Salinity stress responses in the plant growth promoting rhizobacteria,Azospirillum spp

In order to adapt to the fluctuations in soil salinity/osmolarity the bacteria of the genusAzospirillum accumulate compatible solutes such as glutamate, proline, glycine betaine, trehalose, etc. Proline seems to play a major role in osmoadaptation. With increase in osmotic stress the dominant osmolyte inA. brasilense shifts from glutamate to proline. Accumulation of proline inA. brasilense occurs by both uptake and synthesis. At higher osmolarityA. brasilense Sp7 accumulates high intracellular concentration of glycine betaine which is taken up via a high affinity glycine betaine transport system. A salinity stress induced, periplasmically located, glycine betaine binding protein (GBBP) of ca. 32 kDa size is involved in glycine betaine uptake inA. brasilense Sp7. Although a similar protein is also present inA. brasilense Cd it does not help in osmoprotection. It is not known ifA. brasilense Cd can also accumulate glycine betaine under salinity stress and if the GBBP-like protein plays any role in glycine betaine uptake. This strain, under salt stress, seems to have inadequate levels of ATP to support growth and glycine betaine uptake simultaneously. ExceptA. halopraeferens, all other species ofAzospirillum lack the ability to convert choline into glycine betaine. Mobilization of thebet ABT genes ofE. coli intoA. brasilense enables it to use choline for osmoprotection. Recently, aproU-like locus fromA. lipoferum showing physical homology to theproU gene region ofE. coli has been cloned. Replacement of this locus, after inactivation by the insertion of kanamycin resistance gene cassette, inA. lipoferum genome results in the recovery of mutants which fail to use glycine betaine as osmoprotectant.     

Metabolome and water status phenotyping of Arabidopsis under abiotic stress cues reveals new insight into ESK1 function

Metabolomic investigation of the freezing-tolerant Arabidopsis mutant esk1 revealed large alterations in polar metabolite content in roots and shoots. Stress metabolic markers were found to be among the most significant metabolic markers associated with the mutation, but also compounds related to growth regulation or nutrition. The metabolic phenotype of esk1 was also compared to that of wild type (WT) under various environmental constraints, namely cold, salinity and dehydration. The mutant was shown to express constitutively a subset of metabolic responses which fits with the core of stress metabolic responses in the WT. But remarkably, the most specific metabolic responses to cold acclimation were not phenocopied by esk1 mutation and remained fully inducible in the mutant at low temperature. Under salt stress, esk1 accumulated lower amounts of Na⁺ in leaves than the WT, and under dehydration stress its metabolic profile and osmotic potential were only slightly impacted. These phenotypes are consistent with the hypothesis of an altered water status in esk1 , which actually exhibited basic lower water content (WC) and transpiration rate (TR) than the WT. Taken together, the results suggest that ESK1 does not function as a specific cold acclimation gene, but could rather be involved in water homeostasis.     

Protein domain definition should allow for conditional disorder

Abstract: Proteins are often classified in a binary fashion as either structured or disordered. However this approach has several deficits. Firstly, protein folding is always conditional on the physiochemical environment. A protein which is structured in some circumstances will be disordered in others. Secondly, it hides a fundamental asymmetry in behavior. While all structured proteins can be unfolded through a change in environment, not all disordered proteins have the capacity for folding. Failure to accommodate these complexities confuses the definition of both protein structural domains and intrinsically disordered regions. We illustrate these points with an experimental study of a family of small binding domains, drawn from the RNA polymerase of mumps virus and its closest relatives. Assessed at face value the domains fall on a structural continuum, with folded, partially folded, and near unstructured members. Yet the disorder present in the family is conditional, and these closely related polypeptides can access the same folded state under appropriate conditions. Any heuristic definition of the protein domain emphasizing conformational stability divides this domain family in two, in a way that makes no biological sense. Structural domains would be better defined by their ability to adopt a specific tertiary structure: a structure that may or may not be realized, dependent on the circumstances. This explicitly allows for the conditional nature of protein folding, and more clearly demarcates structural domains from intrinsically disordered regions that may function without folding.     

Relationship of stigma behaviors and breeding system in three Mazus (Phrymaceae) species with bilobed stigma

Sensitive stigma has been recognized to facilitate outcrossing. We hypothesized that species with different levels of sensitivity might have corresponding differences in components of their breeding system. In this study, three Mazus species with bilobed stigmas were used to test the hypothesis. We explored stigma behaviors of the species in reaction time, recovery time, permanent closing time, and the minimum pollen load causing permanent closure. We investigated floral traits, pollinator type and behavior, pollination intensity, and natural schedule of pollen deposition on stigma. Moreover, we evaluated the mating system of the species by checking seed set after controlled pollination treatments, namely, natural flowers with open pollination, enclosed flowers without pollination, and enclosed flowers with self and outcross hand pollination. Results indicated that stigma of M. pumilus (N. L. Burman) Steenis was not sensitive, whereas stigmas of M. miquelii Makino and M. stachydifolius (Turcz.) Maxim. closed and reopened quickly in response to pollination. Accordingly, hand pollination treatments revealed that seed set of self-spontaneous pollination in M. pumilus was similar to the other treatments. For M. miquelii, outcross pollen resulted in significantly higher seed set than self-pollen.Mazus stachydifolius was self-incompatible. Additionally, the corresponding characteristics in other components of the breeding system for each species were found. Our study indicated that the sensitivity of bilobed stigma might be linked with floral traits and the mating system in a given species. Sensitive stigma should be regarded as an evolutionary mechanism for enhancement of outcrossing.     

The Compatibility of d-Pinitol and 1d-1-O-Methyl-Muco-Inositol with Malate Dehydrogenase Activity

Pinitol (1d -3-O-methyl-chiro-inositol) and 1d -1-O-methyl-muco-inositol, two cyclitols wide-spread in the plant kingdom, were isolated from plant sources in order to test their compatibility with malate dehydrogenase activity. Both compounds had no inhibitory effect on malate dehydrogenase from Rhizophora mangle in a range of 100 to 1000 mol . m^?3. Their influence on malate dehydrogenase activity from different plant sources (Rh. mangle L., Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L., Cicer arietinum L. and Spinacia oleracea L.) was also small and similar to that observed for a number of well established compatible solutes (e.g. proline, glycine betaine). A possible role of cyclitols as cryoprotectants or radical scavengers is discussed.     

小麦条锈病罹病植株对水分胁迫的响应

水分胁迫时,小麦条锈病病叶的叶片扩散阻力(LDR)明显增大,蒸腾速率(Tp)、相对含水量(RWC)、水势(ψw)、渗透势(ψπ)和压力势(ψp)明显降低。亲和与不亲和性反应寄主病叶对水分胁迫的反应明显不同。亲和性反应寄主叶片在水分胁迫时表现出较低的反应型,产孢期推迟;Tp、LDR、RWC、ψw、ψp和ψπ在产孢前轻微下降或升高;在开始产孢后病叶Tp急剧升高,LDR、Tp、RWC、ψw、ψπ和ψp大幅降低,在健叶尚可有效控制水分蒸腾散失时病叶已丧失了这种能力。不亲和性反应寄主病叶的蒸腾作用在显症期亦有轻微变化,但之后病叶Tp、LDR、RWC和ψw渐趋健叶水平,并保持了较健叶更低的ψπ和更高的ψw,具备了更强的水分调控能力。病株健叶与病叶具有相似的气孔行为。     

氮肥、钙肥和盐处理在冬小麦融冻胁迫适应中的生理调控作用

采用盆栽法种植冬小麦(烟农19号),在出苗7d后分别用氮肥(60mmol/L NH4CO3)、钙肥(100 mmol/L CaCl2)和NaCl(100 mmol/L)处理,生长30 d后开始冻融处理(15℃,0℃,-15℃,0℃,15℃各处理3h).结果表明,在融冻和冻融胁迫过程中冬小麦叶片细胞膜透性变化和膜脂过氧化程度与温度变化呈显著负相关(R=-0.89**,R=-0.85**).与对照相比,经氮肥、钙肥和盐处理的冬小麦叶片细胞膜透性和丙二醛含量较低,而SOD、CAT和POD活力均较高,这表明施肥能降低细胞膜脂过氧化作用,提高细胞膜抗氧化能力.但不同肥料和盐处理在冬小麦融冻胁迫中对渗透调节物质的调节作用存在差异.施氮肥使冬小麦叶片脯氨酸和可溶性蛋白质含量分别高于对照44.3％和23.6％,可溶性糖含量低于对照(-17.3％);而钙肥和盐处理却使冬小麦叶片可溶性糖含量高于对照(57.5％和37.1％).研究表明,氮肥通过调节氮代谢提高脯氨酸和蛋白质含量,钙肥通过促进糖代谢提高可溶性糖含量.因此,冬季给冬小麦幼苗施一定的混合肥,不仅可促使植物细胞积累较多的渗透调节物质防止细胞结冰,激活体内保护酶系统防止细胞膜脂过氧化,而且施肥还可促使来年春季幼苗的快速返青健壮生长.通过合理施肥改善植物的代谢提高作物的抗融冻能力,这可能是目前投资少,见效快的有效途径.     

The Arabidopsis gain-of-function mutant dll1 spontaneously develops lesions mimicking cell death associated with disease

We describe the characterization of a novel gain-of-function Arabidopsis mutant, dll1 (disease-like lesions1), which spontaneously develops lesions mimicking bacterial speck disease and constitutively expresses biochemical and molecular markers associated with pathogen infection. Despite the constitutive expression of defense-related responses, dll1 is unable to suppress the growth of virulent pathogens. However, dll1 elicits normal hypersensitive response in response to avirulent pathogens, thus indicating that dll1 is not defective in the induction of normal resistance responses. The lesion+ leaves of dll1 support the growth of hrcC mutant of Pseudomonas syringae, which is defective in the transfer of virulence factors into the plant cells, and therefore non-pathogenic to wild-type Col-0 plants. This suggests that dll1 intrinsically expresses many of the cellular processes that are required for pathogen growth during disease. Epistasis analyses reveal that salicylic acid and NPR1 are required for lesion formation, while ethylene modulates lesion development in dll1, suggesting that significant overlap exist between the signalling pathways leading to resistance- and disease-associated cell death. Our results suggest that host cell death during compatible interactions, at least in part, is genetically controlled by the plant and DLL1 may positively regulate this process.