Wolfgang Lein

Plastidial Thioredoxin z Interacts with Two Fructokinase-Like Proteins in a Thiol-Dependent Manner: Evidence for an Essential Role in Chloroplast Development in Arabidopsis and Nicotiana benthamiana

This study describes a thioredoxin isoform (TRX z) that is crucial in plant development and functions in regulation of the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase. It shows that at least one TRX z target is regulated by light, indicative of a protein interaction module that might link plastid transcription to light signals. Here, we characterize a plastidial thioredoxin (TRX) isoform from Arabidopsis thaliana that defines a previously unknown branch of plastidial TRXs lying between x- and y-type TRXs and thus was named TRX z. An Arabidopsis knockout mutant of TRX z had a severe albino phenotype and was inhibited in chloroplast development. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis of the mutant suggested that the expressions of genes that depend on a plastid-encoded RNA polymerase (PEP) were specifically decreased. Similar results were obtained upon virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) of the TRX z ortholog in Nicotiana benthamiana. We found that two fructokinase-like proteins (FLN1 and FLN2), members of the pfkB-carbohydrate kinase family, were potential TRX z target proteins and identified conserved Cys residues mediating the FLN–TRX z interaction. VIGS in N. benthamiana and inducible RNA interference in Arabidopsis of FLNs also led to a repression of PEP-dependent gene transcription. Remarkably, recombinant FLNs displayed no detectable sugar-phosphorylating activity, and amino acid substitutions within the predicted active site imply that the FLNs have acquired a new function, which might be regulatory rather than metabolic. We were able to show that the FLN2 redox state changes in vivo during light/dark transitions and that this change is mediated by TRX z. Taken together, our data strongly suggest an important role for TRX z and both FLNs in the regulation of PEP-dependent transcription in chloroplasts.

ATP Synthase Repression in Tobacco Restricts Photosynthetic Electron Transport, CO2 Assimilation, and Plant Growth by Overacidification of the Thylakoid Lumen

The authors use a transgenic approach to show that a close adjustment of ATP synthase activity to linear electron flux is essential for fine-tuning the proton motive force. If ATP synthase activity is too low, lumen overacidification restricts linear electron flux and initiates photoprotective mechanisms (nonphotochemical quenching) in low light, diminishing the quantum efficiency of CO2 fixation. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants strictly adjust the contents of both ATP synthase and cytochrome b6f complex to the metabolic demand for ATP and NADPH. While the cytochrome b6f complex catalyzes the rate-limiting step of photosynthetic electron flux and thereby controls assimilation, the functional significance of the ATP synthase adjustment is unknown. Here, we reduced ATP synthase accumulation by an antisense approach directed against the essential nuclear-encoded γ-subunit (AtpC) and by the introduction of point mutations into the translation initiation codon of the plastid-encoded atpB gene (encoding the essential β-subunit) via chloroplast transformation. Both strategies yielded transformants with ATP synthase contents ranging from 100 to <10% of wild-type levels. While the accumulation of the components of the linear electron transport chain was largely unaltered, linear electron flux was strongly inhibited due to decreased rates of plastoquinol reoxidation at the cytochrome b6f complex (photosynthetic control). Also, nonphotochemical quenching was triggered at very low light intensities, strongly reducing the quantum efficiency of CO2 fixation. We show evidence that this is due to an increased steady state proton motive force, resulting in strong lumen overacidification, which in turn represses photosynthesis due to photosynthetic control and dissipation of excitation energy in the antenna bed.

The Gα Protein Controls a pH-Dependent Signal Path to the Induction of Phytoalexin Biosynthesis in Eschscholzia californica

The function of a Gα protein in the elicitation of phytoalexin (benzophenanthridine) biosynthesis was characterized in cultured cells of California poppy (Eschscholzia californica). Both the decrease of Gα content via antisense transformation and the expression of recombinant anti-Gα single-chain antibodies strongly impaired the induction of alkaloid biosynthesis by low elicitor concentrations. All transgenic cell types were deficient in two elicitor-triggered early signal events: activation of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and efflux of vacuolar protons. The lacking H+ efflux could be restored (1) by adding lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), a product of PLA2 activity, to vacuoles in situ and (2) by exposing intact cells to isotonic, near-neutral HEPES buffers. The latter treatment induced alkaloid biosynthesis in the absence of elicitor and in Gα-deficient cells. We conclude that Gα mediates the stimulation of PLA2 by low elicitor concentrations and that the resulting peak of LPC initiates a transient efflux of vacuolar protons. In this way, an acidic peak of the cytoplasmic pH is generated that causes the expression of enzymes of phytoalexin production independent of the hypersensitive response.

Y3IP1, a Nucleus-Encoded Thylakoid Protein, Cooperates with the Plastid-Encoded Ycf3 Protein in Photosystem I Assembly of Tobacco and Arabidopsis

Ycf3 is a plastid-encoded gene known to function in the assembly of photosystem I (PSI). This study revealed that Ycf3-interacting protein 1, a nucleus-encoded thylakoid protein, interacts with Ycf3 to promote the assembly of PSI units in the thylakoid membrane. The intricate assembly of photosystem I (PSI), a large multiprotein complex in the thylakoid membrane, depends on auxiliary protein factors. One of the essential assembly factors for PSI is encoded by ycf3 (hypothetical chloroplast reading frame number 3) in the chloroplast genome of algae and higher plants. To identify novel factors involved in PSI assembly, we constructed an epitope-tagged version of ycf3 from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and introduced it into the tobacco chloroplast genome by genetic transformation. Immunoaffinity purification of Ycf3 complexes from the transplastomic plants identified a novel nucleus-encoded thylakoid protein, Y3IP1 (for Ycf3-interacting protein 1), that specifically interacts with the Ycf3 protein. Subsequent reverse genetics analysis of Y3IP1 function in tobacco and Arabidopsis thaliana revealed that knockdown of Y3IP1 leads to a specific deficiency in PSI but does not result in loss of Ycf3. Our data indicate that Y3IP1 represents a novel factor for PSI biogenesis that cooperates with the plastid genome-encoded Ycf3 in the assembly of stable PSI units in the thylakoid membrane.

Antisense inhibition of enolase strongly limits the metabolism of aromatic amino acids, but has only minor effects on respiration in leaves of transgenic tobacco plants

Enolase catalyses the reversible conversion of 2-phosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate in glycolysis. Phosphoenolpyruvate constitutes an important branch point in plant metabolism. It is converted to pyruvate by pyruvate kinase and organic acids by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Phosphoenolpyruvate also acts as a precursor for the synthesis of aromatic amino acids in plastids. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) enolase antisense plants were analysed for changes in metabolite composition, respiration and photosynthetic parameters. Antisense repression resulted in up to a 95% reduction in total enolase activity. It also resulted in fundamental changes in foliar metabolism. Although 2-phosphoglycerate remained largely unaltered, there was a substantial decrease in phosphoenolpyruvate. The levels of aromatic amino acids and secondary phenylpropanoid metabolites that are derived from these compounds decreased strongly, as did branched chain amino acids. The level of pyruvate was unaltered, as was the rate of respiration. There were substantial increases in tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, including a 16-fold increase in isocitrate, an increase in the total free amino acid content, including a 14-fold increase in asparagine and glutamine, and a 50% decrease in free sugars. We conclude that a decrease in enolase activity affects secondary pathways, such as the shikimate branch of amino acid biosynthesis, but does not inhibit the rate of respiration.

LCAA, a Novel Factor Required for Magnesium Protoporphyrin Monomethylester Cyclase Accumulation and Feedback Control of Aminolevulinic Acid Biosynthesis in Tobacco

Low Chlorophyll Accumulation A (LCAA) antisense plants were obtained from a screen for genes whose partial down-regulation results in a strong chlorophyll deficiency in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). The LCAA mutants are affected in a plastid-localized protein of unknown function, which is conserved in cyanobacteria and all photosynthetic eukaryotes. They suffer from drastically reduced light-harvesting complex (LHC) contents, while the accumulation of all other photosynthetic complexes per leaf area is less affected. As the disturbed accumulation of LHC proteins could be either attributable to a defect in LHC biogenesis itself or to a bottleneck in chlorophyll biosynthesis, chlorophyll synthesis rates and chlorophyll synthesis intermediates were measured. LCAA antisense plants accumulate magnesium (Mg) protoporphyrin monomethylester and contain reduced protochlorophyllide levels and a reduced content of CHL27, a subunit of the Mg protoporphyrin monomethylester cyclase. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays confirm a direct interaction between LCAA and CHL27. 5-Aminolevulinic acid synthesis rates are increased and correlate with an increased content of glutamyl-transfer RNA reductase. We suggest that LCAA encodes an additional subunit of the Mg protoporphyrin monomethylester cyclase, is required for the stability of CHL27, and contributes to feedback-control of 5-aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis, the rate-limiting step of chlorophyll biosynthesis.

Inducible repression of nuclear-encoded subunits of the cytochrome b6f complex in tobacco reveals an extraordinarily long lifetime of the complex

De novo biogenesis of the cytochrome b6f complex is restricted to young leaves of tobacco. The biogenesis of the cytochrome b6f complex in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) seems to be restricted to young leaves, suggesting a high lifetime of the complex. To directly determine its lifetime, we employed an ethanol-inducible RNA interference (RNAi) approach targeted against the essential nuclear-encoded Rieske protein (PetC) and the small M subunit (PetM), whose function in higher plants is unknown. Young expanding leaves of both PetM and PetC RNAi transformants bleached rapidly and developed necroses, while mature leaves, whose photosynthetic apparatus was fully assembled before RNAi induction, stayed green. In line with these phenotypes, cytochrome b6f complex accumulation and linear electron transport capacity were strongly repressed in young leaves of both RNAi transformants, showing that the M subunit is as essential for cytochrome b6f complex accumulation as the Rieske protein. In mature leaves, all photosynthetic parameters were indistinguishable from the wild type even after 14 d of induction. As RNAi repression of PetM and PetC was highly efficient in both young and mature leaves, these data indicate a lifetime of the cytochrome b6f complex of at least 1 week. The switch-off of cytochrome b6f complex biogenesis in mature leaves may represent part of the first dedicated step of the leaf senescence program.