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Starch synthase 4 is essential for coordination of starch granule formation with chloroplast division during Arabidopsis leaf expansion.

ABSTRACT: Arabidopsis thaliana mutants lacking the SS4 isoform of starch synthase have strongly reduced numbers of starch granules per chloroplast, suggesting that SS4 is necessary for the normal generation of starch granules. To establish whether it plays a direct role in this process, we investigated the circumstances in which granules are formed in ss4 mutants. Starch granule numbers and distribution and the accumulation of starch synthase substrates and products were investigated during ss4 leaf development, and in ss4 mutants carrying mutations or transgenes that affect starch turnover or chloroplast volume. We found that immature ss4 leaves have no starch granules, but accumulate high concentrations of the starch synthase substrate ADPglucose. Granule numbers are partially restored by elevating the capacity for glucan synthesis (via expression of bacterial glycogen synthase) or by increasing the volumes of individual chloroplasts (via introduction of arc mutations). However, these granules are abnormal in distribution, size and shape. SS4 is an essential component of a mechanism that coordinates granule formation with chloroplast division during leaf expansion and determines the abundance and the flattened, discoid shape of leaf starch granules.

SUBMITTER: Crumpton-Taylor M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4283981 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Starch synthase 4 is essential for coordination of starch granule formation with chloroplast division during Arabidopsis leaf expansion.

Crumpton-Taylor Matilda M Pike Marilyn M Lu Kuan-Jen KJ Hylton Christopher M CM Feil Regina R Eicke Simona S Lunn John E JE Zeeman Samuel C SC Smith Alison M AM

The New phytologist 20130819 4

Arabidopsis thaliana mutants lacking the SS4 isoform of starch synthase have strongly reduced numbers of starch granules per chloroplast, suggesting that SS4 is necessary for the normal generation of starch granules. To establish whether it plays a direct role in this process, we investigated the circumstances in which granules are formed in ss4 mutants. Starch granule numbers and distribution and the accumulation of starch synthase substrates and products were investigated during ss4 leaf devel ...[more]

PMID: 23952675

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Project description:The domestication of starch crops underpinned the development of human civilisation, yet we still do not fully understand how plants make starch. Starch is composed of glucose polymers that are branched (amylopectin) or linear (amylose). The amount of amylose strongly influences the physico-chemical behaviour of starchy foods during cooking and of starch mixtures in non-food manufacturing processes. The GRANULE-BOUND STARCH SYNTHASE (GBSS) is the glucosyltransferase specifically responsible for elongating amylose polymers and was the only protein known to be required for its biosynthesis. Here, we demonstrate that PROTEIN TARGETING TO STARCH (PTST) is also specifically required for amylose synthesis in Arabidopsis. PTST is a plastidial protein possessing an N-terminal coiled coil domain and a C-terminal carbohydrate binding module (CBM). We discovered that Arabidopsis ptst mutants synthesise amylose-free starch and are phenotypically similar to mutants lacking GBSS. Analysis of granule-bound proteins showed a dramatic reduction of GBSS protein in ptst mutant starch granules. Pull-down assays with recombinant proteins in vitro, as well as immunoprecipitation assays in planta, revealed that GBSS physically interacts with PTST via a coiled coil. Furthermore, we show that the CBM domain of PTST, which mediates its interaction with starch granules, is also required for correct GBSS localisation. Fluorescently tagged Arabidopsis GBSS, expressed either in tobacco or Arabidopsis leaves, required the presence of Arabidopsis PTST to localise to starch granules. Mutation of the CBM of PTST caused GBSS to remain in the plastid stroma. PTST fulfils a previously unknown function in targeting GBSS to starch. This sheds new light on the importance of targeting biosynthetic enzymes to sub-cellular sites where their action is required. Importantly, PTST represents a promising new gene target for the biotechnological modification of starch composition, as it is exclusively involved in amylose synthesis.

Project description:In bacteria, the biosynthesis of cysteine is accomplished by two enzymes that are encoged by the cysK and cysM genes. CysM is also able to incorporate thiosulfate to produce S-sulfocysteine. In plant cells, the biosynthesis of cysteine occurs in the cytosol, mitochondria and chloroplasts. Chloroplasts contain two O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase homologs, which are encoded by the OAS-B and CS26 genes. An in vitro enzymatic analysis of the recombinant CS26 protein demonstrated that this isoform possesses S-sulfocysteine synthase activity and lacks O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase activity. In vivo functional analysis of this enzyme in knockout mutants demonstrated that mutation of cs26 suppressed the S-sulfocysteine synthase activity that was detected in wild type; furthermore, the mutants exhibited a growth phenotype, but penetrance depended on the light regime. The cs26 mutant plants also had reductions in chlorophyll content and photosynthetic activity (neither of which were observed in oas-b mutants), as well as elevated glutathione levels. However, cs26 leaves were not able to properly detoxify ROS, which accumulated to high levels under long-day growth conditions. The transcriptional profile of the cs26 mutant revealed that the mutation had a pleiotropic effect on many cellular and metabolic processes. Our finding reveals that S-sulfocysteine and the activity of S-sulfocysteine synthase play an important role in chloroplast function and are essential for light-dependent redox regulation within the chloroplast. Using the Affymetrix ATH1 GeneChips, we performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis on leaves of the cs26 and wild type plants under two different photoperiod conditions. Wild type and cs26 mutant plants were grown on soil under a long-day photoperiod (LD) or under a short-day photoperiod (SD). Total RNA was extracted from the leaves of 3-week-old plants grown under identical LD conditions, and from the leaves of 5-week-old plants grown under identical SD conditions. Three biological replicates were performed for each sample and hybridized to the chips. We made two different comparisons to classify the differently expressed genes in the mutant plant: cs26 leaves under LD versus wild-type leaves under LD and cs26 leaves under SD versus wild-type leaves under SD.

Dataset Information

Starch synthase 4 is essential for coordination of starch granule formation with chloroplast division during Arabidopsis leaf expansion.

Publications

Starch synthase 4 is essential for coordination of starch granule formation with chloroplast division during Arabidopsis leaf expansion.

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