Niina Idänheimo

Transcriptional regulation of the CRK/DUF26 group of Receptor-like protein kinases by ozone and plant hormones in Arabidopsis

BackgroundPlant Receptor-like/Pelle kinases (RLK) are a group of conserved signalling components that regulate developmental programs and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. One of the largest RLK groups is formed by the Domain of Unknown Function 26 (DUF26) RLKs, also called Cysteine-rich Receptor-like Kinases (CRKs), which have been suggested to play important roles in the regulation of pathogen defence and programmed cell death. Despite the vast number of RLKs present in plants, however, only a few of them have been functionally characterized.ResultsWe examined the transcriptional regulation of all Arabidopsis CRKs by ozone (O3), high light and pathogen/elicitor treatment - conditions known to induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in various subcellular compartments. Several CRKs were transcriptionally induced by exposure to O3 but not by light stress. O3 induces an extracellular oxidative burst, whilst light stress leads to ROS production in chloroplasts. Analysis of publicly available microarray data revealed that the transcriptional responses of the CRKs to O3 were very similar to responses to microbes or pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Several mutants altered in hormone biosynthesis or signalling showed changes in basal and O3-induced transcriptional responses.ConclusionsCombining expression analysis from multiple treatments with mutants altered in hormone biosynthesis or signalling suggest a model in which O3 and salicylic acid (SA) activate separate signaling pathways that exhibit negative crosstalk. Although O3 is classified as an abiotic stress to plants, transcriptional profiling of CRKs showed strong similarities between the O3 and biotic stress responses.

Gene encoding a new RING-B-box-Coiled-coil protein is mutated in mulibrey nanism.

Mulibrey nanism (for muscle-liver-brain-eye nanism, MUL; MIM 253250) is an autosomal recessive disorder that involves several tissues of mesodermal origin, implying a defect in a highly pleiotropic gene. Characteristic features include severe growth failure of prenatal onset and constrictive pericardium with consequent hepatomegaly. In addition, muscle hypotonia, J-shaped sella turcica, yellowish dots in the ocular fundi, typical dysmorphic features and hypoplasia of various endocrine glands causing hormonal deficiency are common. About 4% of MUL patients develop Wilms′ tumour. MUL is enriched in the Finnish population, but is rare elsewhere. We previously assigned MUL to chromosome 17q22–q23 and constructed a physical contig over the critical MUL region. The region has now been further refined by haplotype analysis and new positional candidate genes have been localized. We identified a gene with four independent MUL-associated mutations that all cause a frameshift and predict a truncated protein. MUL is ubiquitously expressed and encodes a new member of the RING-B-box-Coiled-coil (RBCC) family of zinc-finger proteins, whose members are involved in diverse cellular functions such as developmental patterning and oncogenesis.

Spreading the news: subcellular and organellar reactive oxygen species production and signalling

As plants are sessile organisms that have to attune their physiology and morphology continuously to varying environmental challenges in order to survive and reproduce, they have evolved complex and integrated environment-cell, cell-cell, and cell-organelle signalling circuits that regulate and trigger the required adjustments (such as alteration of gene expression). Although reactive oxygen species (ROS) are essential components of this network, their pathways are not yet completely unravelled. In addition to the intrinsic chemical properties that define the array of interaction partners, mobility, and stability, ROS signalling specificity is obtained via the spatiotemporal control of production and scavenging at different organellar and subcellular locations (e.g. chloroplasts, mitochondria, peroxisomes, and apoplast). Furthermore, these cellular compartments may crosstalk to relay and further fine-tune the ROS message. Hence, plant cells might locally and systemically react upon environmental or developmental challenges by generating spatiotemporally controlled dosages of certain ROS types, each with specific chemical properties and interaction targets, that are influenced by interorganellar communication and by the subcellular location and distribution of the involved organelles, to trigger the suitable acclimation responses in association with other well-established cellular signalling components (e.g. reactive nitrogen species, phytohormones, and calcium ions). Further characterization of this comprehensive ROS signalling matrix may result in the identification of new targets and key regulators of ROS signalling, which might be excellent candidates for engineering or breeding stress-tolerant plants.

Large-Scale Phenomics Identifies Primary and Fine-Tuning Roles for CRKs in Responses Related to Oxidative Stress

Cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases (CRKs) are transmembrane proteins characterized by the presence of two domains of unknown function 26 (DUF26) in their ectodomain. The CRKs form one of the largest groups of receptor-like protein kinases in plants, but their biological functions have so far remained largely uncharacterized. We conducted a large-scale phenotyping approach of a nearly complete crk T-DNA insertion line collection showing that CRKs control important aspects of plant development and stress adaptation in response to biotic and abiotic stimuli in a non-redundant fashion. In particular, the analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related stress responses, such as regulation of the stomatal aperture, suggests that CRKs participate in ROS/redox signalling and sensing. CRKs play general and fine-tuning roles in the regulation of stomatal closure induced by microbial and abiotic cues. Despite their great number and high similarity, large-scale phenotyping identified specific functions in diverse processes for many CRKs and indicated that CRK2 and CRK5 play predominant roles in growth regulation and stress adaptation, respectively. As a whole, the CRKs contribute to specificity in ROS signalling. Individual CRKs control distinct responses in an antagonistic fashion suggesting future potential for using CRKs in genetic approaches to improve plant performance and stress tolerance.

The Arabidopsis thaliana cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases CRK6 and CRK7 protect against apoplastic oxidative stress

Receptor-like kinases are important regulators of many different processes in plants. Despite their large number only a few have been functionally characterized. One of the largest subgroups of receptor-like kinases in Arabidopsis is the cysteine-rich receptor like kinases (CRKs). High sequence similarity among the CRKs has been suggested as major cause for functional redundancy. The genomic localization of CRK genes in back-to-back repeats has made their characterization through mutant analysis unpractical. Expression profiling has linked the CRKs with reactive oxygen species, important signaling molecules in plants. Here we have investigated the role of two CRKs, CRK6 and CRK7, and analyzed their role in extracellular ROS signaling. CRK6 and CRK7 are active protein kinases with differential preference for divalent cations. Our results suggest that CRK7 is involved in mediating the responses to extracellular but not chloroplastic ROS production.

ROS signalling in a destabilised world: A molecular understanding of climate change

Climate change results in increased intensity and frequency of extreme abiotic and biotic stress events. In plants, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulate in proportion to the level of stress and are major signalling and regulatory metabolites coordinating growth, defence, acclimation and cell death. Our knowledge of ROS homeostasis, sensing, and signalling is therefore key to understanding the impacts of climate change at the molecular level. Current research is uncovering new insights into temporal-spatial, cell-to-cell and systemic ROS signalling pathways, particularly how these affect plant growth, defence, and more recently acclimation mechanisms behind stress priming and long term stress memory. Understanding the stabilising and destabilising factors of ROS homeostasis and signalling in plants exposed to extreme and fluctuating stress will concomitantly reveal how to address future climate change challenges in global food security and biodiversity management.