin layer chromatography comigrate with two of the three in vivo phosphopeptides, indicating that this calcium-dependent phosphorylation is biologically relevant. These results indicate a regulatory link between elicitor-induced calcium fluxes and the rapid phosphorylation of a syntaxin. Because syntaxins are known to be important in membrane fusion and exocytosis, we hypothesize that one of the functions of the calcium signal is to stimulate exocytosis of defense-related proteins and compounds.

Large-scale analysis of in vivo phosphorylated membrane proteins by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography and mass spectrometry.

Global analyses of protein phosphorylation require specific enrichment methods because of the typically low abundance of phosphoproteins. To date, immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) for phosphopeptides has shown great promise for large-scale studies, but has a reputation for poor specificity. We investigated the potential of IMAC in combination with capillary liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry for the identification of plasma membrane phosphoproteins of Arabidopsis. Without chemical modification of peptides, over 75% pure phosphopeptides were isolated from plasma membrane digests and detected and sequenced by mass spectrometry. We present a scheme for two-dimensional peptide separation using strong anion exchange chromatography prior to IMAC that both decreases the complexity of IMAC-purified phosphopeptides and yields a far greater coverage of monophosphorylated peptides. Among the identified sequences, six originated from different isoforms of the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase and defined two previously unknown phosphorylation sites at the regulatory C terminus. The potential for large-scale identification of phosphorylation sites on plasma membrane proteins will have wide-ranging implications for research in signal transduction, cell-cell communication, and membrane transport processes.