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A point mutation in the kinase domain of CRK10 leads to xylem vessel collapse and activation of defence responses in Arabidopsis

ABSTRACT: Cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases (CRKs) are a large family of plasma membrane-bound receptors ubiquitous in higher plants. However, despite their prominence, their biological roles have remained largely elusive so far. In this study we report the characterization of an Arabidopsis mutant named crk10-A397T in which alanine 397 has been replaced by a threonine in the αC helix of the kinase domain of CRK10, known to be a crucial regulatory module in mammalian kinases. The crk10-A397T mutant is a dwarf that displays collapsed xylem vessels in the root and hypocotyl, whereas the vasculature of the inflorescence develops normally. In situ phosphorylation assays with His-tagged wild type and crk10-A397T versions of the CRK10 kinase domain revealed that both alleles are active kinases capable of autophosphorylation, with the newly introduced threonine acting as an additional phosphorylation site in crk10-A397T. Transcriptomic analysis of wild type and crk10-A397T mutant hypocotyls revealed that biotic and abiotic stress-responsive genes are constitutively up-regulated in the mutant, and a root-infection assay with the vascular pathogen Fusarium oxysporum demonstrated that the mutant has enhanced resistance to this pathogen compared with wild type plants. Taken together our results suggest that crk10-A397T is a gain-of-function allele of CRK10, the first such mutant to have been identified for a CRK in Arabidopsis.

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE218029 | GEO | 2023/02/17

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Histone phosphorylation plays key roles in stress-induced transcriptional reprogramming in metazoans but its function(s) in land plants has remained relatively unexplored. Here we report that an Arabidopsis mutant defective in At3g03940 and At5g18190, encoding closely related Ser/Thr protein kinases, shows pleiotropic phenotypes including dwarfism and hypersensitivity to osmotic/salt stress. The double mutant has reduced global levels of phosphorylated histone H3 threonine 3 (H3T3ph), which are not enhanced, unlike the response in the wild type, by drought-like treatments. Genome-wide analyses revealed increased H3T3ph, slight enhancement in trimethylated histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3), and a modest decrease in histone H3 occupancy in pericentromeric/knob regions of wild type plants under osmotic stress. However, despite these changes in heterochromatin, transposons and repeats remained largely transcriptionally repressed. In contrast, this reorganization of heterochromatin was mostly absent in the double mutant, which even under normal conditions exhibited lower H3T3ph levels in pericentromeric regions, and a few transposons and repeat sequences showed modest transcriptional activation. Interestingly, within actively transcribed protein-coding genes, H3T3ph density was minimal in 5’ genic regions, coincidental with a peak of H3K4me3 accumulation. This pattern was not affected in the double mutant, implying the existence of additional H3T3 protein kinases in Arabidopsis. Our results suggest that At3g03940 and At5g18190 are involved in the phosphorylation of H3T3 in pericentromeric/knob regions and that this repressive epigenetic mark may be important for maintaining proper heterochromatic organization and, possibly, chromosome function(s). Columbia-0 and double mutant at3g03940/at518190 knockdown plants were grown in 12 hr light for 3 weeks in pots with soil covered with miracloth to prevent soil contamination of leaf tissues. Control was kept in normal watered state, for other samples (peg) drought stress was induced by treatment with 30% Polyethylene glycol (PEG 6,000) for 5 hours. Pulldowns on H3, H3K4, and H3T3 were performed on all samples with 3-4 replicates.

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A point mutation in the kinase domain of CRK10 leads to xylem vessel collapse and activation of defence responses in Arabidopsis

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