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Comparative large scale characterization of plant versus mammal proteins reveals similar and idiosyncratic N-?-acetylation features.

ABSTRACT: N-terminal modifications play a major role in the fate of proteins in terms of activity, stability, or subcellular compartmentalization. Such modifications remain poorly described and badly characterized in proteomic studies, and only a few comparison studies among organisms have been made available so far. Recent advances in the field now allow the enrichment and selection of N-terminal peptides in the course of proteome-wide mass spectrometry analyses. These targeted approaches unravel as a result the extent and nature of the protein N-terminal modifications. Here, we aimed at studying such modifications in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to compare these results with those obtained from a human sample analyzed in parallel. We applied large scale analysis to compile robust conclusions on both data sets. Our data show strong convergence of the characterized modifications especially for protein N-terminal methionine excision, co-translational N-?-acetylation, or N-myristoylation between animal and plant kingdoms. Because of the convergence of both the substrates and the N-?-acetylation machinery, it was possible to identify the N-acetyltransferases involved in such modifications for a small number of model plants. Finally, a high proportion of nuclear-encoded chloroplast proteins feature post-translational N-?-acetylation of the mature protein after removal of the transit peptide. Unlike animals, plants feature in a dedicated pathway for post-translational acetylation of organelle-targeted proteins. The corresponding machinery is yet to be discovered.

SUBMITTER: Bienvenut WV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3433923 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comparative large scale characterization of plant versus mammal proteins reveals similar and idiosyncratic N-α-acetylation features.

Bienvenut Willy V WV Sumpton David D Martinez Aude A Lilla Sergio S Espagne Christelle C Meinnel Thierry T Giglione Carmela C

Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP 20120105 6

N-terminal modifications play a major role in the fate of proteins in terms of activity, stability, or subcellular compartmentalization. Such modifications remain poorly described and badly characterized in proteomic studies, and only a few comparison studies among organisms have been made available so far. Recent advances in the field now allow the enrichment and selection of N-terminal peptides in the course of proteome-wide mass spectrometry analyses. These targeted approaches unravel as a re ...[more]

PMID: 22223895

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Project description:Background and aimsPlants have evolved a variety of seed dispersal mechanisms to overcome lack of mobility. Many species embed seeds in fleshy pulp to elicit endozoochory, i.e. disseminating seed through the animal gut. In contrast to well-studied fleshy fruited plants, dry-fruited plants may exploit this dispersal mutualism by producing fleshy appendages as a nutritional reward to entice animals to swallow their diaspores, but this has been little studied. In this study, it is hypothesized that these accessory fruits represent co-adaptations facilitating the syndrome of mammalian endozoochorous dispersal.MethodsField observations (focal tree watches, faecal surveys and fruiting phenology) with experimental manipulations (examination of seed germination and feeding trials) were conducted over 2 years in a native population of the raisin tree, Hovenia dulcis, which produces enlarged, twisted brown peduncles with external black seeds, in central China.Key resultsBirds were not observed to swallow seeds or carry infructescences away during 190 h of focal tree watches. However, H. dulcis seeds were detected in 247 faecal samples, representative of two herbivore and four carnivore mammalian species. Feeding trials revealed that peduncles attracted mammals to consume the entire infructescence, thereby facilitating effective seed dispersal. The germination rate of egested seeds proved higher than that of unconsumed seeds. It was also noted that this mutualism was most vulnerable in degraded forest.ConclusionsHovenia dulcis peduncle sets are confirmed to adapt primarily to mammalian endozoochory, a mutualistic association similar in function to fleshy pulp or foliage. This demonstrates that plant organ systems can be adapted to unique mutualisms that utilize animal dispersal agents. Such an ecological role has until now been attributed only to bird epizoochory. Future studies should consider more widely the putative role of peduncle sets and mammalian endozoochory as a dispersal mechanism, particularly for those plants that possess relatively large accessory fruits.

Project description:Aim:Habitat quality and heterogeneity directly influence the distribution and abundance of organisms at different spatial scales. Determining the main environmental factors driving the variation in species abundance is crucial to understand the underlying ecological processes, and this is especially important for widely distributed species living in contrasting environments. However, the responses to environmental variation are usually described at relatively small spatial scales. Here, we studied the variation in abundance of a widely distributed mustelid, the European badger (Meles meles), across France. Location:The whole metropolitan France. Methods:We used (a) direct detections of 9,439 dead and living badgers, from 2006 to 2009, to estimate badger relative abundance in 703 small agricultural regions of metropolitan France and (b) a Bayesian modeling approach to identify the main environmental determinants influencing badger abundance. Results:Despite a continuous distribution of badger in France, we found large variation in badger abundance between regions, explained by environmental factors. Among a set of 13 environmental variables, we demonstrated that badger abundance in lowlands (<400 m a.s.l.) was mostly driven by biotic factors such as potential food resources (earthworm abundance and fruit crops) and forest fragmentation. Conversely, in mountainous areas, abiotic factors (i.e., soil texture and climate) drove the variation in badger relative abundance. Main conclusions:These results underline the importance of mapping the abundance of wildlife species based on environmental suitability and highlight the complexity of drivers influencing species abundance at such large spatial scales. Altitude shaped the environmental drivers (biotic vs. abiotic) that most influenced relative abundance of a widespread species. In the case of badger, such abundance maps are crucial to identify critical areas for species management as this mustelid is a main wild vector of bovine tuberculosis in several countries.

Dataset Information

Comparative large scale characterization of plant versus mammal proteins reveals similar and idiosyncratic N-?-acetylation features.

Publications

Comparative large scale characterization of plant versus mammal proteins reveals similar and idiosyncratic N-α-acetylation features.

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