New insights into pectin methylesterase structure and function

In bacteria, fungi and plants, pectin methylesterases are ubiquitous enzymes that modify the degree of methylesterification of pectins, which are major components of plant cell walls. Such changes in pectin structure are associated with changes in cellular adhesion, plasticity, pH and ionic contents of the cell wall and influence plant development and stress responses. In plants, pectin methylesterases belong to large multigene families, are regulated in a highly specific manner, and are involved in vegetative and reproductive processes, including wood and pollen formation, in addition to plant-pathogen interactions. Although, overall, protein structures are highly conserved between isoforms, recent data indicate that structural variations might be associated with the targeting and functions of specific pectin methylesterases.     

Crystal structure of plant pectin methylesterase

Pectin is a principal component in the primary cell wall of plants. During cell development, pectin is modified by pectin methylesterases to give different properties to the cell wall. This report describes the first crystal structure of a plant pectin methylesterase. The beta-helical structure embodies a central cleft, lined by several aromatic residues, that has been deduced to be suitable for pectin binding. The active site is found at the center of this cleft where Asp157 is suggested to act as the nucleophile, Asp136 as an acid/base and Gln113/Gln135 to form an anion hole to stabilize the transition state.     

Characterization and Expression Pattern of a Putative Pectin Methylesterase Gene, <Emphasis Type="Italic">BcMF27</Emphasis>, in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica campestris</Emphasis> ssp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">chinensis</Emphasis>

Pectin methylesterases (PMEs) play an important role in modifying cell wall. PMEs catalyze the de-esterification of pectin, an important compound of cell wall, to affect fertility in plant reproduction. However, little especially molecular mechanism about pectin methylesterase is studied in recent years despite its importance to reproductive development in flower plant. Here the bioinformatics analysis of BcMF27 (Brassica campestris Male Fertility 27) (BRAD: Bra000541 GenBank: KT600012) sequence isolated from Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis showed its highly and characteristically conserved structure as a pectin methylesterase. Transient expression analysis in the onion epidermal cells revealed the product of BcMF27 was a transmembrane protein. Real-time RT-PCR and in situ hybridization suggested that BcMF27 was expressed in pollen grain and pollen tube. This study demonstrates that BcMF27 encodes a transmembrane pollen- and pollen tube-specific PME gene, and is also considered to help further understand the biological function of pectin methylesterases and the molecular mechanism of pollen development, pollen tube growth as a genic tool.     

Kiwi fruit PMEI inhibits PME activity,modulates root elongation and induces pollen tube burst in Arabidopsis thaliana

Pectins are major components of primary cell wall that play a crucial role in plant development. After biosynthesis, pectins are secreted in the cell wall by Golgi-derived vesicles under a highly methylesterified form and are de-methylesterified by pectin methylesterases (PME). It is hypothesized that PME might be regulated by pectin methylesterase inhibitor (PMEI). In this paper, we show by isoelectric focalisation and subsequent zymogram that kiwi PMEI was able to inhibit Arabidopsis PME activity by forming a complex. The complexes were stable under a wide range of ionic strength and pH. Moreover, PMEI might be able to form a complex with basic PMEs including three PMEs strongly expressed in root and four PMEs expressed in pollen grains. Finally, exogenous treatment with kiwi PMEI was able to reduce the activity of cell wall resident PMEs with persistent effects such as an increase of the root growth and a dramatic effect on pollen tube stability.     

Pectin methylesterase activity of plant DUF538 protein superfamily

DUF538 (domain of unknown function 538) proteins are known as a group of putative hypothetical proteins in a wide range of plant species. They have been identified from some plants challenged with various environmental stresses. However, a little is known about their functional properties. They have been newly predicted to have binding capacity and esterase-type hydrolytic activity towards bacterial lipopolysaccharides and chlorophyll molecules as carboxylic compounds in plants. In the present study, the binding ability and the methylesterase activity of DUF538 proteins towards pectin molecules were also predicted. Their similarities to pectin methylesterases and their binding ability to pectin molecule were predicted using bioinformatic tools as well as the experimental method. A probable cooperation was speculated between DUF538 and pectin methylesterase protein families in cell wall associated defense responses in plants.     

Roles of Pectin Methylesterases in Pollen-Tube Growth

Elongation of the pollen tube in pistil is essential for delivering sperms into the female gametophyte in sexual plant reproduction. Recently, a group of cell wall enzymes, pectin methylesterases （PMEs）, have been identified as playing an important role in this process. This article reviews the new understanding of the roles of PMEs in regulating pollen tube growth.     

The N-terminal pro region mediates retention of unprocessed type-I PME in the Golgi apparatus

The pectin matrix of the cell wall, a complex and dynamic network, impacts on cell growth, cell shape and signaling processes. A hallmark of pectin structure is the methylesterification status of its major component, homogalacturonan (HGA), which affects the biophysical properties and enzymatic turnover of pectin. The pectin methylesterases (PMEs), responsible for de-esterification, encompass a protein family of more than 60 isoforms in the Arabidopsis genome. The pivotal role of PME in the regulation of pectin properties also requires tight control at the post-translational level. Type-I PMEs are characterized by an N-terminal pro region, which exhibits homology with pectin methylesterase inhibitors (PMEIs). Here, we demonstrate that the proteolytic removal of the N-terminal pro region depends on conserved basic tetrad motifs, occurs in the early secretory pathway, and is required for the subsequent export of the PME core domain to the cell wall. In addition, we demonstrate the involvement of AtS1P, a subtilisin-like protease, in Arabidopsis PME processing. Our results indicate that the pro region operates as an effective retention mechanism, keeping unprocessed PME in the Golgi apparatus. Consequently, pro-protein processing could constitute a post-translational mechanism regulating PME activity.     

Pectin methylesterases induce an abrupt increase of acidic pectin during strawberry fruit ripening

The decrease of strawberry (Fragariaxananassa Duch.) fruit firmness observed during ripening is partly attributed to pectolytic enzymes: polygalacturonases, pectate lyases and pectin methylesterases (PMEs). In this study, PME activity and pectin content and esterification degree were measured in cell walls from ripening fruits. Small green, large green, white, turning, red and over-ripe fruits from the Elsanta cultivar were analyzed. Using the 2F4 antibody directed against the calcium-induced egg box conformation of pectin, we show that calcium-bound acidic pectin was nearly absent from green and white fruits, but increased abruptly at the turning stage, while the total pectin content decreased only slightly as maturation proceeded. Isoelectrofocalisation performed on wall protein extracts revealed the expression of at least six different basic PME isoforms. Maximum PME activity was detected in green fruits and steadily decreased to reach a minimum in senescent fruits. The preliminary role of PMEs and subsequent pectin degradation by pectolytic enzymes is discussed.     

Overexpression of a pectin methylesterase inhibitor in Arabidopsis thaliana leads to altered growth morphology of the stem and defective organ separation

The methylesterification status of cell wall pectins, mediated through the interplay of pectin methylesterases (PMEs) and pectin methylesterase inhibitors (PMEIs), influences the biophysical properties of plant cell walls. We found that the overexpression of a PMEI gene in Arabidopsis thaliana plants caused the stems to develop twists and loops, most strongly around points on the stem where leaves or inflorescences failed to separate from the main stem. Altered elasticity of the stem, underdevelopment of the leaf cuticle, and changes in the sugar composition of the cell walls of stems were evident in the PMEI overexpression lines. We discuss the mechanisms that potentially underlie the aberrant growth phenotypes.     

Polymorphism and modulation of cell wall esterase enzyme activities in the chicory root during the growing season

Pectins are major components of the primary plant cell wall. They can be both methylesterified and acetylesterified and de-esterification occurs by specific esterases. Proteins extracted by NaCl treatment from root cell walls of two chicory varieties (Cichorium intybus L. cv. Nausica and Arancha) sampled in an experimental field every 2 weeks between July 2002 and January 2003 were analysed by isoelectrofocalization, semi-denaturing SDS-PAGE, and quantitative assays for their esterase activity. Zymograms showed that chicory root pectin methylesterases belong to a multigene family. The isoelectric points of the pectin methylesterase isoforms ranged from pI 3.8 to pI 9.0. Concerning acetylesterases, only acidic isoforms between pI 4.1 and pI 5.2 were observed, but a large polymorphism of this class of enzymes could be identified in one variety. The results indicate that the root pectin methylesterase activity of the Nausica variety was correlated with ambient temperature, while no significant effect of temperature could be detected on any acetylesterase isoform.     

The Pectin Methylesterase Gene Complement of Phytophthora sojae: Structural and Functional Analyses,and the Evolutionary Relationships with Its Oomycete Homologs

Phytophthora sojae is an oomycete pathogen that causes the disease known as root and stem rot in soybean plants, frequently leading to massive economic damage. Additionally, P. sojae is increasingly being utilized as a model for phytopathogenic oomycete research. Despite the economic and scientific importance of P. sojae, the mechanism by which it penetrates the host roots is not yet fully understood. It has been found that oomycetes are not capable of penetrating the cell wall solely through mechanical force, suggesting that alternative factors facilitate breakdown of the host cell wall. Pectin methylesterases have been suggested to be important for Phytophthora pathogenicity, but no data exist on their role in the P. sojae infection process. We have scanned the newly revised version of the annotated P. sojae genome for the presence of putative pectin methylesterases genes and conducted a sequence analysis of all gene models found. We also searched for potential regulatory motifs in the promoter region of the proposed P. sojae models, and investigated the gene expression levels throughout the early course of infection on soybean plants. We found that P. sojae contains a large repertoire of pectin methylesterase-coding genes and that most of these genes display similar motifs in the promoter region, indicating the possibility of a shared regulatory mechanism. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed the evolutionary relatedness of the pectin methylesterase-coding genes within and across Phytophthora spp. In addition, the gene duplication events that led to the emergence of this gene family appear to have occurred prior to many speciation events in the genus Phytophthora. Our results also indicate that the highest levels of expression occurred in the first 24 hours post inoculation, with expression falling after this time. Our study provides evidence that pectin methylesterases may be important for the early action of the P. sojae infection process.     

Protein trafficking to the cell wall occurs through mechanisms distinguishable from default sorting in tobacco

The secretory pathway in plants involves sustained traffic to the cell wall, as matrix components, polysaccharides and proteins reach the cell wall through the endomembrane system. We studied the secretion pattern of cell-wall proteins in tobacco protoplasts and leaf epidermal cells using fluorescent forms of a pectin methylesterase inhibitor protein (PMEI1) and a polygalacturonase inhibitor protein (PGIP2). The two most representative protein fusions, secGFP-PMEI1 and PGIP2-GFP, reached the cell wall by passing through ER and Golgi stacks but using distinct mechanisms. secGFP-PMEI1 was linked to a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor and stably accumulated in the cell wall, regulating the activity of the endogenous pectin methylesterases (PMEs) that are constitutively present in this compartment. A mannosamine-induced non-GPI-anchored form of PMEI1 as well as a form (PMEI1-GFP) that was unable to bind membranes failed to reach the cell wall, and accumulated in the Golgi stacks. In contrast, PGIP2-GFP moved as a soluble cargo protein along the secretory pathway, but was not stably retained in the cell wall, due to internalization to an endosomal compartment and eventually the vacuole. Stable localization of PGIP2 in the wall was observed only in the presence of a specific fungal endopolygalacturonase ligand in the cell wall. Both secGFP-PMEI1 and PGIP2-GFP sorting were distinguishable from that of a secreted GFP, suggesting that rigorous and more complex controls than the simple mechanism of bulk flow are the basis of cell-wall growth and differentiation.     

Arabidopsis PME17 Activity can be Controlled by Pectin Methylesterase Inhibitor4

The degree of methylesterification (DM) of homogalacturonans (HGs), the main constituent of pectins in Arabidopsis thaliana, can be modified by pectin methylesterases (PMEs). Regulation of PME activity occurs through interaction with PME inhibitors (PMEIs) and subtilases (SBTs). Considering the size of the gene families encoding PMEs, PMEIs and SBTs, it is highly likely that specific pairs mediate localized changes in pectin structure with consequences on cell wall rheology and plant development. We previously reported that PME17, a group 2 PME expressed in root, could be processed by SBT3.5, a co-expressed subtilisin-like serine protease, to mediate changes in pectin properties and root growth. Here, we further report that a PMEI, PMEI4, is co-expressed with PME17 and is likely to regulate its activity. This sheds new light on the possible interplay of specific PMEs, PMEIs and SBTs in the fine-tuning of pectin structure.     

Pollen-specific pectin methylesterase involved in pollen tube growth

Pollen tube elongation in the pistil is a crucial step in the sexual reproduction of plants. Because the wall of the pollen tube tip is composed of a single layer of pectin and, unlike most other plant cell walls, does not contain cellulose or callose, pectin methylesterases (PMEs) likely play a central role in the pollen tube growth and determination of pollen tube morphology. Thus, the functional studies of pollen-specific PMEs, which are still in their infancy, are important for understanding the pollen development. We identified a new Arabidopsis pollen-specific PME, AtPPME1, characterized its native expression pattern, and used reverse genetics to demonstrate its involvement in determination of the shape of the pollen tube and the rate of its elongation.     

A Comparative Genome Analysis of PME and PMEI Families Reveals the Evolution of Pectin Metabolism in Plant Cell Walls

Pectins are fundamental polysaccharides in the plant primary cell wall. Pectins are synthesized and secreted to cell walls as highly methyl-esterified polymers and then demethyl-esterified by pectin methylesterases (PMEs), which are spatially regulated by pectin methylesterase inhibitors (PMEIs). Although PME and PMEI genes are pivotal in plant cell wall formation, few studies have focused on the evolutionary patterns of the PME and PMEI gene families. In this study, the gene origin, evolution, and expression diversity of these two families were systematically analyzed using 11 representative species, including algae, bryophytes, lycophytes and flowering land plants. The results show that 1) for the two subfamilies (PME and proPME) of PME, the origin of the PME subfamily is consistent with the appearance of pectins in early charophyte cell walls, 2) Whole genome duplication (WGD) and tandem duplication contribute to the expansion of proPME and PMEI families in land plants, 3) Evidence of selection pressure shows that the proPME and PMEI families have rapidly evolved, particularly the PMEI family in vascular plants, and 4) Comparative expression profile analysis of the two families indicates that the eudicot Arabidopsis and monocot rice have different expression patterns. In addition, the gene structure and sequence analyses show that the origin of the PMEI domain may be derived from the neofunctionalization of the pro domain after WGD. This study will advance the evolutionary understanding of the PME and PMEI families and plant cell wall development.     

Major changes in the cell wall during silique development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Fruit development is a highly complex process, which involves major changes in plant metabolism leading to cell growth and differentiation. Changes in cell wall composition and structure play a major role in modulating cell growth. We investigated the changes in cell wall composition and the activities of associated enzymes during the dry fruit development of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Silique development is characterized by several specific phases leading to fruit dehiscence and seed dispersal. We showed that early phases of silique growth were characterized by specific changes in non-cellulosic sugar content (rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, galactose and galacturonic acid). Xyloglucan oligosaccharide mass profiling further showed a strong increase in O-acetylated xyloglucans over the course of silique development, which could suggest a decreased capacity of xyloglucans to be associated with each other or to cellulose. The degree of methylesterification, mediated by the activity of pectin methylesterases (PMEs), decreased over the course of silique growth and dehiscence. The major changes in cell wall composition revealed by our analysis suggest that it could be major determinants in modulating cell wall rheology leading to growth or growth arrest.     

植物果胶的生物合成与功能

果胶作为植物细胞壁多糖之一,其结构和功能非常复杂。果胶主要由同型半乳糖醛酸聚糖(HG)、鼠李半乳糖醛酸聚糖I (RGI)和鼠李半乳糖醛酸聚糖II (RGII)组成。果胶类成分在维持细胞壁结构的完整性以及细胞间黏附和信号转导等方面发挥重要作用。研究果胶类成分的结构、分布和功能,对理解细胞壁高级结构的构建和功能具有重要意义...     

High‐throughput screening of Erwinia chrysanthemi pectin methylesterase variants using carbohydrate microarrays

Pectin methylesterases (PMEs) catalyse the removal of methyl esters from the homogalacturonan (HG) backbone domain of pectin, a ubiquitous polysaccharide in plant cell walls. The degree of methyl esterification (DE) impacts upon the functional properties of HG within cell walls and plants produce numerous PMEs that act upon HG in muro. Many microbial plant pathogens also produce PMEs, the activity of which renders HG more susceptible to cleavage by pectin lyase and polygalacturonase enzymes and hence aids cell wall degradation. We have developed a novel microarray‐based approach to investigate the activity of a series of variant enzymes based on the PME from the important pathogen Erwinia chrysanthemi. A library of 99 E. chrysanthemi PME mutants was created in which seven amino acids were altered by various different substitutions. Each mutant PME was incubated with a highly methyl esterified lime pectin substrate and, after digestion the enzyme/substrate mixtures were printed as microarrays. The loss of activity that resulted from certain mutations was detected by probing arrays with a mAb (JIM7) that preferentially binds to HG with a relatively high DE. Active PMEs therefore resulted in diminished JIM7 binding to the lime pectin substrate, whereas inactive PMEs did not. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of our approach for rapidly testing the effects on PME activity of substituting a wide variety of amino acids at different positions.