Bacterial diacetyl suppresses abiotic stress-induced senescence in Arabidopsis

Premature plant senescence induced by abiotic stresses is a major cause of agricultural losses worldwide. Tools for suppressing stress-induced plant senescence are limited. Here, we report that diacetyl, a natural compound emitted by the plant-beneficial bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, suppresses abscisic acid -mediated foliar senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana under various abiotic stress conditions. Our results establish diacetyl as an effective protector against stress-induced plant senescence and reveal a molecular mechanism for bacteria-enhanced plant stress resistance.     

植物逆境胁迫抗性的功能基因组研究策略

植物对逆境胁迫抗性的功能基因组研究主要是寻找胁迫抗性位点在相关物种基因组中的保守位置,发现胁迫反应中的高度保守序列,确定植物胁迫反应的调控机理,进而得到植物对逆境胁迫抗性的关键代谢途径和其中的关键调控因子,为进一步选择用于改良植物对逆境胁迫抗性的关键基因奠定基础。本文从主要模式植物(苔藓类植物、复苏植物、盐土植物和甜土植物)、主要技术策略(基因的差异表达分析、基因表达序列标签、cDNA芯片技术。基因表达序列分析和基因敲除和突变体筛选分析)和生物信息学方法(数据分析的生物信息学方法设计到序列比较、比较基因组学、电子克隆)等三个方面对国内外植物逆境胁迫抗性的功能基因组研究策略作了全面综述。     

Lipid signalling in plant responses to abiotic stress

Lipids are one of the major components of biological membranes including the plasma membrane, which is the interface between the cell and the environment. It has become clear that membrane lipids also serve as substrates for the generation of numerous signalling lipids such as phosphatidic acid, phosphoinositides, sphingolipids, lysophospholipids, oxylipins, N‐acylethanolamines, free fatty acids and others. The enzymatic production and metabolism of these signalling molecules are tightly regulated and can rapidly be activated upon abiotic stress signals. Abiotic stress like water deficit and temperature stress triggers lipid‐dependent signalling cascades, which control the expression of gene clusters and activate plant adaptation processes. Signalling lipids are able to recruit protein targets transiently to the membrane and thus affect conformation and activity of intracellular proteins and metabolites. In plants, knowledge is still scarce of lipid signalling targets and their physiological consequences. This review focuses on the generation of signalling lipids and their involvement in response to abiotic stress. We describe lipid‐binding proteins in the context of changing environmental conditions and compare different approaches to determine lipid–protein interactions, crucial for deciphering the signalling cascades.     

Snake venoms promote stress-induced senescence in human fibroblasts

Snake venoms are widely studied in terms of their systemic toxicity and proteolytic, hemotoxic, neurotoxic, and cytotoxic activities. However, little is known about snake-venom-mediated effects when used at low, noncytotoxic concentrations. In the current study, two human fibroblast cell lines of different origin, namely WI-38 fetal lung fibroblasts and BJ foreskin fibroblasts were used to investigate snake-venom-induced adaptive response at a relatively noncytotoxic concentration (0.01 µg/ml). The venoms of Indochinese spitting cobra ( Naja siamensis), western green mamba ( Dendroaspis viridis), forest cobra ( Naja melanoleuca), and southern copperhead ( Agkistrodon contortrix) were considered. Snake venoms promoted FOXO3a-mediated oxidative stress response and to a lesser extent DNA damage response, which lead to changes in cell cycle regulators both at messenger RNA and protein levels, limited cell proliferation and migration, and induced cellular senescence. Taken together, we have shown for the first time that selected snake venoms may also exert adverse effects when used at relatively noncytotoxic concentrations.     

Identification of 30 protein species involved in replicative senescence and stress-induced premature senescence

Exposure of human proliferative cells to subcytotoxic stress triggers stress-induced premature senescence (SIPS) which is characterized by many biomarkers of replicative senescence. Proteomic comparison of replicative senescence and stress-induced premature senescence indicates that, at the level of protein expression, stress-induced premature senescence and replicative senescence are different phenotypes sharing however similarities. In this study, we identified 30 proteins showing changes of expression level specific or common to replicative senescence and/or stress-induced premature senescence. These changes affect different cell functions, including energy metabolism, defense systems, maintenance of the redox potential, cell morphology and transduction pathways.     

Involvement of polyamines in plant response to abiotic stress

Environmental stresses are the major cause of crop loss worldwide. Polyamines are involved in plant stress responses. However, the precise role(s) of polyamine metabolism in these processes remain ill-defined. Transgenic approaches demonstrate that polyamines play essential roles in stress tolerance and open up the possibility to exploit this strategy to improve plant tolerance to multiple environmental stresses. The use of Arabidopsis as a model plant enables us to carry out global expression studies of the polyamine metabolic genes under different stress conditions, as well as genome-wide expression analyses of insertional-mutants and plants over-expressing these genes. These studies are essential to dissect the polyamine mechanism of action in order to design new strategies to increase plant survival in adverse environments.     

Evolution of plant senescence

Background  

Senescence is integral to the flowering plant life-cycle. Senescence-like processes occur also in non-angiosperm land plants, algae and photosynthetic prokaryotes. Increasing numbers of genes have been assigned functions in the regulation and execution of angiosperm senescence. At the same time there has been a large expansion in the number and taxonomic spread of plant sequences in the genome databases. The present paper uses these resources to make a study of the evolutionary origins of angiosperm senescence based on a survey of the distribution, across plant and microbial taxa, and expression of senescence-related genes.     

Normal or stress-induced fibroblast senescence involves COX-2 activity

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an inducible enzyme of the prostaglandin biosynthesis pathway. It is involved in many stress responses, and its activity can produce oxidative damage, suggesting it could participate in senescence. In this study, COX-2 expression is shown to increase during senescence of normal human dermal or prostatic fibroblasts, and the ensuing prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) production to increase about 10-fold. Enhancing this COX-2 activity by supplying exogenous arachidonic acid accelerates the occurrence of the major markers of senescence, cell-size increase, spreading, senescence-associated-beta-galactosidase (SA-beta-Gal) activity and growth plateau. Conversely, blocking this COX-2 activity with the specific inhibitor NS398 partially inhibited the occurrence of these markers. COX-2 expression and PGE(2) production are also increased about 10-fold during both NF-kappaB- or H(2)O(2)-induced senescence. Using NS398 or small interferent RNA specifically targeting COX-2 attenuated the appearance of the SA-beta-Gal activity and growth arrest in both stress situations. Taken together, these findings indicate that COX-2 is highly up-regulated during both normal and stress-induced fibroblast senescence and contributes to the establishment of the senescent characteristics.     

Oxylipins and plant abiotic stress resistance

Oxylipins are signaling molecules formed enzymatically or spontaneously from unsaturated fatty acids in all aerobic organisms. Oxylipins regulate growth, development, and responses to environmental stimuli of organisms. The oxylipin biosynthesis pathway in plants includes a few parallel branches named after first enzyme of the corresponding branch as allene oxide synthase, hydroperoxide lyase, divinyl ether synthase, peroxygenase, epoxy alcohol synthase, and others in which various biologically active metabolites are produced. Oxylipins can be formed non-enzymatically as a result of oxygenation of fatty acids by free radicals and reactive oxygen species. Spontaneously formed oxylipins are called phytoprostanes. The role of oxylipins in biotic stress responses has been described in many published works. The role of oxylipins in plant adaptation to abiotic stress conditions is less studied; there is also obvious lack of available data compilation and analysis in this area of research. In this work we analyze data on oxylipins functions in plant adaptation to abiotic stress conditions, such as wounding, suboptimal light and temperature, dehydration and osmotic stress, and effects of ozone and heavy metals. Modern research articles elucidating the molecular mechanisms of oxylipins action by the methods of biochemistry, molecular biology, and genetics are reviewed here. Data on the role of oxylipins in stress signal transduction, stress-inducible gene expression regulation, and interaction of these metabolites with other signal transduction pathways in cells are described. In this review the general oxylipin-mediated mechanisms that help plants to adjust to a broad spectrum of stress factors are considered, followed by analysis of more specific responses regulated by oxylipins only under certain stress conditions. New approaches to improvement of plant resistance to abiotic stresses based on the induction of oxylipin-mediated processes are discussed.     

Inducible lectins and plant resistance to pathogens and abiotic stress

Lectin concentration (activity) increases in plant tissues upon infection by pathogens, in response to abiotic stress, as well as during growth and development of tissues. Such a broad range of events accompanied by accumulation of lectins is indicative of their involvement in regulation of integral processes in plant cells. Data concerning the role of lectins in regulation of oxidative stress and stress-induced cytoskeleton rearrangements are presented.     

Microbial rescue to plant under habitat-imposed abiotic and biotic stresses

Habitat-imposed abiotic and biotic stress is a serious condition and is also a land-degradation problem in arid and semi-arid regions, causing major problem for crop productivity. Most of the cultivable and a least half of irrigated lands around the world are severely affected by environmental stresses. However, in these conditions, there are plant populations successfully adapted and evolutionarily different in their strategy of stress tolerance. Vascular plants do not function as autonomous individuals, but house diverse communities of symbiotic microbes. The role of these microbes can no longer be ignored. Microbial interactions are critical not only for host but also for fungal survival in stressed environments. Plants benefit extensively by harboring these associated microbes; they promote plant growth and confer enhanced resistance to various pathogens by producing antibiotics. To date, improvements in plant quality, production, abiotic and biotic stress resistance, nutrient, and water use have relied largely on manipulating plant genomes by breeding and genetic modification. Increasing evidence indicates that the function of symbiotic microbes seems to parallel more than one of these characteristics.     

Ca2+ signaling in plant responses to abiotic stresses

Adverse variations of abiotic environmental cues that deviate from an optimal range impose stresses to plants. Abiotic stresses severely impede plant physiology and development. Consequently, such stresses dramatically reduce crop yield and negatively impact on ecosystem stability and composition. Physical components of abiotic stresses can be, for example, suboptimal temperature and osmotic perturbations, while representative chemical facets of abiotic stresses can be toxic ions or suboptimal nutrient availability. The sheer complexity of abiotic stresses causes a multitude of diverse components and mechanisms for their sensing and signal transduction. Ca²⁺, as a versatile second messenger, plays multifaceted roles in almost all abiotic stress responses in that, for a certain abiotic stress, Ca²⁺ is not only reciprocally connected with its perception, but also multifunctionally ensures subsequent signal transduction. Here, we will focus on salt/osmotic stress and responses to altered nutrient availability as model cases to detail novel insights into the identity of components that link stress perception to Ca²⁺ signal formation as well as on new insights into mechanisms of Ca²⁺ signal implementation. Finally, we will deduce emerging conceptual consequences of these novel insights and outline arising avenues of future research on the role of Ca²⁺ signaling in abiotic stress responses in plants.     

Strigolactones in plant adaptation to abiotic stresses: An emerging avenue of plant research

Phytohormones play central roles in boosting plant tolerance to environmental stresses, which negatively affect plant productivity and threaten future food security. Strigolactones (SLs), a class of carotenoid‐derived phytohormones, were initially discovered as an “ecological signal” for parasitic seed germination and establishment of symbiotic relationship between plants and beneficial microbes. Subsequent characterizations have described their functional roles in various developmental processes, including root development, shoot branching, reproductive development, and leaf senescence. SLs have recently drawn much attention due to their essential roles in the regulation of various physiological and molecular processes during the adaptation of plants to abiotic stresses. Reports suggest that the production of SLs in plants is strictly regulated and dependent on the type of stresses that plants confront at various stages of development. Recently, evidence for crosstalk between SLs and other phytohormones, such as abscisic acid, in responses to abiotic stresses suggests that SLs actively participate within regulatory networks of plant stress adaptation that are governed by phytohormones. Moreover, the prospective roles of SLs in the management of plant growth and development under adverse environmental conditions have been suggested. In this review, we provide a comprehensive discussion pertaining to SL‐mediated plant responses and adaptation to abiotic stresses.     

高等植物叶片的衰老

蛋白质丧失是叶片衰老的一个早期表现,降解的蛋白主要是可溶性蛋白中部分Ⅰ蛋白,随衰老加深,叶绿素含量、光合速率下降,保护酶活性降低。叶片这些衰老的表现是体内活性氧、自由基代谢失调累积的结果。