Borja Belda-Palazón

Aminopropyltransferases Involved in Polyamine Biosynthesis Localize Preferentially in the Nucleus of Plant Cells

Plant aminopropyltransferases consist of a group of enzymes that transfer aminopropyl groups derived from decarboxylated S-adenosyl-methionine (dcAdoMet or dcSAM) to propylamine acceptors to produce polyamines, ubiquitous metabolites with positive charge at physiological pH. Spermidine synthase (SPDS) uses putrescine as amino acceptor to form spermidine, whereas spermine synthase (SPMS) and thermospermine synthase (TSPMS) use spermidine as acceptor to synthesize the isomers spermine and thermospermine respectively. In previous work it was shown that both SPDS1 and SPDS2 can physically interact with SPMS although no data concerning the subcellular localization was reported. Here we study the subcellular localization of these enzymes and their protein dimer complexes with gateway-based Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC) binary vectors. In addition, we have characterized the molecular weight of the enzyme complexes by gel filtration chromatography with in vitro assembled recombinant enzymes and with endogenous plant protein extracts. Our data suggest that aminopropyltransferases display a dual subcellular localization both in the cytosol and nuclear enriched fractions, and they assemble preferably as dimers. The BiFC transient expression data suggest that aminopropyltransferase heterodimer complexes take place preferentially inside the nucleus.

FYVE1/FREE1 Interacts with the PYL4 ABA Receptor and Mediates Its Delivery to the Vacuolar Degradation Pathway

This study describes the turnover of ABA receptors through the endosomal pathway and provides insights on FYVE1 function in the ESCRT pathway to regulate ABA signaling. Recently, we described the ubiquitylation of PYL4 and PYR1 by the RING E3 ubiquitin ligase RSL1 at the plasma membrane of Arabidopsis thaliana. This suggested that ubiquitylated abscisic acid (ABA) receptors might be targeted to the vacuolar degradation pathway because such ubiquitylation is usually an internalization signal for the endocytic route. Here, we show that FYVE1 (previously termed FREE1), a recently described component of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery, interacted with RSL1-receptor complexes and recruited PYL4 to endosomal compartments. Although the ESCRT pathway has been assumed to be reserved for integral membrane proteins, we show the involvement of this pathway in the degradation of ABA receptors, which can be associated with membranes but are not integral membrane proteins. Knockdown fyve1 alleles are hypersensitive to ABA, illustrating the biological relevance of the ESCRT pathway for the modulation of ABA signaling. In addition, fyve1 mutants are impaired in the targeting of ABA receptors for vacuolar degradation, leading to increased accumulation of PYL4 and an enhanced response to ABA. Pharmacological and genetic approaches revealed a dynamic turnover of ABA receptors from the plasma membrane to the endosomal/vacuolar degradation pathway, which was mediated by FYVE1 and was dependent on RSL1. This process involves clathrin-mediated endocytosis and trafficking of PYL4 through the ESCRT pathway, which helps to regulate the turnover of ABA receptors and attenuate ABA signaling.

A Direct Link between Abscisic Acid Sensing and the Chromatin-Remodeling ATPase BRAHMA via Core ABA Signaling Pathway Components

Optimal response to drought is critical for plant survival and will affect biodiversity and crop performance during climate change. Mitotically heritable epigenetic or dynamic chromatin state changes have been implicated in the plant response to the drought stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA). The Arabidopsis SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling ATPase BRAHMA (BRM) modulates response to ABA by preventing premature activation of stress response pathways during germination. We show that core ABA signaling pathway components physically interact with BRM and post-translationally modify BRM by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation. Genetic evidence suggests that BRM acts downstream of SnRK2.2/2.3 kinases, and biochemical studies identified phosphorylation sites in the C-terminal region of BRM at SnRK2 target sites that are evolutionarily conserved. Finally, the phosphomimetic BRM(S1760D S1762D) mutant displays ABA hypersensitivity. Prior studies showed that BRM resides at target loci in the ABA pathway in the presence and absence of the stimulus, but is only active in the absence of ABA. Our data suggest that SnRK2-dependent phosphorylation of BRM leads to its inhibition, and PP2CA-mediated dephosphorylation of BRM restores the ability of BRM to repress ABA response. These findings point to the presence of a rapid phosphorylation-based switch to control BRM activity; this property could be potentially harnessed to improve drought tolerance in plants.

Ubiquitin Ligases RGLG1 and RGLG5 Regulate Abscisic Acid Signaling by Controlling the Turnover of Phosphatase PP2CA

Two RING E3 ligases mediate the degradation of the phosphatase PP2CA, a repressor of abscisic acid signaling, thereby modulating the activation of the ABA pathway in Arabidopsis. Abscisic acid (ABA) is an essential hormone for plant development and stress responses. ABA signaling is suppressed by clade A PP2C phosphatases, which function as key repressors of this pathway through inhibiting ABA-activated SnRK2s (SNF1-related protein kinases). Upon ABA perception, the PYR/PYL/RCAR ABA receptors bind to PP2Cs with high affinity and biochemically inhibit their activity. While this mechanism has been extensively studied, how PP2Cs are regulated at the protein level is only starting to be explored. Arabidopsis thaliana RING DOMAIN LIGASE5 (RGLG5) belongs to a five-member E3 ubiquitin ligase family whose target proteins remain unknown. We report that RGLG5, together with RGLG1, releases the PP2C blockade of ABA signaling by mediating PP2CA protein degradation. ABA promotes the interaction of PP2CA with both E3 ligases, which mediate ubiquitination of PP2CA and are required for ABA-dependent PP2CA turnover. Downregulation of RGLG1 and RGLG5 stabilizes endogenous PP2CA and diminishes ABA-mediated responses. Moreover, the reduced response to ABA in germination assays is suppressed in the rglg1 amiR (artificial microRNA)-rglg5 pp2ca-1 triple mutant, supporting a functional link among these loci. Overall, our data indicate that RGLG1 and RGLG5 are important modulators of ABA signaling, and they unveil a mechanism for activation of the ABA pathway by controlling PP2C half-life.

Calcium-dependent oligomerization of CAR proteins at cell membrane modulates ABA signaling

Significance Drought and salinity are the major threats to crop productivity at a worldwide scale. A fundamental portion of the plant response to these environmental stresses occurs at the cell membrane, where the molecular machinery to preserve cell turgor and the appropriate balance of intracellular ions is found. The C2-domain ABA-related (CAR) family of proteins contributes to these processes by delivering the regulatory proteins controlling this machinery from other cell compartments to the cell membrane. Our analysis provides an explanation on how CAR proteins specifically reach a particular membrane place to develop their function and trigger the plant defense mechanism against stress. Regulation of ion transport in plants is essential for cell function. Abiotic stress unbalances cell ion homeostasis, and plants tend to readjust it, regulating membrane transporters and channels. The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) and the second messenger Ca2+ are central in such processes, as they are involved in the regulation of protein kinases and phosphatases that control ion transport activity in response to environmental stimuli. The identification and characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying the effect of ABA and Ca2+ signaling pathways on membrane function are central and could provide opportunities for crop improvement. The C2-domain ABA-related (CAR) family of small proteins is involved in the Ca2+-dependent recruitment of the pyrabactin resistance 1/PYR1-like (PYR/PYL) ABA receptors to the membrane. However, to fully understand CAR function, it is necessary to define a molecular mechanism that integrates Ca2+ sensing, membrane interaction, and the recognition of the PYR/PYL interacting partners. We present structural and biochemical data showing that CARs are peripheral membrane proteins that functionally cluster on the membrane and generate strong positive membrane curvature in a Ca2+-dependent manner. These features represent a mechanism for the generation, stabilization, and/or specific recognition of membrane discontinuities. Such structures may act as signaling platforms involved in the recruitment of PYR/PYL receptors and other signaling components involved in cell responses to stress.

Fertility and Polarized Cell Growth Depends on eIF5A for Translation of Polyproline-Rich Formins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

eIF5A is an essential and evolutionary conserved translation elongation factor, which has recently been proposed to be required for the translation of proteins with consecutive prolines. The binding of eIF5A to ribosomes occurs upon its activation by hypusination, a modification that requires spermidine, an essential factor for mammalian fertility that also promotes yeast mating. We show that in response to pheromone, hypusinated eIF5A is required for shmoo formation, localization of polarisome components, induction of cell fusion proteins, and actin assembly in yeast. We also show that eIF5A is required for the translation of Bni1, a proline-rich formin involved in polarized growth during shmoo formation. Our data indicate that translation of the polyproline motifs in Bni1 is eIF5A dependent and this translation dependency is lost upon deletion of the polyprolines. Moreover, an exogenous increase in Bni1 protein levels partially restores the defect in shmoo formation seen in eIF5A mutants. Overall, our results identify eIF5A as a novel and essential regulator of yeast mating through formin translation. Since eIF5A and polyproline formins are conserved across species, our results also suggest that eIF5A-dependent translation of formins could regulate polarized growth in such processes as fertility and cancer in higher eukaryotes.

Biochemical quantitation of the eIF5A hypusination in Arabidopsis thaliana uncovers ABA-dependent regulation

The eukaryotic translation elongation factor eIF5A is the only protein known to contain the unusual amino acid hypusine which is essential for its biological activity. This post-translational modification is achieved by the sequential action of the enzymes deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH). The crucial molecular function of eIF5A during translation has been recently elucidated in yeast and it is expected to be fully conserved in every eukaryotic cell, however the functional description of this pathway in plants is still sparse. The genetic approaches with transgenic plants for either eIF5A overexpression or antisense have revealed some activities related to the control of cell death processes but the molecular details remain to be characterized. One important aspect of fully understanding this pathway is the biochemical description of the hypusine modification system. Here we have used recombinant eIF5A proteins either modified by hypusination or non-modified to establish a bi-dimensional electrophoresis (2D-E) profile for the three eIF5A protein isoforms and their hypusinated or unmodified proteoforms present in Arabidopsis thaliana. The combined use of the recombinant 2D-E profile together with 2D-E/western blot analysis from whole plant extracts has provided a quantitative approach to measure the hypusination status of eIF5A. We have used this information to demonstrate that treatment with the hormone abscisic acid produces an alteration of the hypusine modification system in Arabidopsis thaliana. Overall this study presents the first biochemical description of the post-translational modification of eIF5A by hypusination which will be functionally relevant for future studies related to the characterization of this pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Relevance of the Axis Spermidine/eIF5A for Plant Growth and Development

One key role of the essential polyamine spermidine in eukaryotes is to provide the 4-aminobutyl moiety group destined to the post-translational modification of a lysine in the highly conserved translation factor eIF5A. This modification is catalyzed by two sequential enzymatic steps leading to the activation of eIF5A by the conversion of one conserved lysine to the unusual amino acid hypusine. The active translation factor facilitates the sequence-specific translation of polyproline sequences that otherwise cause ribosome stalling. In spite of the well-characterized involvement of active eIF5A in the translation of proline repeat-rich proteins, its biological role has been recently elucidated only in mammals, and it is poorly described at the functional level in plants. Here we describe the alterations in plant growth and development caused by RNAi-mediated conditional genetic inactivation of the hypusination pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana by knocking-down the enzyme deoxyhypusine synthase. We have uncovered that spermidine-mediated activation of eIF5A by hypusination is involved in several aspects of plant biology such as the control of flowering time, the aerial and root architecture, and root hair growth. In addition this pathway is required for adaptation to challenging growth conditions such as high salt and high glucose medium and to elevated concentrations of the plant hormone ABA. We have also performed a bioinformatic analysis of polyproline-rich containing proteins as putative eIF5A targets to uncover their organization in clusters of protein networks to find molecular culprits for the disclosed phenotypes. This study represents a first attempt to provide a holistic view of the biological relevance of the spermidine-dependent hypusination pathway for plant growth and development.

Quantitation of Protein Translation Rate In Vivo with Bioorthogonal Click-Chemistry

The development of novel bioorthogonal reactives that can be used to tag biomolecules in vivo has revolutionized the studies of cellular and molecular biology. Among those novel reactive substances, amino acid analogs can be used to label nascent proteins, thus opening new avenues for measuring protein translation rates in vivo with a limited manipulation of the sample. Here, we describe the use of Click-chemistry to tag and separate newly synthesized proteins in mammalian cells that can be used, coupled with western analysis, to estimate the translation rate of any protein of interest.