A novel thiol-reductase activity of Arabidopsis YUC6 confers drought tolerance independently of auxin biosynthesis.

YUCCA (YUC) proteins constitute a family of flavin monooxygenases (FMOs), with an important role in auxin (IAA) biosynthesis. Here we report that Arabidopsis plants overexpressing YUC6 display enhanced IAA-related phenotypes and exhibit improved drought stress tolerance, low rate of water loss and controlled ROS accumulation under drought and oxidative stresses. Co-overexpression of an IAA-conjugating enzyme reduces IAA levels but drought stress tolerance is unaffected, indicating that the stress-related phenotype is not based on IAA overproduction. YUC6 contains a previously unrecognized FAD- and NADPH-dependent thiol-reductase activity (TR) that overlaps with the FMO domain involved in IAA biosynthesis. Mutation of a conserved cysteine residue (Cys-85) preserves FMO but suppresses TR activity and stress tolerance, whereas mutating the FAD- and NADPH-binding sites, that are common to TR and FMO domains, abolishes all outputs. We provide a paradigm for a single protein playing a dual role, regulating plant development and conveying stress defence responses.

Structural and functional differences of cytosolic 90-kDa heat-shock proteins (Hsp90s) in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The seven members of the 90-kDa heat shock protein (Hsp90) family encode highly conserved molecular chaperones essential for cell survival in Arabidopsis thaliana. Hsp90 are abundant proteins, localized in different compartments with AtHsp90.1-4 in the cytosol and AtHsp90.5-7 in different organelles. Among the AtHsp90, AtHsp90.1, is stress-inducible and shares comparatively low sequence identity with the constitutively expressed AtHsp90.2-4. Even though abundant information is available on mammalian cytosolic Hsp90 proteins, it is unknown whether cytosolic Hsp90 proteins display different structural and functional properties. We have now analyzed two A. thalianas cytosolic Hsp90s, AtHsp90.1 and AtHsp90.3, for functional divergence. AtHsp90.3 showed higher holdase chaperone activity than AtHsp90.1, although both AtHsp90s exhibited effective chaperone activity. Size-exclusion chromatography revealed different oligomeric states distinguishing the two Hsp90 proteins. While AtHsp90.1 exists in several oligomeric states, including monomers, dimers and higher oligomers, AtHsp90.3 exists predominantly in a high oligomeric state. High oligomeric state of AtHsp90.1 showed higher holdase chaperone activity than the respective monomer or dimer states. When high oligomeric forms of AtHsp90.1 and AtHsp90.3 are reduced by DTT, activity was reduced compared to that found in the native high oligomeric state. In addition, ATP-dependent foldase chaperone activity of AtHsp90.3 was higher with strong intrinsic ATPase activity than that of AtHsp90.1. As a conclusion, the two A. thaliana cytosolic Hsp90 proteins display different functional activities depending on structural differences, implying functional divergence although the proteins are localized to the same sub-cellular organelle.

A novel fluorescent reporter system for monitoring and identifying RNase III activity and its target RNAs.

Bacteriophage vectors for achieving single-copy gene expression linked to a colorigenic reporter assay have been used successfully for genetic screening applications. However, the limited number of cloning sites in these vectors, combined with the requirement for lac- strains and the time- and/or media-dependence of the chemical-based colorimetric reaction, have limited the range of applications for these vectors. An alternative approach using a fluorescent reporter gene such as green fluorescent protein (GFP) or GFP derivatives could overcome some of these technical issues and facilitate real-time monitoring of promoter and/or protein activity. Here, we report the development of a novel translational bacteriophage fusion vector encoding enhanced GFP (eGFP) that can be incorporated into the chromosome as a single-copy gene. We identified a Bacillus promoter (BP) that is stably expressed in Escherichia coli and drives ~6-fold more expression of eGFP than the T7 promoter in the absence of inducer. Incorporating this BP and RNase III target signals into a single system enabled clear detection of the absence or downregulation of RNase III activity in vivo, thereby establishing a system for screening and identifying novel RNase III targets in a matter of days. An RNase III target signal identified in this manner was confirmed by post-transcriptional analysis. We anticipate that this novel translational fusion vector will be used extensively to study activity of both interesting RNases and related complex or to identify or validate targets of RNases that are otherwise difficult to study due to their sensitivity to environmental stresses and/or autoregulatory processes.

The 1-Cys peroxiredoxin, a regulator of seed dormancy, functions as a molecular chaperone under oxidative stress conditions.

Peroxiredoxins are antioxidative enzymes that catalyze the reduction of alkyl hydroperoxides to alcohols and hydrogen peroxide to water. 1-Cys peroxiredoxins (1-Cys Prxs) perform important roles during late seed development in plants. To characterize their biochemical functions in plants, a 1Cys-Prx gene was cloned from a Chinese cabbage cDNA library and designated as "C1C-Prx". Glutamine synthetase (GS) protection and hydrogen peroxide reduction assays indicated that C1C-Prx was functionally active as a peroxidase. Also C1C-Prx prevented the thermal- or chemical-induced aggregation of malate dehydrogenase and insulin. Hydrogen peroxide treatment changed the mobility of C1C-Prx on a two-dimensional gel, which implies overoxidation of the conserved Cys residue. Furthermore, after overoxidation, the chaperone activity of C1C-Prx increased approximately two-fold, but its peroxidase activity decreased to the basal level of the reaction mixture without enzyme. However, according to the structural analysis using far-UV circular dichroism spectra, intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence spectra, and native-PAGE, overoxidation did not lead to a conformational change in C1C-Prx. Therefore, our results suggest that 1-Cys Prxs function not only to relieve mild oxidative stresses but also as molecular chaperones under severe conditions during seed germination and plant development, and that overoxidation controls the switch in function of 1-Cys-Prxs from peroxidases to molecular chaperones.