Project description:Down-regulation of reactive oxygen species build-up in chloroplasts by expression of a plastid-targeted flavodoxin protects potato leaves under drought conditions. To better understand these effects we compared the transcriptomic alterations in a pre-symtomatic stage of drought treatment on leaves of Fld-expressing potato plants and their wild-type siblings.
Project description:Thiol-dependent redox regulation is essential for the rapid adaptation of chloroplast metabolism to unpredictable changes of light intensity. The disulfide reductase activity of thioredoxins (Trxs), which relies on photo-reduced ferredoxin (Fdx) and a Fdx-dependent Trx reductase (FTR), constitutes the Fdx-FTR-Trxs system, which links chloroplast redox regulation to light. In addition, chloroplasts harbor an NADPH-dependent Trx reductase (NTR) with a joint Trx domain, NTRC. The activity of these two redox systems is integrated by the balance of the hydrogen peroxide scavenging enzyme 2-Cys peroxiredoxin (2-Cys Prx), which thus plays a key role in maintaining the reducing capacity of chloroplast Trxs in response to light intensity. Based on the severe phenotype of mutant lines lacking NTRC, it is clear that this enzyme plays an essential role in chloroplast redox homeostasis. However, whether the function of NTRC depends on its capacity of reduce 2-Cys Prxs or has additional targets remains unknown. Here, we have addressed this issue by a comparative analysis of the triple mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, ntrc-2cpab, simultaneously lacking 2-Cys Prxs and NTRC, and the double mutant 2cpab lacking 2-Cys Prxs. The phenotype of the ntrc-2cpab mutant is indistinguishable of the 2cpab mutant, as shown by growth rate, photosynthesis performance, light-dependent redox regulation of enzyme activity and comparative transcriptomics based RNA-Seq. Based on these results, we propose that the function of NTRC in chloroplast redox homeostasis is exerted by the regulation of the redox balance of 2-Cys Prxs rather than by the direct reduction of additional targets.
Project description:Perturbance of chloroplast proteins is a major cause of photosynthesis inhibition under drought stress. Exogenous application of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) mitigates the damages caused by drought stress protecting plant growth and development, but the regulatory mechanism behind was still obscure. Wheat seedlings were drought-treated, and the iTRAQ based proteomics approach was employed to assess the difference in chloroplast protein expression regulation caused by exogenous ALA. A total of 9499 peptides were identified with ≤ 0.01 FDR, which could be classified into 2442 protein groups. Moreover, the expressions of 87 chloroplast proteins were changed by drought stress alone compared to drought-free control, while 469 were changed by exogenous ALA application under drought stress compared to drought stress alone. The Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis results suggested that ALA pre-treatment adjusted some biological pathways to enhancing the drought resistance of chloroplast, such as metabolic pathways, photosynthesis, and ribosome. Furthermore, the drought promoted H2O2 accumulation and O2- production in chloroplast were alleviated by exogenous pre-treatment of ALA, while the peroxidase (POD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities were up-regulated, which were coincident with the chloroplast proteomics data. We suggested that ALA promoted the reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging in chloroplast by regulating enzymatic processes. Our results extend the understanding of the mechanisms employed by exogenous ALA to defend against drought stress in wheat according to the chloroplast proteomics.
Project description:Background Maintaining global food security in the context of climate changes is an important challenge in the next century. Improving abiotic stress tolerance of major crops, like wheat, can contribute to this goal. Therefore, new genes improving tolerance to abiotic stresses, like drought, are needed to support breeding programs aimed at producing more adapted cultivars. Recently, we screened five wheat Zinc Finger Proteins (TaZFPs) and identified TaZFP13D as a new gene improving water-stress tolerance. However, a more detailed characterization of this gene is required to better evaluate its potential in drought tolerance and to decipher the underlying molecular basis. Results We used the Barley Stripe Mosaic Virus to up- or down-regulate TaZFP13D expression in wheat. Overexpression of TaZFP13D under well-watered conditions enhances growth as indicated by improved biomass. Exposing plants to a severe drought stress revealed that TaZFP13D strongly increases survival rate and stress recovery. In addition, TaZFP13D reduces drought-induced oxidative damages, at least in part by improving key antioxidant enzymes activity. Conversely, down-regulation of TaZFP13D decreases drought tolerance and protection against drought-induced oxidative damages. RNA-seq-based transcriptome analysis showed that many genes regulated by TaZFP13D were previously shown to improve drought tolerance, while many others are related to the photosynthetic electron transfer chain and are proposed to improve photosynthesis efficiency and chloroplast protection against ROS damages. Conclusion This study highlights the important role of TaZFP13D in wheat drought tolerance, contributes to unravel the complex regulation governed by TaZFPs, and provides a useful marker to select more drought tolerant wheat cultivars.
Project description:Transcriptional and translational status of genes responding to drought stress - Drought-stressed plants were compared to non-stressed plants, using total, polysomal or non-polysomal RNAs. Keywords: treated vs untreated comparison
Project description:Transcriptional and translational status of genes responding to drought stress - Drought-stressed plants were compared to non-stressed plants, using total, polysomal or non-polysomal RNAs. Keywords: treated vs untreated comparison 6 dye-swap - CATMA arrays
Project description:Down-regulation of reactive oxygen species build-up in chloroplasts by expression of a plastid-targeted flavodoxin (Fld) delayed localized cell death in tobacco leaves inoculated with the non-host bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria (Xcv), while other defensive responses were unaffected. To better understand these effects we compared the transcriptomic alterations caused by Xcv inoculation on leaves of Fld-expressing tobacco plants and their wild-type siblings.
Project description:To analyze the impact of photosynthetic redox signals, light sources with spectral qualities that preferentially excite either Photosystem I (PSI light) or Photosystem II (PSII light) were used. The light sources have been described in (Wagner et al, Planta 2008). Strong reduction signals were induced by light shifts from PSI to PSII light (PSI-II). In order to find primary regulated genes the acclimation responses were monitored at 30 min and 60 min after a light shift. The control was continuous Psi light at the same time. We used stn7 (a thylakoid redox regulated kinase) to specifically block transduction of photosynthetic redox signal in order to compare “real” redox regulated with that of other light acclimation pathways. Keywords: photosynthesis, redox regulation, light acclimation, retrograde signalling, long term response
Project description:The CAMTA1 mutant and Col-0 were studied under water and drought condition. The camta1 showed stunted primary root growth under osmotic stress. The expression analysis revealed drought recovery as major indicative pathway along with membrane and chloroplast related protein in camta1 under drought stress. Large number of positively regulated genes were related to osmotic balance, transporters, AP2 and ABA. We used Affymetrix expression analysis to validate the role of CAMTA1 under drought stress.