Changes in Wheat Leaf Extracellular Proteolytic Activity after Infection with Septoria tritici

The proteolytic activity of the leaf extracellular space of wheat cultivars Pigüé and Isla Verde was estimated after inoculation of either detached leaves or plants with the fungus Septoria tritici. Pigüé is resistant, whereas Isla Verde is susceptible to the disease caused by S. tritici. Viable conidiospores of the fungus caused similar increases in both hydrogen peroxide production and chitinase activity of the cultivars studied. In contrast, they caused a decrease in the extracellular serine proteinase activity of Isla Verde and a significant increase in that of Pigüé. Independently of the cultivar from which it was extracted, the extracellular serine proteinase inhibited the germination of Septoria tritici conidiospores. These results suggest that the proteolytic activity of the leaf extracellular space can participate in the defence of wheat plants against Septoria tritici. Its regulation may be controlled by specific defence components of each cultivar.     

Ca2+ is Required by Clubroot Resistant Turnip Cells for Transient Increases in PAL Activity that Follow Inoculation with Plasmodiophora brassicae

Phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase (PAL, EC 4.3.1.5) activity in clubroot disease‐resistant turnip calli was transiently increased by 20 h after the inoculation with Plasmodiophora brassicae spores. The magnitude of the increase in PAL activity was four to six times higher than constitutive PAL activity. There was no transient increase in PAL activity in susceptible calli. Preincubation of calli in Ca²⁺‐free medium or the removal of Ca²⁺ from cell surfaces by ethylene glycol bis(2‐aminoethyl ether)‐N,N,N′,N′‐tetraacetic acid‐chelation, completely inhibited induced PAL activity. The influx of exogenous Ca²⁺ into cells appears necessary for this pathogen induced PAL activity. Verapamil and the calmodulin inhibitor W7 almost completely inhibited induced PAL activity at 1 and 0.1 mm , respectively. Neomycin, ruthenium red and (1‐(6‐[(17β‐3‐Methoxyestra‐1,3,5‐(10)‐trien‐17‐yl)amino]hexyl)‐1H‐pyrrole‐2,5‐dione) did not inhibit induced PAL activity. Thus, verapamil and N‐(6‐aminohexyl)‐5‐chloro‐1‐naphthalenesulphonamide hydrochloride‐sensitive Ca²⁺‐mediated signalling process appear necessary for P. brassicae induced PAL activity. As the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide (CHX) blocked the induced increasing PAL activity, de novo synthesis of PAL appears to be required for turnip cell defence reactions against P. brassicae.     

Mitochondrial phylogeography and population history of pine martens Martes martes compared with polecats Mustela putorius

The flora and fauna of Europe are linked by a common biogeographic history, most recently the Pleistocene glaciations that restricted the range of most species to southern refugial populations. Changes in population size and migration, as well as selection, have all left a signature on the genetic differentiation. Thus, three paradigms of postglacial recolonization have been described, inferred from the patterns of DNA differentiation. Yet some species, especially wide-ranging carnivores, exhibit little population structuring between the proposed refugia, although relatively few have been studied due to the difficulty of obtaining samples. Therefore, we investigated mitochondrial variation in pine martens, Martes martes, in order to understand the extent to which they were affected by glacial cycles, and compared the results with an analysis of sequences from polecats, Mustela putorius. A general lack of ancient lineages, and a mismatch distribution that is consistent with an expanding population, is evidence that the present-day M. martes and Mu. putorius in central and northern Europe colonized from a single European refugium following a recent glaciation. There has also been interspecific mitochondrial introgression between M. martes and the sable M. zibellina in Fennoscandia.     

The lactose transport protein is a cooperative dimer with two sugar translocation pathways.

The Major Facilitator Superfamily lactose transport protein (LacS) undergoes reversible self-association in the detergent-solubilized state, and is present in the membrane as a dimer. We determined the functional unit for proton motive force (Deltap)-driven lactose uptake and lactose/methyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside equilibrium exchange in a proteoliposomal system in which a single cysteine mutant, LacS-C67, defective in Deltap-driven uptake, was co-reconstituted with fully functional cysteine-less protein, LacS-cl. From the quadratic relationship between the uptake activity and the ratio of LacS-C67/LacS-cl, we conclude that the dimeric state of LacS is required for Deltap-driven uptake. N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) treatment of proteoliposomes abolished the LacS-C67 exchange activity but left the LacS-cl unaffected. After NEM treatment, the exchange activity decreased linearly with increasing ratios of LacS-C67/LacS-cl, suggesting that the monomeric state of LacS is sufficient for this mode of transport. We propose that the two subunits of LacS are functionally coupled in the step associated with conformational reorientation of the empty binding site, a step unique for Deltap-driven uptake.     

Exploitation of Arabidopsis-tomato synteny to construct a high-resolution map of the ovatecontaining region in tomato chromosome 2.

High-resolution genetic and physical maps were constructed for the region of chromosome 2 containing the major fruit-shape locus ovate. A total of 3,000 NIL F2 and F3 NILs derived from Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Yellow Pear (TA503) x L. pennellii (a wild tomato) were used to position ovate adjacent to the marker TG645 and flanked by markers TX700 and BA10R (a 0.03-cM interval). BAC libraries and a BIBAC library were screened with the closest marker, TG645. Genetic mapping with the ends of isolated BAC clones revealed that two BAC clones (100 and 140 kb) both contained the ovate locus. Screening of sequences from these BAC clones revealed synteny between this segment of tomato chromosome 2 and the chromosome-4 region of Arabidopsis containing the BAC clone ATAP22. Microsynteny between the two genomes was exploited to find additional markers near the ovate locus. The placement of ovate on a BAC clone will now allow cloning of this locus and, hence, may open the door to understanding the molecular basis of fruit development and also facilitate the genetic engineering of fruit-shape characteristics. This also represents the first time that microsynteny with Arabidopsis has been exploited for positional cloning purposes in a different plant family.     

An effector of Ypt6p binds the SNARE Tlg1p and mediates selective fusion of vesicles with late Golgi membranes.

Membrane traffic requires vesicles to fuse with a specific target, and SNARE proteins and Rab/Ypt GTPases contribute to this specificity. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisae, the Rab/Ypt GTPase Ypt6p is required for fusion of endosome-derived vesicles with the late Golgi. We have shown previously that activation of Ypt6p depends on its exchange factor, Ric1p-Rgp1p, a peripheral membrane protein complex restricted to the Golgi. We show here that a conserved trimeric protein complex, VFT (Vps52/53/54), binds directly to Ypt6p:GTP. Localization of VFT to the Golgi requires Ypt6p, but is unaffected in gos1 and tlg1 mutants, in which late Golgi integral membrane proteins, including SNAREs, are mislocalized. The VFT complex also binds directly to the N-terminal domain of the SNARE Tlg1p, both in vitro and in vivo, in a Ypt6p-independent manner. We suggest that the VFT complex links vesicles containing Tlg1p to their target, which is defined by the local activation of Ypt6p.