A phosphatidylinositol phosphate-specific myo-inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase required for seedling growth

The phosphatidylinositol phosphate signaling pathway is involved in many crucial cellular functions. The myo-inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatases (5PTases) (E.C. 3.1.3.56) comprise a large protein family that hydrolyze 5-phosphates from a variety of phosphatidylinositol phosphate and inositol phosphate substrates. We previously reported that the At5PTase11 enzyme (At1g47510), which is one of the smallest predicted 5PTases found in any organism, encodes an active 5PTase whose activity is restricted to tris- and bis-, but not mono-phosphorylated phosphatidylinositol phosphate substrates containing a 5-phosphate. This is in contrast to other unrestricted Arabidopsis 5PTases, which also hydrolyze tris- and bis inositol phosphate molecules. To further explore the function of At5PTase11, we have characterized two T-DNA mutants in the At5PTase11 gene, and have complemented this mutant. Seed from 5ptase11 mutants germinate slower than wildtype seed and mutant seedlings have decreased hypocotyl growth as compared to wildtype seedlings when grown in the dark. This phenotype is the opposite of the increased hypocotyl growth phenotype previously described for other 5ptase mutants defective in inositol phosphate-specific 5PTase enzymes. By labeling the endogenous myo-inositol pool in 5ptase11 mutants, we correlated these hypocotyl growth changes with a small increase in the 5PTase11 substrate, phosphatidylinositol (4,5) bisphosphate, and decreases in the potential products of 5PTase11, phosphatidylinositol (3) phosphate and phosphatidylinositol (4) phosphate. Surprisingly, we also found that dark-grown 5ptase11 mutants contain increases in inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate and an inositol bisphosphate that is not a substrate for recombinant 5PTase11. We present a model for regulation of hypocotyl growth by specific molecules found in this pathway.