Julie V. Cullimore

Lipo-chitooligosaccharide signaling in endosymbiotic plant-microbe interactions.

The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and the rhizobia-legume (RL) root endosymbioses are established as a result of signal exchange in which there is mutual recognition of diffusible signals produced by plant and microbial partners. It was discovered 20 years ago that the key symbiotic signals produced by rhizobial bacteria are lipo-chitooligosaccharides (LCO), called Nod factors. These LCO are perceived via lysin-motif (LysM) receptors and activate a signaling pathway called the common symbiotic pathway (CSP), which controls both the RL and the AM symbioses. Recent work has established that an AM fungus, Glomus intraradices, also produces LCO that activate the CSP, leading to induction of gene expression and root branching in Medicago truncatula. These Myc-LCO also stimulate mycorrhization in diverse plants. In addition, work on the nonlegume Parasponia andersonii has shown that a LysM receptor is required for both successful mycorrhization and nodulation. Together these studies show that structurally related signals and the LysM receptor family are key components of both nodulation and mycorrhization. LysM receptors are also involved in the perception of chitooligosaccharides (CO), which are derived from fungal cell walls and elicit defense responses and resistance to pathogens in diverse plants. The discovery of Myc-LCO and a LysM receptor required for the AM symbiosis, therefore, not only raises questions of how legume plants discriminate fungal and bacterial endosymbionts but also, more generally, of how plants discriminate endosymbionts from pathogenic microorganisms using structurally related LCO and CO signals and of how these perception mechanisms have evolved.

Expression studies on AUX1-like genes in Medicago truncatula suggest that auxin is required at two steps in early nodule development.

Medicago truncatula contains a family of at least five genes related to AUX1 of Arabidopsis thaliana (termed MtLAX genes for Medicago truncatula-like AUX1 genes). The high sequence similarity between the encoded proteins and AUX1 implies that the MtLAX genes encode auxin import carriers. The MtLAX genes are expressed in roots and other organs, suggesting that they play pleiotropic roles related to auxin uptake. In primary roots, the MtLAX genes are expressed preferentially in the root tips, particularly in the provascular bundles and root caps. During lateral root and nodule development, the genes are expressed in the primordia, particularly in cells that were probably derived from the pericycle. At slightly later stages, the genes are expressed in the regions of the developing organs where the vasculature arises (central position for lateral roots and peripheral region for nodules). These results are consistent with MtLAX being involved in local auxin transport and suggest that auxin is required at two common stages of lateral root and nodule development: development of the primordia and differentiation of the vasculature.

The chloroplast-located glutamine synthetase of Phaseolus vulgaris L.: nucleotide sequence, expression in different organs and uptake into isolated chloroplasts.

Work using a full-length cDNA clone has revealed that the plastid-located glutamine synthetase (GS) of Phaseolus vulgaris is encoded by a single nuclear gene. Nucleotide sequencing has shown that this cDNA is more closely related to a cDNA encoding the plastidic GS of Pisum sativum than to cDNAs encoding three different cytosolic GS subunits of P. vulgaris. The plastid GS subunits are initially synthesized as higher Mr (47000) precursors containing an N-terminal presequence of about 50 amino acids which is structurally similar to the presequences of other nuclear-encoded chloroplast proteins. The precursor has been synthesized in vitro and is imported by isolated pea chloroplasts and processed to two polypeptides of the same size as native P. vulgaris chloroplast GS subunits (Mr 42000). Experiments with fusion proteins show that the N-terminal 68 amino acids of this precursor allow the cytosolic GS subunit β also to be imported and processed by isolated chloroplasts. Polyadenylated mRNA specifically related to the plastidic GS gene is most highly abundant in chloroplast-containing organs (leaves and stems) but is also detectable in roots and nodules.

Purification and properties of two forms of glutamine synthetase from the plant fraction of Phaseolus root nodules.

Two forms of glutamine synthetase (GS) have been purified to apparent homogeneity from the plant fraction of Phaseolus vulgaris root nodules. One of these forms appears identical to the form of the enzyme found in roots but the other is probably specifically associated with the nodule. Free-living Rhizobium phaseoli also contain two forms of GS both of which have different molecular weights from the plant enzymes. Bacteroids contain solely the higher-molecular-weight form of rhizobial GS. There are only minor differences between the plant enzymes in Km or S0.5 values for the synthetase-reaction substrates and both forms have identical molecular weights of the holoenzyme (380,000 daltons) and its sub-units (41,000 daltons). They can be separated by ion-exchange chromatography on diethylaminoethyl-Sephacel and by native polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The only other distinguishing feature observed is that the ratio of transferase: synthetase activity of the root form is threefold greater than that of the nodule-specific GS.

Appearance of a novel form of plant glutamine synthetase during nodule development in Phaseolus vulgaris L.

The activities of glutamine synthetase (GS), nitrogenase and leghaemoglobin were measured during nodule development in Phaseolus vulgaris infected with wild-type or two non-fixing (Fix-) mutants of Rhizobium phaseoli. The large increase in GS activity which was observed during nodulation with the wild-type rhizobial strain occurred concomitantly with the detection and increase in activity of nitrogenase and the amount of leghaemoglobin. Moreover, this increase in GS was found to be due entirely to the appearance of a novel form of the enzyme (GSn1) in the nodule. The activity of the form (GSn2) similar to the root enzyme (GSr) remained constant throughout the experiment. In nodules produced by infection with the two mutant strains of Rhizobium phaseoli (JL15 and JL19) only trace amounts of GSn1 and leghaemoglobin were detected.

The Molecular Biology and Biochemistry of Plant Glutamine Synthetase from Root Nodules of Phaseolus vulgaris L. and other Legumes

Summary Ammonia produced by the bacterial fixation of dinitrogen in legume root nodules is assimilated by the plant glutamine synthetase (GS). Biochemical studies have shown that plant nodule GS consists of one or more major cytosolic and a minor plastidic GS polypeptide which assemble to form distinct octameric GS isoenzymes. Recombinant DNA techniques have shown that these different GS polypeptides are all encoded by separate nuclear genes which are expressed differentially in nodules, roots and leaves. In Phaseolus vulgaris L. GS activity increases several fold during nodulation and this is accounted for by the induction of a GS gene expressed specifically in nodules which produces a cytosolic GS polypeptide and isoenzyme. Three other GS genes, encoding two cytosolic and a plastidic GS, are also expressed in these nodules but at much lower levels. Other legumes, for example Pisum sativum L. do not appear to possess a nodule-specifically expressed GS gene but mediate an increase in nodule GS activity by expressing at a higher level, GS genes which are also transcribed in other organs. The regulation of both the expression of the GS genes and of the assembly and activity of nodule GS isoenzymes are also described in this review.

Regulation of glutamine synthetase genes in leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris

Glutamine synthetase (GS) activity increased over three-fold in developing primary leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris L. This increase was shown to be the result of differential expression of three members of the GS gene family: gln-α and gln-β, which encode cytosolic GS polypeptides, and gln-δ, which encodes the chloroplast-located GS. The gln-δ gene was the most highly expressed GS gene and was regulated in a complex manner with two different transcripts accumulating differentially during leaf development. This gene was expressed weakly in the dark and was induced strongly by lingt; this induction was shown not to be an indirect effect of photorespiration. In the long term, gln-δ showed increased expression in photorespiring compared with non-photorespiring leaves. However, in the short term, there was no induction of gln-δ following transfer of plants to photorespiratory conditions. These results suggest that regulation of gln-δ by photorespiration was the result of indirect, long-term effects on cellular metabolism. In general, in all these experiments, analysis of cytosolic versus chloroplastic GS polypeptides and of the GS isoenzyme profiles showed the same pattern of changes in abundance as that observed for the mRNAs suggesting that regulation of GS gene expression occurred primarily at the mRNA level. However, it was noteworthy that the δ isoenzyme remained at a high abundance in older leaves, grown in both light and dark, despite a decrease in abundance of gln-δ mRNA.

Glutamine synthetase isoenzymes of Phaseolus vulgaris L.: subunit composition in developing root nodules and plumules

In the legume Phaseolus vulgaris L., glutamine synthetase (GS) (EC.6.3.1.2.) occurs as three cytosolic polypeptides, α, β and γ, and a plastidic polypeptide, δ. This paper describes the subunit composition of active octameric GS isoenzymes from root nodules and plumules using ionexchange high-performance liquid chromatography followed by two-dimensional denaturing gel electrophoresis and Western immunodetection. Root nodules contained four separable GS activities, three of which were composed mainly of cytosolic γ, γ/β and β GS polypeptides, whereas the fourth activity, consisted of plastidic δ GS polypeptides. The increase in GS activity during nodulation was due largely to the appearance of γ-containing isoenzymes, and to a lesser extent on the δ isoenzyme, whereas the β-isoenzyme activity remained approximately constant throughout. Plumule GS from imbibed seeds was found to be composed of separate α and β isoenzymes, but 2 d after germination, plumule GS consisted of a mixture of α, α/β and β isoenzymes. The results from both nodules and plumules indicate that different cytosolic GS polypeptides in P. vulgaris are able to assemble into both homo-octameric and heterooctameric isoenzymes. Moreover, the changes in the patterns of isoenzymes observed during nodule development and plumule growth are interpreted to be caused both by temporal changes in the denovo synthesis of the polypeptides and also by their spatial separation in different cell types.

Identification of a High Affinity Binding Site for Lipo- oligosaccharidic NodRm Factors in the Microsomal Fraction of Medicago Cell Suspension Cultures

Protease-sensitive binding sites for a 35S-labeled ligand corresponding to the major lipo-oligosaccharidic symbiotic signal of Rhizobium meliloti (NodRm factor), have been identified in the microsomal fraction of Medicago varia cell suspension culture extracts. Binding was reversible and saturable and tetra-N-acetyl chitotetraose was a poor competitor of NodRm binding. Scatchard analysis suggests the presence of a high affinity binding site, termed Nod factor binding site two (NFBS2), with a Kd of 1.9 nM, and perhaps a second site with an affinity (Kd of 70 nM) similar to that of a site (NFBS1) previously characterized in Medicago truncatula root extracts.

Expression of glutamine synthetase genes in roots and nodules of Phaseolus vulgaris following changes in the ammonium supply and infection with various Rhizobium mutants.

In this paper we have examined whether the four glutamine synthetase (gln) genes, expressed in roots and nodules of Phaseolus vulgaris are substrate-inducible by ammonium. Manipulation of the ammonium pool in roots, through addition and removal of exogenous ammonium, did not elicit any changes in the abundances of the four mRNAs thus suggesting that the gln genes in roots of this legume are neither substrate-inducible by ammonium nor derepressed during nitrogen starvation. In nodules the effect of the ammonium supply on expression of the gln genes has been examined by growing nodules under argon/oxygen atmospheres, or with a number of Fix-Rhizobium mutants, and following addition of exogenous ammonium. The results of these experiments suggest that the expression of the gln-γ gene, which is strongly induced during nodule development, is primarily under a developmental control. However nitrogen fixation appears to have a quantitative effect on expression of gln-γ as the abundance of this mRNA is about 2 to 4-fold higher under nitrogen-fixing conditions. This effect could not be mimicked by addition of exogenous ammonium and moreover is not specific to the gln-γ gene as mRNA from a leghaemoglobin gene was similarly affected. Taken together these results have failed to find an effect of ammonium on specifically inducing the expression of glutamine synthetase genes in roots and nodules of P. vulgaris.