A proteomics study of brassinosteroid response in Arabidopsis

The plant steroid hormones brassinosteroids (BRs) play an important role in a wide range of developmental and physiological processes. How BR signaling regulates diverse processes remains unclear. To understand the molecular details of BR responses, we performed a proteomics study of BR-regulated proteins in Arabidopsis using two-dimensional DIGE coupled with LC-MS/MS. We identified 42 BR-regulated proteins, which are predicted to play potential roles in BR regulation of specific cellular processes, such as signaling, cytoskeleton rearrangement, vesicle trafficking, and biosynthesis of hormones and vitamins. Analyses of the BR-insensitive mutant bri1-116 and BR-hypersensitive mutant bzr1-1D identified five proteins (PATL1, PATL2, THI1, AtMDAR3, and NADP-ME2) affected both by BR treatment and in the mutants, suggesting their importance in BR action. Selected proteins were further studied using insertion knock-out mutants or immunoblotting. Interestingly about 80% of the BR-responsive proteins were not identified in previous microarray studies, and direct comparison between protein and RNA changes in BR mutants revealed a very weak correlation. RT-PCR analysis of selected genes revealed gene-specific kinetic relationships between RNA and protein responses. Furthermore BR-regulated posttranslational modification of BiP2 protein was detected as spot shifts in two-dimensional DIGE. This study provides novel insights into the molecular networks that link BR signaling to specific cellular and physiological responses.     

Proteomic study identifies proteins involved in brassinosteroid regulation of rice growth

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are essential hormones for growth and development of plant. In rice, BRs regulate multiple developmental processes and affect many important traits such as height, leaf angle, fertility and seed filling. We identified brassinosteroid-regulated proteins in rice using proteomic approaches and performed functional analysis of some BR-regulated proteins by overexpression experiments. Using two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE) followed by protein identification by mass spectrometry, we compared proteomic differences in the shoots and roots of the BR-insensitive mutant d61-4 and BR-deficient mutant brd1-3. We identified a large number of proteins differentially expressed in the mutants compared with wild type control. These include a glycine-rich RNA-binding protein (OsGRP1) and a DREPP2 protein, which showed reduced levels in the BR mutants. Overexpression of these two proteins partially suppressed the dwarf phenotype of the Arabidopsis BR-insensitive mutant bri1-5. In contrast to the reduced protein level, the RNA level of OsGRP1 was not significantly affected in the BR mutants or by BR treatment, suggesting BR regulation of OsGRP1 at the posttranslational level. This study identifies many BR-regulated proteins and demonstrates that OsGRP1 functions downstream in the BR signal transduction pathway to promote cell expansion.     

油菜素甾醇调控水稻盐胁迫应答的作用研究

油菜素甾醇(BR)作为植物内源激素, 广泛参与植物的生长发育过程及逆境应答。虽然BR调控生长发育的分子机制目前已相对清楚, 但在水稻(Oryza sativa)中, BR在逆境反应中的功能还鲜有报道。该研究系统分析了BR在高盐胁迫过程中的作用, 表明盐胁迫和逆境激素脱落酸可抑制BR合成基因D2和D11的表达, 典型的BR缺陷突变体(如d2-2和d61-1)则表现出对盐胁迫敏感性增强。此外, 通过对BR核心转录因子OsBZR1的过表达株系进行分析, 发现BR可显著诱导OsBZR1的去磷酸化, 盐胁迫对OsBZR1蛋白的积累水平和磷酸化状态均有调控作用。转录组数据分析表明, BR处理前后差异表达基因中有38.4%同时受到盐胁迫调控, 其中91.5%受到BR和高盐一致调控, 并显著富集在应激反应过程中。研究结果表明, BR正调控水稻的耐盐性, 而盐胁迫通过抑制BR合成来限制水稻的生长。     

Evidence for functional interaction between brassinosteroids and cadmium response in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant hormones, in addition to regulating growth and development, are involved in biotic and abiotic stress responses. To investigate whether a hormone signalling pathway plays a role in the plant response to the heavy metal cadmium (Cd), gene expression data in response to eight hormone treatments were retrieved from the Genevestigator Arabidopsis thaliana database and compared with published microarray analysis performed on plants challenged with Cd. Across more than 3000 Cd-regulated genes, statistical approaches and cluster analyses highlighted that gene expression in response to Cd and brassinosteroids (BR) showed a significant similarity. Of note, over 75% of the genes showing consistent (e.g. opposite) regulation upon BR and Brz (BR biosynthesis inhibitor) exposure exhibited a BR-like response upon Cd exposure. This phenomenon was confirmed by qPCR analysis of the expression level of 10 BR-regulated genes in roots of Cd-treated wild-type (WT) plants. Although no change in BR content was observed in response to Cd in our experimental conditions, adding epibrassinolide (eBL, a synthetic brassinosteroid) to WT plants significantly enhanced Cd-induced root growth inhibition, highlighting a synergistic response between eBL and the metal. This effect was specific to this hormone treatment. On the other hand, dwarf1 seedlings, showing a reduced BR level, exhibited decreased root growth inhibition in response to Cd compared with WT, reversed by the addition of eBL. Similar results were obtained on Brz-treated WT plants. These results argue in favour of an interaction between Cd and BR signalling that modulates plant sensitivity, and opens new perspectives to understand the plant response to Cd.     

Physiology and molecular mode of action of brassinosteroids

Brassinosteroids (BRs) comprise a group of polyhydroxysteroids, which show close structural similarity to steroid hormones from arthropods and mammals. BRs are now accepted as a new class of phytohormones due to their ubiquitous occurrence in plants, their highly effective elicitation of various responses and the identification of mutants defective in BR-biosynthesis or -response. Important steps of BR-biosynthesis were elucidated with precursor-feeding experiments and by the analysis of BR-biosynthesis-deficient mutants. The altered phenotypes of these mutants, particularly in Arabidopsis, revealed the essential nature of BRs for normal growth and development. A major role of BRs is the positive regulation of cell expansion. Furthermore, BRs modulate plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses and to other phytohormones, and influence differentiation processes of cells and tissues. BR-insensitive mutants such as bri1 hold the potential for uncovering BR-signalling pathway(s) at the molecular level. The identification of BR-regulated genes demonstrates a genetic basis for BR mode of action with reference to their multiple effects. This review focuses on the relevance of BRs to the control of various physiological processes, BR-signalling and underlying molecular mechanisms by considering known mutants.     

Is kinase activity essential for biological functions of BRI1?

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a major group of plant hormones that regulate plant growth and development. BRI1, a protein localized to the plasma membrane, functions as a BR receptor and it has been proposed that its kinase activity has an essential role in BR-regulated plant growth and development. Here we report the isolation and molecular characterization of a new allele of bri1, bri1-301, which shows moderate morphological phenotypes and a reduced response to BRs under normal growth conditions. Sequence analysis identified a two-base alteration from GG to AT, resulting in a conversion of 989G to 989I in the BRI1 kinase domain. An in vitro assay of kinase activity showed that bri1-301 has no detectable autophosphorylation activity or phosphorylation activity towards the BRI1 substrates TTL and BAK1. Furthermore, our results suggest that bri1-301, even with extremely impaired kinase activity, still retains partial function in regulating plant growth and development, which raises the question of whether BRI1 kinase activity is essential for BR-mediated growth and development in higher plants.