Vanessa Wahl

Regulation of Flowering by Trehalose-6-Phosphate Signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana

Sweet Enough to Flower In making the developmental switch from vegetative growth to flowering, plants integrate diverse information, including photoperiod, hormone signals, and carbohydrate status. Wahl et al. (p. 704; see the Perspective by Danielson and Frommer) analyzed the physiology of the signaling sugar trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) in Arabidopsis. Quantities of T6P cycle in daily rhythms that peak toward the end of the day. T6P levels in the shoot apical meristem mirrored sucrose levels. Disruption of T6P production also disrupted expression of the FLOWERING LOCUS T gene, which responds in leaves to day length and generates signals that direct the meristem to initiate flowering programs. T6P production also affected the signaling pathway that links the age of the plant to flowering. By incorporating requirements for T6P signaling in the flowering induction pathways, the plant ensures that adequate carbohydrate reserves have been accumulated. Thus, T6P regulates the shift to flowering by linking carbohydrate status to day length in the leaves and to developmental age in the shoot apical meristem. Specific sugar signals integrate carbohydrate status with day length and developmental age to regulate flowering. [Also see Perspective by Danielson and Frommer] The timing of the induction of flowering determines to a large extent the reproductive success of plants. Plants integrate diverse environmental and endogenous signals to ensure the timely transition from vegetative growth to flowering. Carbohydrates are thought to play a crucial role in the regulation of flowering, and trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) has been suggested to function as a proxy for carbohydrate status in plants. The loss of TREHALOSE-6-PHOSPHATE SYNTHASE 1 (TPS1) causes Arabidopsis thaliana to flower extremely late, even under otherwise inductive environmental conditions. This suggests that TPS1 is required for the timely initiation of flowering. We show that the T6P pathway affects flowering both in the leaves and at the shoot meristem, and integrate TPS1 into the existing genetic framework of flowering-time control.

Trehalose-6-phosphate: connecting plant metabolism and development

Beyond their metabolic roles, sugars can also act as messengers in signal transduction. Trehalose, a sugar found in many species of plants and animals, is a non-reducing disaccharide composed of two glucose moieties. Its synthesis in plants is a two-step process, involving the production of trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) catalyzed by trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) and its consecutive dephosphorylation to trehalose, catalyzed by trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP). T6P has recently emerged as an important signaling metabolite, regulating carbon assimilation and sugar status in plants. In addition, T6P has also been demonstrated to play an essential role in plant development. This review recapitulates the recent advances we have made in understanding the role of T6P in coordinating diverse metabolic and developmental processes.

The FANTASTIC FOUR proteins influence shoot meristem size in Arabidopsis thaliana

BackgroundThroughout their lives plants produce new organs from groups of pluripotent cells called meristems, located at the tips of the shoot and the root. The size of the shoot meristem is tightly controlled by a feedback loop, which involves the homeodomain transcription factor WUSCHEL (WUS) and the CLAVATA (CLV) proteins. This regulatory circuit is further fine-tuned by morphogenic signals such as hormones and sugars.ResultsHere we show that a family of four plant-specific proteins, encoded by the FANTASTIC FOUR (FAF) genes, has the potential to regulate shoot meristem size in Arabidopsis thaliana. FAF2 and FAF4 are expressed in the centre of the shoot meristem, overlapping with the site of WUS expression. Consistent with a regulatory interaction between the FAF gene family and WUS, our experiments indicate that the FAFs can repress WUS, which ultimately leads to an arrest of meristem activity in FAF overexpressing lines. The finding that meristematic expression of FAF2 and FAF4 is under negative control by CLV3 further supports the hypothesis that the FAFs are modulators of the genetic circuit that regulates the meristem.ConclusionThis study reports the initial characterization of the Arabidopsis thaliana FAF gene family. Our data indicate that the FAF genes form a plant specific gene family, the members of which have the potential to regulate the size of the shoot meristem by modulating the CLV3-WUS feedback loop.

Reproductive failure in Arabidopsis thaliana under transient carbohydrate limitation: flowers and very young siliques are jettisoned and the meristem is maintained to allow successful resumption of reproductive growth

The impact of transient carbon depletion on reproductive growth in Arabidopsis was investigated by transferring long-photoperiod-grown plants to continuous darkness and returning them to a light-dark cycle. After 2 days of darkness, carbon reserves were depleted in reproductive sinks, and RNA in situ hybridization of marker transcripts showed that carbon starvation responses had been initiated in the meristem, anthers and ovules. Dark treatments of 2 or more days resulted in a bare-segment phenotype on the floral stem, with 23-27 aborted siliques. These resulted from impaired growth of immature siliques and abortion of mature and immature flowers. Depolarization of PIN1 protein and increased DII-VENUS expression pointed to rapid collapse of auxin gradients in the meristem and inhibition of primordia initiation. After transfer back to a light-dark cycle, flowers appeared and formed viable siliques and seeds. A similar phenotype was seen after transfer to sub-compensation point irradiance or CO2 . It also appeared in a milder form after a moderate decrease in irradiance and developed spontaneously in short photoperiods. We conclude that Arabidopsis inhibits primordia initiation and aborts flowers and very young siliques in C-limited conditions. This curtails demand, safeguarding meristem function and allowing renewal of reproductive growth when carbon becomes available again.

Timing Is Everything: Highly Specific and Transient Expression of a MAP Kinase Determines Auxin-Induced Leaf Venation Patterns in Arabidopsis

SUMMARY The Arabidopsis MAP kinase AtMPK10 has long been considered as a pseudo-gene without visible function for the plant. Here we show that AtMPK10 is functional only in a very narrow time window in leaves at sites of local auxin maxima where it regulates leaf venation complexity together with the upstream kinase AtMKK2.

OEP40: a Regulated Glucose-Permeable, β-Barrel Solute Channel in the Chloroplast Outer Envelope Membrane

Chloroplasts and mitochondria are unique endosymbiotic cellular organelles surrounded by two membranes. Essential metabolic networking between these compartments and their hosting cells requires the exchange of a large number of biochemical pathway intermediates in a directed and coordinated fashion across their inner and outer envelope membranes. Here, we describe the identification and functional characterization of a highly specific, regulated solute channel in the outer envelope of chloroplasts, named OEP40. Loss of OEP40 function in Arabidopsis thaliana results in early flowering under cold temperature. The reconstituted recombinant OEP40 protein forms a high conductance β-barrel ion channel with subconductant states in planar lipid bilayers. The OEP40 channel is slightly cation-selective PK+/PCl− ≈ 4:1 and rectifying (i⃗/i⃖ ≅ 2) with a slope conductance of Ḡmax ≅ 690 picosiemens. The OEP40 channel has a restriction zone diameter of ≅1.4 nm and is permeable for glucose, glucose 1-phosphate and glucose 6-phosphate, but not for maltose. Moreover, channel properties are regulated by trehalose 6-phosphate, which cannot permeate. Altogether, our results indicate that OEP40 is a “glucose-gate” in the outer envelope membrane of chloroplasts, facilitating selective metabolite exchange between chloroplasts and the surrounding cell.

MAPK-dependent phosphorylation modulates the activity of Suppressor of Hairless in Drosophila.

Cell differentiation strictly depends on the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)- and Notch-signalling pathways, which are closely intertwined. Here we address the molecular cross talk at the level of Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)]. The Drosophila transcription factor Su(H) mediates Notch signalling at the DNA level: in the presence of signalling input Su(H) assembles an activator complex on Notch target genes and a repressor complex in its absence. Su(H) contains a highly conserved mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) target sequence. Here we provide evidence that Su(H) is phosphorylated in response to MAPK activity. Mutation of the Su(H) MAPK-site modulated the Notch signalling output: whereas a phospho-deficient Su(H)(MAPK-ko) isoform provoked a stronger Notch signalling activity, a phospho-mimetic Su(H)(MAPK-ac) mutant resulted in its attenuation. In vivo assays in Drosophila cell culture as well as in flies support the idea that Su(H) phosphorylation affects the dynamics of repressor or activator complex formation or the transition from the one into the other complex. In summary, the phosphorylation of Su(H) attenuates Notch signalling in vivo in several developmental settings. Consequently, a decrease of EGFR signal causes an increase of Notch signalling intensity. Hence, the antagonistic relationship between EGFR- and Notch-signalling pathways may involve a direct modification of Su(H) by MAPK in several developmental contexts of fly development. The high sequence conservation of the MAPK target site in the mammalian Su(H) homologues supports the idea that EGFR signalling impacts on Notch activity in a similar way in humans as well.

Analysis of knockout mutants reveals non-redundant functions of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase isoforms in Arabidopsis

The enzyme poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) has a dual function being involved both in the poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation and being a constituent of the NAD+ salvage pathway. To date most studies, both in plant and non-plant systems, have focused on the signaling role of PARP in poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation rather than any role that can be ascribed to its metabolic function. In order to address this question we here used a combination of expression, transcript and protein localization studies of all three PARP isoforms of Arabidopsis alongside physiological analysis of the corresponding mutants. Our analyses indicated that whilst all isoforms of PARP were localized to the nucleus they are also present in non-nuclear locations with parp1 and parp3 also localised in the cytosol, and parp2 also present in the mitochondria. We next isolated and characterized insertional knockout mutants of all three isoforms confirming a complete knockout in the full length transcript levels of the target genes as well as a reduced total leaf NAD hydrolase activity in the two isoforms (PARP1, PARP2) that are highly expressed in leaves. Physiological evaluation of the mutant lines revealed that they displayed distinctive metabolic and root growth characteristics albeit unaltered leaf morphology under optimal growth conditions. We therefore conclude that the PARP isoforms play non-redundant non-nuclear metabolic roles and that their function is highly important in rapidly growing tissues such as the shoot apical meristem, roots and seeds.

Local overexpression of Su(H)-MAPK variants affects Notch target gene expression and adult phenotypes in Drosophila

In Drosophila, Notch and EGFR signalling pathways are closely intertwined. Their relationship is mostly antagonistic, and may in part be based on the phosphorylation of the Notch signal transducer Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)] by MAPK. Su(H) is a transcription factor that together with several cofactors regulates the expression of Notch target genes. Here we address the consequences of a local induction of three Su(H) variants on Notch target gene expression. To this end, wild-type Su(H), a phospho-deficient Su(H)MAPK-ko and a phospho-mimetic Su(H)MAPK-ac isoform were overexpressed in the central domain of the wing anlagen. The expression of the Notch target genes cut, wingless, E(spl)m8-HLH and vestigial, was monitored. For the latter two, reporter genes were used (E(spl)m8-lacZ, vgBE-lacZ). In general, Su(H)MAPK-ko induced a stronger response than wild-type Su(H), whereas the response to Su(H)MAPK-ac was very weak. Notch target genes cut, wingless and vgBE-lacZ were ectopically activated, whereas E(spl)m8-lacZ was repressed by overexpression of Su(H) proteins. In addition, in epistasis experiments an activated form of the EGF-receptor (DERact) or the MAPK (rlSEM) and individual Su(H) variants were co-overexpressed locally, to compare the resultant phenotypes in adult flies (thorax, wings and eyes) as well as to assay the response of the Notch target gene cut in cell clones.