Borja Cascales-Miñana

Plastidial Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency Leads to Altered Root Development and Affects the Sugar and Amino Acid Balance in Arabidopsis

Glycolysis is a central metabolic pathway that, in plants, occurs in both the cytosol and the plastids. The glycolytic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) catalyzes the conversion of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate with concomitant reduction of NAD+ to NADH. Both cytosolic (GAPCs) and plastidial (GAPCps) GAPDH activities have been described. However, the in vivo functions of the plastidial isoforms remain unresolved. In this work, we have identified two Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) chloroplast/plastid-localized GAPDH isoforms (GAPCp1 and GAPCp2). gapcp double mutants display a drastic phenotype of arrested root development, dwarfism, and sterility. In spite of their low gene expression level as compared with other GAPDHs, GAPCp down-regulation leads to altered gene expression and to drastic changes in the sugar and amino acid balance of the plant. We demonstrate that GAPCps are important for the synthesis of serine in roots. Serine supplementation to the growth medium rescues root developmental arrest and restores normal levels of carbohydrates and sugar biosynthetic activities in gapcp double mutants. We provide evidence that the phosphorylated pathway of Ser biosynthesis plays an important role in supplying serine to roots. Overall, these studies provide insights into the in vivo functions of the GAPCps in plants. Our results emphasize the importance of the plastidial glycolytic pathway, and specifically of GAPCps, in plant primary metabolism.

The plastidial glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase is critical for viable pollen development in Arabidopsis

Plant metabolism is highly coordinated with development. However, an understanding of the whole picture of metabolism and its interactions with plant development is scarce. In this work, we show that the deficiency in the plastidial glycolytic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPCp) leads to male sterility in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Pollen from homozygous gapcp double mutant plants (gapcp1gapcp2) displayed shrunken and collapsed forms and were unable to germinate when cultured in vitro. The pollen alterations observed in gapcp1gapcp2 were attributed to a disorganized tapetum layer. Accordingly, the expression of several of the genes involved in tapetum development was down-regulated in gapcp1gapcp2. The fertility of gapcp1gapcp2 was rescued by transforming this mutant with a construct carrying the GAPCp1 cDNA under the control of its native promoter (pGAPCp1::GAPCp1c). However, the GAPCp1 or GAPCp2 cDNA under the control of the 35S promoter (p35S::GAPCp), which is poorly expressed in the tapetum, did not complement the mutant fertility. Mutant GAPCp isoforms deficient in the catalytic activity of the enzyme were unable to complement the sterile phenotype of gapcp1gapcp2, thus confirming that both the expression and catalytic activity of GAPCp in anthers are necessary for mature pollen development. A metabolomic study in flower buds indicated that the most important difference between the sterile (gapcp1gapcp2, gapcp1gapcp2-p35S::GAPCp) and the fertile (wild-type plants, gapcp1gapcp2-pGAPCp1::GAPCp1c) lines was the increase in the signaling molecule trehalose. This work corroborates the importance of plastidial glycolysis in plant metabolism and provides evidence for the crucial role of GAPCps in pollen development. It additionally brings new insights into the complex interactions between metabolism and development.

The Phosphorylated Pathway of Serine Biosynthesis Is Essential Both for Male Gametophyte and Embryo Development and for Root Growth in Arabidopsis

This works characterizes the effects of loss- or gain-of-function of phosphoserine phosphatase (PSP1) of the phosphorylated pathway of Ser biosynthesis (PPSB). It provides evidence for a crucial role of the PPSB in embryo, pollen, and root development and suggests that the pathway is an important link between primary metabolism and development. This study characterizes the phosphorylated pathway of Ser biosynthesis (PPSB) in Arabidopsis thaliana by targeting phosphoserine phosphatase (PSP1), the last enzyme of the pathway. Lack of PSP1 activity delayed embryo development, leading to aborted embryos that could be classified as early curled cotyledons. The embryo-lethal phenotype of psp1 mutants could be complemented with PSP1 cDNA under the control of Pro35S (Pro35S:PSP1). However, this construct, which was poorly expressed in the anther tapetum, did not complement mutant fertility. Microspore development in psp1.1/psp1.1 Pro35S:PSP1 arrested at the polarized stage. The tapetum from these lines displayed delayed and irregular development. The expression of PSP1 in the tapetum at critical stages of microspore development suggests that PSP1 activity in this cell layer is essential in pollen development. In addition to embryo death and male sterility, conditional psp1 mutants displayed a short-root phenotype, which was reverted in the presence of Ser. A metabolomic study demonstrated that the PPSB plays a crucial role in plant metabolism by affecting glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and the biosynthesis of amino acids. We provide evidence of the crucial role of the PPSB in embryo, pollen, and root development and suggest that this pathway is an important link connecting primary metabolism with development.

A critical role of plastidial glycolytic Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase in the control of plant metabolism and development

Glycolysis is a central metabolic pathway that provides energy and generates precursors for the synthesis of primary metabolites such as amino acids and fatty acids.1,2,3 In plants, glycolysis occurs in the cytosol and plastids, which complicates the understanding of this essential process.1 As a result, the contribution of each glycolytic pathway to the specific primary metabolite production and the degree of integration of both pathways is still unresolved. The glycolytic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) catalyzes the conversion of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate. Both cytosolic (GAPCs) and plastidial (GAPCps) GAPDH activities have been described biochemically. But, up to now, little attention had been paid to GAPCps, probably because they have been considered as “minor isoforms” that catalyze a reversible reaction in plastids where it has been assumed that key glycolytic intermediates are in equilibrium with the cytosol. In the associated study4, we have elucidated the crucial role of Arabidopsis GAPCps in the control of primary metabolism in plants. GAPCps deficiency affects amino acid and sugar metabolism and impairs plant development. Specifically, GAPCp deficiency affects the serine supply to roots, provoking a drastic phenotype of arrested root development. Also, we show that the phosphorylated serine biosynthesis pathway is critical to supply serine to non-photosynthetic organs such as roots. These studies provide new insights of the contribution of plastidial glycolysis to plant metabolism and evidence the complex interactions existing between metabolism and development.

Serine biosynthesis by photorespiratory and non-photorespiratory pathways: an interesting interplay with unknown regulatory networks

Photorespiration is a primary metabolic pathway, which, given its energy costs, has often been viewed as a wasteful process. Despite having reached the consensus that one important function of photorespiration is the removal of toxic metabolite intermediates, other possible functions have emerged, and others could well emerge in the future. As a primary metabolic pathway, photorespiration interacts with other routes; however the nature of these interactions is not well known. One of these interacting pathways could be the biosynthesis of serine, since this amino acid is synthesised through photorespiratory and non-photorespiratory routes. At present, the exact contribution of each route to serine supply in different tissues and organs, their biological significance and how pathways are integrated and/or regulated remain unknown. Here, we review the non-photorespiratory serine biosynthetic pathways, their interactions with the photorespiratory pathway, their putative role in plants and their biotechnological interest.

Interactions between abscisic acid and plastidial glycolysis in Arabidopsis.

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) controls the development of plants and plays a crucial role in their response to adverse environmental conditions like salt and water stress.1,2,3 Complex interactions between ABA and sugar signal transduction pathways have been shown. However, the role played by glycolysis in these interactions is not known. In the associated study,4 we investigated the interactions between plastidial glycolytic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPCp) and ABA signal transduction in Arabidopsis. We followed physiological, genetic and genomic approaches to understand the processes and mechanisms underlying the ABA-glycolysis interactions. Our results indicated that GAPCp deficiency leads to ABA-insensitivity and impaired ABA signal transduction. The gene expression of the transcription factor ABI4, involved in both sugar and ABA signaling, was altered in gapcp double mutants (gapcp1gapcp2), suggesting that the ABA insensitivity of mutants is mediated, at least in part, through this transcriptional regulator. We also suggested that amino acid homeostasis and/or serine metabolism may also be important determinants in the connections of ABA with primary metabolism. These studies provide new insights into the links between plant primary metabolism and ABA signal transduction, and demonstrate the importance of plastidial glycolytic GAPCps in these interactions.

New insights into the reading of Paleozoic plant fossil record discontinuities

Studying the discontinuity patterns of Paleozoic vascular plants provides a global vision of these key events from the multivariate methods viewpoint. Non-metric multidimensional scaling, detrended correspondence analysis and cluster analysis have been employed together with a set of diversity and abundance measures and an evaluation of the geologic constraints from the plant fossil record data. The results reveal four clear significant discontinuities in terms of taxonomic composition and record representativeness during the early-middle Devonian, Devonian–Carboniferous, Mississippian–Pennsylvanian and early-late Permian. Due to the controversial character of the plant fossil record data and the effect of mass extinction events, the results can be explained in taxonomic turnover and ecological reorganisation terms which emphasise the crucial role of the geologic constrains in paleobiological inference.

Discovery of a Lochkovian flora (Lower Devonian) in the Iberian Peninsula

ABSTRACT The Lower Devonian represents an important episode in plant life history, which was marked by the diversification of land plants. Unfortunately, remains of early Devonian plants in the Iberian Peninsula are scarce. In the present paper, we describe a small assemblage of early land plants from the Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) of the Teruel Province in Spain. The main element consists of Taeniocrada-like sterile stems that are predominandy dichotomous and ribbon-like with a narrow central strand. An unidentified fossil formed by dichotomous axes together with an uncertain globular structure were also observed. This finding increases our knowledge of the palaeogeographical distribution of early land plants.