Two anthranilate synthase genes in Arabidopsis: defense-related regulation of the tryptophan pathway.

Arabidopsis thaliana has two genes, ASA1 and ASA2, encoding the alpha subunit of anthranilate synthase, the enzyme catalyzing the first reaction in the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway. As a branchpoint enzyme in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, anthranilate synthase has an important regulatory role. The sequences of the plant genes are homologous to their microbial counterparts. Both predicted proteins have putative chloroplast transit peptides at their amino termini and conserved amino acids involved in feedback inhibition by tryptophan. ASA1 and ASA2 cDNAs complement anthranilate synthase alpha subunit mutations in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in Escherichia coli, confirming that both genes encode functional anthranilate synthase proteins. The distributions of ASA1 and ASA2 mRNAs in various parts of Arabidopsis plants are overlapping but nonidentical, and ASA1 mRNA is approximately 10 times more abundant in whole plants. Whereas ASA2 is expressed at a constitutive basal level, ASA1 is induced by wounding and bacterial pathogen infiltration, suggesting a novel role for ASA1 in the production of tryptophan pathway metabolites as part of an Arabidopsis defense response. Regulation of key steps in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis appears to involve differential expression of duplicated genes.     

拟南芥R2R3-MYB家族第22亚族的结构与功能

拟南芥R2R3-MYB转录因子在拟南芥生长发育、代谢及响应生物和非生物胁迫的调控网络中具有重要作用。根据保守的氨基酸序列,R2R3-MYB转录因子被分为25个亚族,其中第22亚族包含AtMYB44、AtMYB77、AtMYB73和AtMYB70 4个基因,主要响应生物和非生物胁迫。文章从基因功能的相似性、基因表达的一致性和基因结构的保守性3方面综述了第22亚族的4个基因,并综合讨论了其在结构与功能上的冗余性和多样性。     

Benzothiadiazole-induced priming for potentiated responses to pathogen infection, wounding, and infiltration of water into leaves requires the NPR1/NIM1 gene in Arabidopsis

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a plant defense state that is induced, for example, after previous pathogen infection or by chemicals that mimic natural signaling compounds. SAR is associated with the ability to induce cellular defense responses more rapidly and to a greater degree than in noninduced plants, a process called "priming." Arabidopsis plants were treated with the synthetic SAR inducer benzothiadiazole (BTH) before stimulating two prominent cellular defense responses, namely Phe AMMONIA-LYASE (PAL) gene activation and callose deposition. Although BTH itself was essentially inactive at the immediate induction of these two responses, the pretreatment with BTH greatly augmented the subsequent PAL gene expression induced by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato infection, wounding, or infiltrating the leaves with water. The BTH pretreatment also enhanced the production of callose, which was induced by wounding or infiltrating the leaves with water. It is interesting that the potentiation by BTH pretreatment of PAL gene activation and callose deposition was not seen in the Arabidopsis nonexpresser of PR genes 1/noninducible immunity 1 mutant, which is compromised in SAR. In a converse manner, augmented PAL gene activation and enhanced callose biosynthesis were found, without BTH pretreatment, in the Arabidopsis constitutive expresser of pathogenesis-related genes (cpr)1 and constitutive expresser of pathogenesis-related genes 5 mutants, in which SAR is constitutive. Moreover, priming for potentiated defense gene activation was also found in pathogen-induced SAR. In sum, the results suggest that priming is an important cellular mechanism in acquired disease resistance of plants that requires the nonexpresser of PR genes 1/noninducible immunity 1 gene.     

机械伤害诱导的植物防御机制和信号转导

茉莉酸是植物伤反应的特异激素, 在植物伤反应中具有核心作用, 其下游调控机制已经比较清晰。在番茄(Lycopersicon esculentum)伤反应中, 系统素和茉莉酸协同启动相关基因的表达, 行使系统性防御功能。拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)信号肽是新发现的一类信号物质, 可以激活植物的初始免疫反应, 但其在伤反应中的作用机制有待进一步研究。脱落酸位于茉莉酸上游, 单独或者协同茉莉酸参与植物的防御反应。另外, 植物中还存在以核糖核酸酶为代表的且不依赖于茉莉酸的伤反应信号转导途径。该文对植物伤反应的防御机制和信号转导做了详细概述。     

植物GH3基因家族的功能研究概况

植物GH3基因是一种典型的植物生长素原初反应基因,此类基因与植物的生长发育密切相关。GH3基因在植物生长素信号途径、光信号途径以及植物的防卫反应中起着重要作用。植物GH3蛋白具有植物生长素氨基酸化合成酶活性,这有助于维持植物生长素的动态平衡。该文介绍拟南芥等植物中GH3基因的生物学功能研究概况和最新进展,为植物GH3基因家族的进一步研究提供参考。     

植物GH3 基因家族的功能研究概况

植物GH3基因是一种典型的植物生长素原初反应基因, 此类基因与植物的生长发育密切相关。GH3基因在植物生长素信号途径、光信号途径以及植物的防卫反应中起着重要作用。植物GH3蛋白具有植物生长素氨基酸化合成酶活性, 这有助 于维持植物生长素的动态平衡。该文介绍拟南芥等植物中GH3基因的生物学功能研究概况和最新进展, 为植物GH3基因家族的进一步研究提供参考。     

GAMYB-like Genes, Flowering, and Gibberellin Signaling in Arabidopsis

We have identified three Arabidopsis genes with GAMYB-like activity, AtMYB33, AtMYB65, and AtMYB101, which can substitute for barley (Hordeum vulgare) GAMYB in transactivating the barley alpha-amylase promoter. We have investigated the relationships between gibberellins (GAs), these GAMYB-like genes, and petiole elongation and flowering of Arabidopsis. Within 1 to 2 d of transferring plants from short- to long-day photoperiods, growth rate and erectness of petioles increased, and there were morphological changes at the shoot apex associated with the transition to flowering. These responses were accompanied by accumulation of GAs in the petioles (GA(1) by 11-fold and GA(4) by 3-fold), and an increase in expression of AtMYB33 at the shoot apex. Inhibition of GA biosynthesis using paclobutrazol blocked the petiole elongation induced by long days. Causality was suggested by the finding that, with GA treatment, plants flowered in short days, AtMYB33 expression increased at the shoot apex, and the petioles elongated and grew erect. That AtMYB33 may mediate a GA signaling role in flowering was supported by its ability to bind to a specific 8-bp sequence in the promoter of the floral meristem-identity gene, LEAFY, this same sequence being important in the GA response of the LEAFY promoter. One or more of these AtMYB genes may also play a role in the root tip during germination and, later, in stem tissue. These findings extend our earlier studies of GA signaling in the Gramineae to include a dicot species, Arabidopsis, and indicate that GAMYB-like genes may mediate GA signaling in growth and flowering responses.