Hervé Canut

Recent advances in plant cell wall proteomics

The plant extracellular matrix contains typical polysaccharides such as cellulose, hemicelluloses, and pectins that interact to form dense interwoven networks. Plant cell walls play crucial roles during development and constitute the first barrier of defense against invading pathogens. Cell wall proteomics has greatly contributed to the description of the protein content of a compartment specific to plants. Around 400 cell wall proteins (CWPs) of Arabidopsis, representing about one fourth of its estimated cell wall proteome, have been described. The main points to note are that: (i) the diversity of enzymes acting on polysaccharides suggests a great plasticity of cell walls; (ii) CWPs such as proteases, polysaccharide hydrolytic enzymes, and lipases may contribute to the generation of signals; (iii) proteins of unknown functions were identified, suggesting new roles for cell walls. Recently, the characterization of PTMs such as N‐ and O‐glycosylations improved our knowledge of CWP structure. The presence of many glycoside hydrolases and proteases suggests a complex regulation of CWPs involving various types of post‐translational events. The first 3‐D structures to be resolved gave clues about the interactions between CWPs, or between CWPs and polysaccharides. Future work should include: extracting and identifying CWPs still recalcitrant to proteomics, describing the cell wall interactome, improving quantification, and unraveling the roles of each of the CWPs.

Lectin Receptor Kinases Participate in Protein-Protein Interactions to Mediate Plasma Membrane-Cell Wall Adhesions in Arabidopsis

Interactions between plant cell walls and plasma membranes are essential for cells to function properly, but the molecules that mediate the structural continuity between wall and membrane are unknown. Some of these interactions, which are visualized upon tissue plasmolysis in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), are disrupted by the RGD (arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) tripeptide sequence, a characteristic cell adhesion motif in mammals. In planta induced-O (IPI-O) is an RGD-containing protein from the plant pathogen Phytophthora infestans that can disrupt cell wall-plasma membrane adhesions through its RGD motif. To identify peptide sequences that specifically bind the RGD motif of the IPI-O protein and potentially play a role in receptor recognition, we screened a heptamer peptide library displayed in a filamentous phage and selected two peptides acting as inhibitors of the plasma membrane RGD-binding activity of Arabidopsis. Moreover, the two peptides also disrupted cell wall-plasma membrane adhesions. Sequence comparison of the RGD-binding peptides with the Arabidopsis proteome revealed 12 proteins containing amino acid sequences in their extracellular domains common with the two RGD-binding peptides. Eight belong to the receptor-like kinase family, four of which have a lectin-like extracellular domain. The lectin domain of one of these, At5g60300, recognized the RGD motif both in peptides and proteins. These results imply that lectin receptor kinases are involved in protein-protein interactions with RGD-containing proteins as potential ligands, and play a structural and signaling role at the plant cell surfaces.

A new picture of cell wall protein dynamics in elongating cells of Arabidopsis thaliana: Confirmed actors and newcomers

BackgroundCell elongation in plants requires addition and re-arrangements of cell wall components. Even if some protein families have been shown to play roles in these events, a global picture of proteins present in cell walls of elongating cells is still missing. A proteomic study was performed on etiolated hypocotyls of Arabidopsis used as model of cells undergoing elongation followed by growth arrest within a short time.ResultsTwo developmental stages (active growth and after growth arrest) were compared. A new strategy consisting of high performance cation exchange chromatography and mono-dimensional electrophoresis was established for separation of cell wall proteins. This work allowed identification of 137 predicted secreted proteins, among which 51 had not been identified previously. Apart from expected proteins known to be involved in cell wall extension such as xyloglucan endotransglucosylase-hydrolases, expansins, polygalacturonases, pectin methylesterases and peroxidases, new proteins were identified such as proteases, proteins related to lipid metabolism and proteins of unknown function.ConclusionThis work highlights the CWP dynamics that takes place between the two developmental stages. The presence of proteins known to be related to cell wall extension after growth arrest showed that these proteins may play other roles in cell walls. Finally, putative regulatory mechanisms of protein biological activity are discussed from this global view of cell wall proteins.

Plant Cell Wall Proteomics： Mass Spectrometry Data, a Trove for Research on Protein Structure/Function Relationships

Proteomics allows the large-scale study of protein expression either in whole organisms or in purified organelles. In particular, mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of gel-separated proteins produces data not only for protein identification, but for protein structure, location, and processing as well. An in-depth analysis was performed on MS data from etiolated hypocotyl cell wall proteomics of Arabidopsis thaliana. These analyses show that highly homologous members of multigene families can be differentiated. Two lectins presenting 93% amino acid identity were identified using peptide mass fingerprinting. Although the identification of structural proteins such as extensins or hydroxyproline/proline-rich proteins (H/PRPs) is arduous, different types of MS spectra were exploited to identify and characterize an H/PRP. Maturation events in a couple of cell wall proteins (CWPs) were analyzed using site mapping. N-glycosylation of CWPs as well as the hydroxylation or oxidation of amino acids were also explored, adding information to improve our understanding of CWP structure/function relationships. A bioinformatic tool was developed to locate by means of MS the N-terminus of mature secreted proteins and N-glycosylation.

Identification of pectin methylesterase 3 as a basic pectin methylesterase isoform involved in adventitious rooting in Arabidopsis thaliana

• Here, we focused on the biochemical characterization of the Arabidopsis thaliana pectin methylesterase 3 gene (AtPME3; At3g14310) and its role in plant development. • A combination of biochemical, gene expression, Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy and reverse genetics approaches were used. • We showed that AtPME3 is ubiquitously expressed in A. thaliana, particularly in vascular tissues. In cell wall-enriched fractions, only the mature part of the protein was identified, suggesting that it is processed before targeting the cell wall. In all the organs tested, PME activity was reduced in the atpme3-1 mutant compared with the wild type. This was related to the disappearance of an activity band corresponding to a pI of 9.6 revealed by a zymogram. Analysis of the cell wall composition showed that the degree of methylesterification (DM) of galacturonic acids was affected in the atpme3-1 mutant. A change in the number of adventitious roots was found in the mutant, which correlated with the expression of the gene in adventitious root primordia. • Our results enable the characterization of AtPME3 as a major basic PME isoform in A. thaliana and highlight its role in adventitious rooting.

The Arabidopsis thaliana lectin receptor kinase LecRK-I.9 is required for full resistance to Pseudomonas syringae and affects jasmonate signalling

On microbial attack, plants can detect invaders and activate plant innate immunity. For the detection of pathogen molecules or cell wall damage, plants employ receptors that trigger the activation of defence responses. Cell surface proteins that belong to large families of lectin receptor kinases are candidates to function as immune receptors. Here, the function of LecRK-I.9 (At5g60300), a legume-type lectin receptor kinase involved in cell wall-plasma membrane contacts and in extracellular ATP (eATP) perception, was studied through biochemical, gene expression and reverse genetics approaches. In Arabidopsis thaliana, LecRK-I.9 expression is rapidly, highly and locally induced on inoculation with avirulent strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst). Two allelic lecrk-I.9 knock-out mutants showed decreased resistance to Pst. Conversely, over-expression of LecRK-I.9 led to increased resistance to Pst. The analysis of defence gene expression suggests an alteration of both the salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) signalling pathways. In particular, LecRK-I.9 expression during plant-pathogen interaction was dependent on COI1 (CORONATINE INSENSITIVE 1) and JAR1 (JASMONATE RESISTANT 1) components, and JA-responsive transcription factors (TFs) showed altered levels of expression in plants over-expressing LecRK-I.9. A similar misregulation of these TFs was obtained by JA treatment. This study identified LecRK-I.9 as necessary for full resistance to Pst and demonstrated its involvement in the control of defence against pathogens through a regulation of JA signalling components. The role of LecRK-I.9 is discussed with regard to the potential molecular mechanisms linking JA signalling to cell wall damage and/or eATP perception.

Post-translational modifications of plant cell wall proteins and peptides: A survey from a proteomics point of view☆

Plant cell wall proteins (CWPs) and peptides are important players in cell walls contributing to their assembly and their remodeling during development and in response to environmental constraints. Since the rise of proteomics technologies at the beginning of the 2000s, the knowledge of CWPs has greatly increased leading to the discovery of new CWP families and to the description of the cell wall proteomes of different organs of many plants. Conversely, cell wall peptidomics data are still lacking. In addition to the identification of CWPs and peptides by mass spectrometry (MS) and bioinformatics, proteomics has allowed to describe their post-translational modifications (PTMs). At present, the best known PTMs consist in proteolytic cleavage, N-glycosylation, hydroxylation of P residues into hydroxyproline residues (O), O-glycosylation and glypiation. In this review, the methods allowing the capture of the modified proteins based on the specific properties of their PTMs as well as the MS technologies used for their characterization are briefly described. A focus is done on proteolytic cleavage leading to protein maturation or release of signaling peptides and on O-glycosylation. Some new technologies, like top-down proteomics and terminomics, are described. They aim at a finer description of proteoforms resulting from PTMs or degradation mechanisms. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Plant Proteomics--a bridge between fundamental processes and crop production, edited by Dr. Hans-Peter Mock.

Plant Lectins and Lectin Receptor-Like Kinases: How Do They Sense the Outside?

Lectins are fundamental to plant life and have important roles in cell-to-cell communication; development and defence strategies. At the cell surface; lectins are present both as soluble proteins (LecPs) and as chimeric proteins: lectins are then the extracellular domains of receptor-like kinases (LecRLKs) and receptor-like proteins (LecRLPs). In this review; we first describe the domain architectures of proteins harbouring G-type; L-type; LysM and malectin carbohydrate-binding domains. We then focus on the functions of LecPs; LecRLKs and LecRLPs referring to the biological processes they are involved in and to the ligands they recognize. Together; LecPs; LecRLKs and LecRLPs constitute versatile recognition systems at the cell surface contributing to the detection of symbionts and pathogens; and/or involved in monitoring of the cell wall structure and cell growth.

Isolation of the Cell Wall

This chapter describes a method allowing the purification of the cell wall for studying both polysaccharides and proteins. The plant primary cell wall is mainly composed of polysaccharides (90-95 % in mass) and of proteins (5-10 %). At the end of growth, specialized cells may synthesize a lignified secondary wall composed of polysaccharides (about 65 %) and lignin (about 35 %). Due to its composition, the cell wall is the cellular compartment having the highest density and this property is used for its purification. It plays critical roles during plant development and in response to environmental constraints. It is largely used in the food and textile industries as well as for the production of bioenergy. All these characteristics and uses explain why its study as a true cell compartment is of high interest. The proposed method of purification can be used for large amount of material but can also be downscaled to 500 mg of fresh material. Tools for checking the quality of the cell wall preparation, such as protein analysis and microscopy observation, are also provided.