Decreased expression of plastidial adenylate kinase in potato tubers results in an enhanced rate of respiration and a stimulation of starch synthesis that is attributable to post-translational redox-activation of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase

Adenine nucleotides are of general importance for many aspectsof cell function, but their role in the regulation of biosyntheticprocesses is still unclear. It was previously reported thatdecreased expression of plastidial adenylate kinase, catalysingthe interconversion of ATP and AMP to ADP, leads to increasedadenylate pools and starch content in transgenic potato tubers.However, the underlying mechanisms were not elucidated. Here,it is shown that decreased expression of plastidial adenylatekinase in growing tubers leads to increased rates of respiratoryoxygen consumption and increased carbon fluxes into starch.Increased rates of starch synthesis were accompanied by post-translationalredox-activation of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase),catalysing the key regulatory step of starch synthesis in theplastid, while there were no substantial changes in metabolicintermediates or sugar levels. A similar increase in post-translationalredox-activation of AGPase was found after supplying adenineto wild-type potato tuber discs to increase adenine nucleotidelevels. Results provide first evidence for a link between redox-activationof AGPase and adenine nucleotide levels in plants. Key words: Adenylate kinase, ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase, plastid, redox-regulation, potato, respiration, starch Received 18 September 2007; Revised 12 November 2007 Accepted 13 November 2007     

Expression of Arabidopsis plastidial phosphoglucomutase in tobacco stimulates photosynthetic carbon flow into starch synthesis

Phosphoglucomutase (PGM, EC 2.7.5.1) is one of the enzymes constituting the carbohydrate synthesis pathway in higher plants. It catalyzes the reversible conversion of glucose 6-phosphate (Glc6P) to glucose 1-phosphate (Glc1P). Previously, metabolic turnover analysis using (13)CO(2) in tobacco leaves demonstrated that conversion of Glc6P to Glc1P may limit carbon flow into carbohydrate synthesis. In order to assess the effects of PGM, Arabidopsis thaliana cytosolic or plastidial PGM was expressed under the control of cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter in tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi) and phenotypic analysis was performed. The transgenic plants expressing Arabidopsis plastidial PGM showed 3.5-8.2-fold higher PGM activity than that of wild-type, and leaf starch and sucrose contents increased 2.3-3.2-fold and 1.3-1.4-fold, respectively over wild-type levels. In vivo(13)C-labeling experiments indicated that photosynthetically fixed carbon in the transgenic plants could be converted faster to Glc1P and adenosine 5'-diphosphate glucose than in wild-type, suggesting that elevation of plastidial PGM activity should accelerate conversion of Glc6P to Glc1P in chloroplasts and increase carbon flow into starch. On the other hand, transgenic plants expressing Arabidopsis cytosolic PGM showed a 2.1-3.4-fold increase in PGM activity over wild-type and a decrease of leaf starch content, but no change in sucrose content. These results suggest that plastidial PGM limits photosynthetic carbon flow into starch.     

The contribution of plastidial phosphoglucomutase to the control of starch synthesis within the potato tuber

The aim of this work was to evaluate the extent to which plastidial phosphoglucomutase (PGM) activity controls starch synthesis within potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Desirée) tubers. The reduction in the activity of plastidial PGM led to both a correlative reduction in starch accumulation and an increased sucrose accumulation. The control coefficient of plastidial PGM on the accumulation of starch was estimated to approximate 0.24. The fluxes of carbohydrate metabolism were measured by investigating the metabolism of [U-14C]glucose in tuber discs from wild-type and transgenic plants. In tuber discs the control coefficient of plastidial PGM over starch synthesis was estimated as 0.36, indicating that this enzyme exerts considerable control over starch synthesis within the potato tuber.     

Tuber physiology and properties of starch from tubers of transgenic potato plants with altered plastidic adenylate transporter activity

We showed recently that antisense plants with decreased activity of the plastidic ATP/ADP-transporter protein exhibit drastically reduced levels of starch and a decreased amylose/amylopectin ratio, whereas sense plants with increased activity of the transporter possessed more starch than wild-type plants and an increased amylose/amylopectin ratio. In this paper we investigate the effect of altered plastidic ATP/ADP-transporter protein expression on primary metabolism and granule morphology in more detail. Tuber tissues from antisense and sense plants exhibited substantially increased respiratory activity compared with the wild type. Tubers from antisense plants contained markedly increased levels of free sugars, UDP-Glc, and hexose phosphates, whereas phosphoenolpyruvate, isocitrate, ATP, ADP, AMP, UTP, UDP, and inorganic pyrophosphate levels were slightly decreased. In contrast, tubers from sense plants revealed a slight increase in adenine and uridine nucleotides and in the levels of inorganic pyrophosphate, whereas no significant changes in the levels of soluble sugars and metabolites were observed. Antisense tubers contained 50% reduced levels of ADP-Glc, whereas sense tubers contained up to 2-fold increased levels of this sole precursor for starch biosynthesis. Microscopic examination of starch grain morphology revealed that the size of starch grains from antisense tubers was substantially smaller (50%) compared with the wild type. The large starch grains from sense tubers appeared of a more angular morphology, which differed to the more ellipsoid shape of wild type grains. The results suggest a close interaction between plastidial adenylate transport and starch biosynthesis, indicating that ADP-Glc pyrophosphorylase is ATP-limited in vivo and that changes in ADP-Glc concentration determine starch yield, as well as granule morphology. Possible factors linking starch synthesis and respiration are discussed.     

Antisense inhibition of plastidial phosphoglucomutase provides compelling evidence that potato tuber amyloplasts import carbon from the cytosol in the form of glucose-6-phosphate

The aim of this work was to establish whether plastidial phosphoglucomutase is involved in the starch biosynthetic pathway of potato tubers and thereby to determine the form in which carbon is imported into the potato amyloplast. For this purpose, we cloned the plastidial isoform of potato PGM (StpPGM), and using an antisense approach generated transgenic potato plants that exhibited decreased expression of the StpPGM gene and contained significantly reduced total phosphoglucomutase activity. We confirmed that this loss in activity was due specifically to a reduction in plastidial PGM activity. Potato lines with decreased activities of plastidial PGM exhibited no major changes in either whole-plant or tuber morphology. However, tubers from these lines exhibited a dramatic (up to 40%) decrease in the accumulation of starch, and significant increases in the levels of sucrose and hexose phosphates. As tubers from these lines exhibited no changes in the maximal catalytic activities of other key enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism, we conclude that plastidial PGM forms part of the starch biosynthetic pathway of the potato tuber, and that glucose-6-phosphate is the major precursor taken up by amyloplasts in order to support starch synthesis.     

The catecholamine potentiates starch mobilization in transgenic potato tubers.

In human and animal cells, the catecholamines are involved in glycogen mobilization. Since the compounds are found in a potato, their function in starch mobilization was hypothesized. In order to verify this hypothesis, the transgenic potato plants Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Desiree overexpressing tyrosine decarboxylase (TD EC 4.1.1.25) cDNA from parsley has been generated. The cDNA expression was judged by the northern blot analysis and the enzyme activity measurements. Four independent transgenic lines with the highest TD mRNA expression were selected and analyzed. The expected substantial decrease in tyrosine content was followed by significant increase in tyramine and dramatic enhancement of norepinephrine synthesis was detected. The level of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanin (L-Dopa) was only slightly increased and dopamine significantly decreased in most cases in these plants. The increase in norepinephrine was accompanied by changes in carbohydrate metabolism. The significant increase in glucose and sucrose and the decrease in starch content were characteristic features of TD overexpressed transgenic potato tubers. The features mentioned above indicate that catecholamines potentiate starch mobilization in potato plants in common with animal cells. The decrease in tyrosine content in transgenic plants is also compensated by significant increase in chlorogenic acid synthesis thus potentially increasing the antioxidant capacity of transgenic tubers. The glycoalkaloids content is changed in the transformants. This may originate from glucose accumulation and glycolysis activation. The obtained transgenic potato provides material for further detailed studies of the physiological function of catecholamines in plants.     

The reduction of starch accumulation in transgenic sugarcane cell suspension culture lines

Starch only occurs in small amounts in sugarcane, but is, nevertheless an unwanted product because it reduces the amount of sucrose that can be crystallized from molasses. In an attempt to reduce the starch content of sugarcane, the activities of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) and beta-amylase were manipulated using transgenic approaches. Transformation vectors to reduce AGPase activity and to increase plastidial beta-amylase activity were constructed and used for the transformation of sugarcane calli. The results of the manipulations were analyzed in suspension cultures. AGPase activity was reduced down to between 14 and 54% of the wild-type control. This led to a reduction in starch concentration down to 38% of the levels of the wild-type control. beta-Amylase activity was increased in the transgenic lines by 1.5-2 times that of the wild-type control. This increase in activity led to a reduction in starch amounts by 90% compared to wild-type control cells. In both experiments, the changes in starch concentrations could be correlated with the change in enzyme activity. There were no significant effects on sucrose concentrations in either experiment, indicating that these approaches might be useful to engineer regenerated sugarcane for optimized sucrose production.     

Alteration of photosynthate partitioning by high-level expression of phosphoglucomutase in tobacco chloroplasts

Plastidial phosphoglucomutase (PGM) plays an important role in starch synthesis and degradation. Nonetheless, the impact of enhanced plastidial PGM activity on metabolism in photosynthetic tissue is yet to be elucidated. In this study, we generated transplastomic tobacco plants overproducing Arabidopsis thaliana plastidial PGM (AtptPGM) in chloroplasts and analyzed the consequent metabolic and physiological parameters in the transplastomic plants. AtptPGM accumulated in the chloroplasts to up to 16% of total soluble protein in the leaves. PGM activity in leaves increased 100-fold relative to that of wild-type plants. The transplastomic plants were phenotypically indistinguishable in their growth rates, photosynthetic activities, and starch synthesis from wild-type plants, but hexose partitioning in the light period was dramatically different. Furthermore, alteration of extracellular invertase activity was observed in the lower leaves of the transplastomic plants. These observations suggest that high-level expression of plastidial PGM alters hexose partitioning in light periods via modification of extracellular invertase activity.     

Inhibition of chloroplastic fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase in tomato fruits leads to decreased fruit size,but only small changes in carbohydrate metabolism

A potato (Solanum tuberosum L. ) cDNA coding for the chloroplastic isoform of fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase (cp-FBPase) was utilized to repress its activity in tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) using antisense techniques. The patatin B33 promoter was used to ensure fruit specificity of the antisense effect. Transgenic plants were isolated in which fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase activity was reduced by more than 50% of the control in green fruits. Immunoblots indicated that the plastidial isoform was almost completely eliminated in the most strongly inhibited lines. Fruits of the transgenic plants were analyzed for levels of metabolites during fruit development. Glucose and fructose concentrations were increased in green fruits in the transgenic lines, but unchanged at later stages of development. The sucrose concentration was low, and was not significantly altered in the transgenic lines. There was net degradation of starch over the developmental period, but the starch content was not decreased. In green fruit the levels of hexose phosphates were unchanged, whilst the level of 3-phosphoglyceric acid was significantly increased in one line. Most importantly the deduced ratio of hexose phosphate to 3-phosphoglyceric acid decreased, consistent with an in vivo inhibition of fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase activity. One consequence of this reduction of in vivo activity of cp-FBPase was that the average weight of fully ripe fruits was significantly decreased by up to 20% in all transgenic lines in comparison with the control.Abbreviations AGPase ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase - cp-FBPase Chloroplastidic fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase - cy-FBPase Cytoplasmic fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase - DAF Days after flowering     

Transgenic 14-3-3 isoforms in plants: the metabolite profiling of repressed 14-3-3 protein synthesis in transgenic potato plants

14-3-3 proteins are abundant eukaryotic proteins that interact with many other proteins, thereby modulating their function and thus cell metabolism. The data from mRNA analysis confirm the developmental regulation of 14-3-3 isoform expression in potato plants. In order to test whether or not 14-3-3 protein expression affects plant phenotype and metabolism, transgenic potato plants either overexpressing Cucurbita pepo 14-3-3 or underexpressing endogenous 14-3-3 isoforms were analysed. An increase in tuber number and a decrease in tuber size in the overexpressed transformant was observed; the transgenic plants contain more chlorophyll than the control and they lose it more slowly than the control when transferred to the dark. The 14-3-3-repressed transgenic plants showed a decrease in tuber number and an increase in tuber size; an increase in the fresh weight of the transgenic tubers was also detected. The increased catecholamine level was accompanied by an increased ratio of soluble sugars to starch in overexpressed transformant. The opposite effect was detected in 14-3-3-repressed transgenic plants. All the repressed plants showed significant increases in nitrate reductase (NR) activity, suggesting that the regulation of NR occurs in vivo, and is not isoform-dependent. The increase in NR activity resulted in a significant decrease in nitrate level. The level of sucrose phosphate synthase activity was also significantly increased in all 14-3-3-underexpressed transgenes, and remarkably the increase in enzyme activity was accompanied by respective changes in sucrose levels in the tubers. The most intriguing finding was the significant (2-3-fold) increase in ethylene content in all the 14-3-3-repressed transgenic lines, which probably resulted from a methionine level increase. The substantial increase of ethylene level in the repressed forms might explain the significant shortening of the vegetation period of the analysed transgenic plants.     

Genetic modification of cassava for enhanced starch production

To date, transgenic approaches to biofortify subsistence crops have been rather limited. This is particularly true for the starchy root crop cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz). Cassava has one of the highest rates of CO₂ fixation and sucrose synthesis for any C3 plant, but rarely reaches its yield potentials in the field. It was our hypothesis that starch production in cassava tuberous roots could be increased substantially by increasing the sink strength for carbohydrate. To test this hypothesis, we generated transgenic plants with enhanced tuberous root ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) activity. This was achieved by expressing a modified form of the bacterial glgC gene under the control of a Class I patatin promoter. AGPase catalyses the rate-limiting step in starch biosynthesis, and therefore the expression of a more active bacterial form of the enzyme was expected to lead to increased starch production. To facilitate maximal AGPase activity, we modified the Escherichia coli glgC gene (encoding AGPase) by site-directed mutagenesis (G336D) to reduce allosteric feedback regulation by fructose-1,6-bisphosphate. Transgenic plants (three) expressing the glgC gene had up to 70% higher AGPase activity than control plants when assayed under conditions optimal for plant and not bacterial AGPase activity. Plants having the highest AGPase activities had up to a 2.6-fold increase in total tuberous root biomass when grown under glasshouse conditions. In addition, plants with the highest tuberous root AGPase activity had significant increases in above-ground biomass, consistent with a possible reduction in feedback inhibition on photosynthetic carbon fixation. These results demonstrate that targeted modification of enzymes regulating source–sink relationships in crop plants having high carbohydrate source strengths is an effective strategy for increasing carbohydrate yields in sink tissues.     

Reduction of the Cytosolic Phosphoglucomutase in Arabidopsis Reveals Impact on Plant Growth,Seed and Root Development,and Carbohydrate Partitioning

Phosphoglucomutase (PGM) catalyses the interconversion of glucose 1-phosphate (G1P) and glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) and exists as plastidial (pPGM) and cytosolic (cPGM) isoforms. The plastidial isoform is essential for transitory starch synthesis in chloroplasts of leaves, whereas the cytosolic counterpart is essential for glucose phosphate partitioning and, therefore, for syntheses of sucrose and cell wall components. In Arabidopsis two cytosolic isoforms (PGM2 and PGM3) exist. Both PGM2 and PGM3 are redundant in function as single mutants reveal only small or no alterations compared to wild type with respect to plant primary metabolism. So far, there are no reports of Arabidopsis plants lacking the entire cPGM or total PGM activity, respectively. Therefore, amiRNA transgenic plants were generated and used for analyses of various parameters such as growth, development, and starch metabolism. The lack of the entire cPGM activity resulted in a strongly reduced growth revealed by decreased rosette fresh weight, shorter roots, and reduced seed production compared to wild type. By contrast content of starch, sucrose, maltose and cell wall components were significantly increased. The lack of both cPGM and pPGM activities in Arabidopsis resulted in dwarf growth, prematurely die off, and inability to develop a functional inflorescence. The combined results are discussed in comparison to potato, the only described mutant with lack of total PGM activity.     

复合调控Wx与SBE3基因对水稻籽粒直链淀粉含量的影响

颗粒淀粉合成酶（GBSS）和淀粉分支酶3（SBE3）是淀粉合成过程中的两个关键酶,这两个酶主要由耽和SBE3两个基因分别控制,它们的表达量直接影响直链淀粉和支链淀粉的含量比例。为了探讨水稻淀粉关键酶基因耽过量与SBE3干涉复合表达对直链淀粉含量的影响,构建了Wx过量表达与SBE3干涉结合的多基因表达载体,并通过农杆菌介导的方法将其导入日本晴水稻中。经过PCR检测分析获得了65株转基因阳性植株,半定量RT—PCR检测表明转基因株系中Wx基因表达量明显增加,而SBE3基因表达量显著减少。转基因株系籽粒透明度明显降低,直链淀粉含量比野生型的平均高45％,但是千粒重变化不大,与野生型相当。遗传分析表明这些转基因株系多数可稳定遗传。     

Metabolic and developmental adaptations of growing potato tubers in response to specific manipulations of the adenylate energy status

Heterotrophic carbon metabolism has been demonstrated to be limited by oxygen availability in a variety of plant tissues, which in turn inevitably affects the adenylate status. To study the effect of altering adenylate energy metabolism, without changing the oxygen supply, we expressed a plastidially targeted ATP/ADP hydrolyzing phosphatase (apyrase) in tubers of growing potato (Solanum tuberosum) plants under the control of either inducible or constitutive promoters. Inducible apyrase expression in potato tubers, for a period of 24 h, resulted in a decrease in the ATP-content and the ATP-ADP ratio in the tubers. As revealed by metabolic profiling, this was accompanied by a decrease in the intermediates of sucrose to starch conversion and several plastidially synthesized amino acids, indicating a general depression of tuber metabolism. Constitutive tuber-specific apyrase expression did not lead to a reduction of ATP, but rather a decrease in ADP and an increase in AMP levels. Starch accumulation was strongly inhibited and shifted to the production of amylopectin instead of amylose in these tubers. Furthermore, the levels of almost all amino acids were decreased, although soluble sugars and hexose-Ps were highly abundant. Respiration was elevated in the constitutively expressing lines indicating a compensation for the dramatic increase in ATP hydrolysis. The increase in respiration did not affect the internal oxygen tensions in the tubers. However, the tubers developed a ginger-like phenotype having an elevated surface-volume ratio and a reduced mass per tuber. Decreased posttranslational redox activation of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and a shift in the ratio of soluble starch synthase activity to granule-bound starch synthase activity were found to be partially responsible for the alterations in starch structure and abundance. The activity of alcohol dehydrogenase was decreased and pyruvate decarboxylase was induced, but this was neither reflected by an increase in fermentation products nor in the cellular redox state, indicating that fermentation was not yet induced in the transgenic lines. When taken together the combined results of these studies allow the identification of both short- and long-term adaptation of plant metabolism and development to direct changes in the adenylate status.     

Characterization of the Arabidopsis Brittle1 transport protein and impact of reduced activity on plant metabolism

The Arabidopsis genome contains a gene (Atbt1) encoding a highly hydrophobic membrane protein of the mitochondrial carrier family, with six predicted transmembrane domains, and showing substantial structural similarity to Brittle1 proteins from maize and potato. We demonstrate that AtBT1 transports AMP, ADP and ATP (but not ADP-glucose), shows a unidirectional mode of transport, and locates to the plastidial membrane and not to the ER as previously proposed. Analysis using an Atbt1 promoter-GUS construct revealed substantial gene expression in rapidly growing root tips and maturating or germinating pollen. Survival of homozygous Atbt1::T-DNA mutants is very limited, and those that do survive produce non-fertile seeds. These observations indicate that no other carrier protein or metabolic mechanism can compensate for the loss of this transporter. Atbt1 RNAi dosage mutants show substantially retarded growth, adenylate levels similar to those of wild-type plants, increased glutamine contents and unchanged starch levels. Interestingly, the growth retardation of Atbt1 RNAi mutant plants was circumvented by adenosine feeding, and was accompanied by increased adenylate levels. Further observations showed the presence of a functional nucleotide salvage pathway in Atbt1 RNAi mutants. In summary, our data indicate that AtBT1 is a plastidial nucleotide uniport carrier protein that is strictly required to export newly synthesized adenylates into the cytosol.     

Plastidial alpha-glucan phosphorylase is not required for starch degradation in Arabidopsis leaves but has a role in the tolerance of abiotic stress

To study the role of the plastidial alpha-glucan phosphorylase in starch metabolism in the leaves of Arabidopsis, two independent mutant lines containing T-DNA insertions within the phosphorylase gene were identified. Both insertions eliminate the activity of the plastidial alpha-glucan phosphorylase. Measurement of other enzymes of starch metabolism reveals only minor changes compared with the wild type. The loss of plastidial alpha-glucan phosphorylase does not cause a significant change in the total accumulation of starch during the day or its remobilization at night. Starch structure and composition are unaltered. However, mutant plants display lesions on their leaves that are not seen on wild-type plants, and mesophyll cells bordering the lesions accumulate high levels of starch. Lesion formation is abolished by growing plants under 100% humidity in still air, but subsequent transfer to circulating air with lower humidity causes extensive wilting in the mutant leaves. Wilted sectors die, causing large lesions that are bordered by starch-accumulating cells. Similar lesions are caused by the application of acute salt stress to mature plants. We conclude that plastidial phosphorylase is not required for the degradation of starch, but that it plays a role in the capacity of the leaf lamina to endure a transient water deficit.     

A sucrose non‐fermenting‐1‐related protein kinase‐1 gene,IbSnRK1, improves starch content,composition, granule size,degree of crystallinity and gelatinization in transgenic sweet potato

Sucrose non‐fermenting‐1‐related protein kinase‐1 (SnRK1) is an essential energy‐sensing regulator and plays a key role in the global control of carbohydrate metabolism. The SnRK1 gene has been found to increase starch accumulation in several plant species. However, its roles in improving starch quality have not been reported to date. In this study, we found that the IbSnRK1 gene was highly expressed in the storage roots of sweet potato and strongly induced by exogenous sucrose. Its expression followed the circandian rhythm. Its overexpression not only increased starch content, but also decreased proportion of amylose, enlarged granule size and improved degree of crystallinity and gelatinization in transgenic sweet potato, which revealed, for the first time, the important roles of SnRK1 in improving starch quality of plants. The genes involved in starch biosynthesis pathway were systematically up‐regulated, and the content of ADP‐glucose as an important precursor for starch biosynthesis and the activities of key enzymes were significantly increased in transgenic sweet potato. These findings indicate that IbSnRK1 improves starch content and quality through systematical up‐regulation of the genes and the increase in key enzyme activities involved in starch biosynthesis pathway in transgenic sweet potato. This gene has the potential to improve starch content and quality in sweet potato and other plants.     

Modification of Sugar Composition in Strawberry Fruit by Antisense Suppression of an ADP-glucose Pyrophosphorylase

To modulate the soluble sugar content of strawberry fruits, we generated transgenic plants that incorporated an antisense cDNA of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) small subunit (FagpS) under the control of the strawberry fruit-dominant ascorbate peroxidase (APX) promoter (cv. Anther). Several independent transgenic lines were obtained and grown in the greenhouse for analysis of agronomic traits. Most transgenic fruit did not show significant differences in weight and hardness compared to control fruit. However, the starch content in fruit was decreased to 27–47% and the total soluble sugar content was increased to 16–37% in transgenic plants (analyzed by the HPLC of sugar composition at four different stages of fruit development). The sugar contents of fruits in transgenic lines were particularly higher than control fruits at the red stage. The results were consistent with northern analysis, which showed that the levels of AGPase mRNA drastically were reduced in the red stage of fruits in all the transgenic plants. In other tissues of transgenic plants, the FagpS mRNA expression level was similar to control plants. Our studies indicate that fruit-specific down-regulation of the AGPase gene might be an effective strategy for increasing sugar and decreasing starch content in strawberry.