Project description:Camalexin, an indolic secondary metabolite, is the magor phytoalexin produced by Arabidopsis thaliana. Camalexin biosynthesis is induced by abiotic stresses such as heavy metal treatment (e.g AgNO3). With the aim of identifying positive regulators of camalexin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis, we listed putative transcription factor genes strongly induced during the time course of AgNO3 treatment from a transcriptome analysis.
Project description:Secondary transporters undergo structural rearrangements to catalyze substrate translocation across the cell membrane – yet how such conformational changes happen within a lipid environment remains poorly understood. Here, we combine hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to understand how lipids regulate the conformational dynamics of secondary transporters at the molecular level. Using the homologous transporters XylE, LacY and GlpT from Escherichia coli as model systems, we discover that conserved networks of charged residues act as molecular switches that drive the conformational transition between different states. We reveal that these molecular switches are regulated by interactions with surrounding phospholipids and show that phosphatidylethanolamine interferes with the formation of the conserved networks and favors an inward-facing state. Overall, this work provides insights into the importance of lipids in shaping the conformational landscape of an important class of transporters.
Project description:Ascorbate is a major plant metabolite that plays crucial roles in various processes, from reactive oxygen scavenging to epigenetic regulation. However, to what extent and how ascorbate modulates metabolism is largely unknown. To address this, we investigated the consequences of chloroplastic and total cellular ascorbate-deficiencies by studying chloroplastic ascorbate transporter pht4;4 mutant lines, and the ascorbate-deficient vtc2-4 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana. Under regular growth conditions, both ascorbate-deficiencies caused minor alterations in photosynthesis, with no apparent signs of oxidative damage. In contrast, metabolomics analysis revealed a global and largely overlapping metabolome rewiring in both ascorbate deficiencies, suggesting that chloroplastic ascorbate modulates plant metabolism. We observed significant alterations in amino acid metabolism, particularly in arginine metabolism, activation of nucleotide salvage pathways, and changes in secondary metabolism. In addition, proteome wide analysis of thermostability revealed that ascorbate may interact with enzymes involved in arginine metabolism, the Calvin-Benson cycle, and several photosynthetic electron transport components. Overall, our results suggest that, independently of oxidative stress, chloroplastic ascorbate interconnects and coordinates diverse metabolic pathways in vascular plants and thus acts as a regulatory hub.
Project description:Secondary metabolites play a key role in coordinating ecology and defense strategies of plants. Diversity of these metabolites arise by conjugation of core structures with diverse chemical moieties, such as sugars in glycosylation. Active pools of phytohormones, including those involved in plant stress response are also regulated by glycosylation. While, much is known about the enzymes involved in glycosylation, we know little about their regulation or coordination with other processes. We characterized the flavonoid pathway transcription factor, TRANSPARENT TESTA 8 (TT8) in Arabidopsis thaliana, using an integrative omics strategy. This approach provides a systems level understanding of the cellular machinery that is used to generate metabolite diversity by glycosylation. Metabolomics analysis of TT8 loss-of-function and inducible overexpression lines showed that TT8 coordinates glycosylation of not only flavonoids, but also nucleotides, thus, implicating TT8 in regulating pools of activated nucleotide sugars. Transcriptome and promoter network analyses revealed that TT8 regulome included sugar transporters, proteins involved in sugar binding and sequestration, and a number of carbohydrate active enzymes. Importantly, TT8 affects stress response, along with brassinosteroid and jasmonic acid biosynthesis, by directly binding to the promoters of key genes of these processes. This combined effect on metabolites glycosylation and stress hormones by TT8 inducible overexpression led to significant increase in tolerance towards multiple abiotic and biotic stresses. Conversely, loss of TT8 leads to increased sensitivity to these stresses. Thus, the transcription factor TT8 is an integrator of secondary metabolism and stress response. These findings provide novel approaches to improve broad-spectrum stress tolerance. Gene expression analysis for 6-day old Arabidopsis thaliana seedling were performed for TT8 loss-of-function line, tt8-3 (in Ws background), and its wild type background control, Ws. Two independent biological replicates for each line were hybridized onto two slides of Agilent SurePrint G2 Agilent Arabidopsis V4 (4x44K), with each slide having two technical replicates for each line. Contributors: Amit Rai, Shivshankar Umashankar, Megha, Lim Boon Kiat, Johanan Aow Shao Bing, Sanjay Swarup.
Project description:The douple mutant Arabidopsis thaliana soc1 ful, in contrast with WT, produces an interfascicular cambium and a large wood cylinder is the flowering stem. We present the RNAseq data for polyA mRNA of different developmental stages of cambium and wood formation in Arabidopsis thaliana. We sequenced 7 stages; 4 in the woody mutant soc1-6 ful-7 (herbaceous, cambium initiation, wood initiation and leaf) and 3 stages in the WT Col-0 (herbaceous, cambium and leaf). The corresponding stem anatomy is also presented in the manuscript indicating the stage of cambium development and the production of secondary xylem.
Project description:Plasma membrane proton pump maintains proton electrochemical gradient and provides energy to secondary transporters. Arabidopsis mutant plants with reduced proton pump activity grow normal under ideal growth conditions; however their growth are reduced compared with wildtype plants when placed under the conditions that stress on protonmotive force (high external pH or high external potassium).