Ultraviolet-C overexposure induces programmed cell death in Arabidopsis, which is mediated by caspase-like activities and which can be suppressed by caspase inhibitors, p35 and Defender against Apoptotic Death

Plants, animals, and several branches of unicellular eukaryotes use programmed cell death (PCD) for defense or developmental mechanisms. This argues for a common ancestral apoptotic system in eukaryotes. However, at the molecular level, very few regulatory proteins or protein domains have been identified as conserved across all eukaryotic PCD forms. A very important goal is to determine which molecular components may be used in the execution of PCD in plants, which have been conserved during evolution, and which are plant-specific. Using Arabidopsis thaliana, we have shown that UV radiation can induce apoptosis-like changes at the cellular level and that a UV experimental system is relevant to the study of PCD in plants. We report here that UV induction of PCD required light and that a protease cleaving the caspase substrate Asp-Glu-Val-Asp (DEVDase activity) was induced within 30 min and peaked at 1 h. This DEVDase appears to be related to animal caspases at the biochemical level, being insensitive to broad-range cysteine protease inhibitors. In addition, caspase-1 and caspase-3 inhibitors and the pan-caspase inhibitor p35 were able to suppress DNA fragmentation and cell death. These results suggest that a YVADase activity and an inducible DEVDase activity possibly mediate DNA fragmentation during plant PCD induced by UV overexposure. We also report that At-DAD1 and At-DAD2, the two A. thaliana homologs of Defender against Apoptotic Death-1, could suppress the onset of DNA fragmentation in A. thaliana, supporting an involvement of the endoplasmic reticulum in this form of the plant PCD pathway.     

Unique features of plant mitochondrial sulfhydryl oxidase

The yeast and human mitochondrial sulfhydryl oxidases of the Erv1/Alr family have been shown to be essential for the biogenesis of mitochondria and the cytosolic iron sulfur cluster assembly. In this study we identified a likely candidate for the first mitochondrial flavin-linked sulfhydryl oxidase of the Erv1-type from a photosynthetic organism. The central core of the plant enzyme (AtErv1) exhibits all of the characteristic features of the Erv1/Alr protein family, including a redox-active YPCXXC motif, noncovalently bound FAD, and sulfhydryl oxidase activity. Transient expression of fusion proteins of AtErv1 and the green fluorescence protein in plant protoplasts showed that the plant enzyme preferentially localizes to the mitochondria. Yet AtErv1 has several unique features, such as the presence of a CXXXXC motif in its carboxyl-terminal domain and the absence of an amino-terminally localized cysteine pair common to yeast and human Erv1/Alr proteins. In addition, the dimerization of AtErv1 is not mediated by its amino terminus but by its unique CXXXXC motif. In vitro assays with purified protein and artificial substrates demonstrate a preference of AtErv1 for dithiols with a defined space between the thiol groups, suggesting a thioredoxin-like substrate.     

<Emphasis Type="Bold">Intersex Activists in Israel: Their Achievements and the Obstacles They Face</Emphasis>

This article focuses on the dynamic between the medical policy on intersex bodies and intersex activists in Israel. Recently, in many countries changes have taken place in medical guidelines regarding intersex patients and laws that regulate medical practices and prohibit irreversible surgeries for intersex babies for cosmetic reasons and without the patient’s consent. In Israel, intersex activists are limited by several factors. On the one hand, they are influenced by the achievements of intersex activism around the world but on the other, the pathologizing medical discourse and socio-medical practices, which include early diagnosis, early irreversible surgeries, and secrecy surrounding intersexed bodies, present obstacles to achieving bodily autonomy for intersex individuals and social recognition of different sex development. Nevertheless, intersex activists are attempting to find different social and media spaces in which to achieve public acknowledgement and future bodily autonomy for intersexed people and seeking medical professionals’ cooperation. Recently, the Israeli Ministry of Health published a new circular for intersex/DSD patients, and while it does not clearly forbid irreversible surgeries, it provides information about the complexities of intersex people and their experience.