• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.143-148
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• 2003

Bax, a mammalian pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family induces cell death when expressed in yeast. To investigate whether Bax expression can induce cell death in plant, we produced transgenic Arabidopsis plants that contained murine Bax cDNA under control of a glucocorticoid-inducible promoter. Transgenic plants treated with dexamethasone, a strong synthetic glucocorticoid, induced Bax accumulation and cell death, suggesting that some elements of cell death mechanism by Bax may be conserved among various organisms. Therefore, we developed novel yeast genetic system, and cloned several Plant Bax Inhibitors (PBIs). Here, we report the function of two PBIs in detail. PBI1 is ascorbate peroxidase (sAPX). Fluorescence method of dihydrorhodamine123 oxidation revealed that expression of Bax in yeast cells generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), and which was greatly reduced by co-expression with sAPX. These results suggest that sAPX inhibits the generation of ROS by Bax, which in turn suppresses Baxinduced cell death in yeast. PBI2 encodes nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK). ROS stress strongly induces the expression of the NDPK2 gene in Arabidopsis thaliana (AtNDPK2). Transgenic plants overexpressing AtNDPK2 have lower levels of ROS than wildtype plants. Mutants lacking AtNDPK2 had higher levels of ROS than wildtype. $H_2O_2$ treatment induced the phosphorylation of two endogenous proteins whose molecular weights suggested they are AtMPK3 and AtMPK6. In the absence of $H_2O_2$ treatment, phosphorylation of these proteins was slightly elevated in plants overexpressing AtNDPK2 but markedly decreased in the AtNDPK2 deletion mutant. Yeast two-hybrid and in vitro protein pull-down assays revealed that AtNDPK2 specifically interacts with AtMPK3 and AtMPK6. Furthermore, AtNDPK2 also enhances the MSP phosphorylation activity of AtMPK3 in vitro. Finally, constitutive overexpression of AtNDPK2 in Arabidopsis plants conferred an enhanced tolerance to multiple environmental stresses that elicit ROS accumulation in situ. Thus, AtNDPK2 appears to playa novel regulatory role in $H_2O_2$-mediated MAPK signaling in plants.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.65-71
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• 2003

Bax, a mammalian pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family, induces cell death when expressed in yeast. To investigate whether Bax expression can induce cell death in plant, we produced transgenic Arabidopsis plants that contained murine Bax cDNA under control of a glucocorticoid-inducible promoter. Transgenic plants treated with dexamethasone, a strong synthetic glucocorticoid, induced Bax accumulation and cell death, suggesting that some elements of cell death mechanism by Bax may be conserved among various organisms. Therefore, we developed novel yeast genetic system, and cloned several Plant Bax Inhibitors (PBIs). Here, we report the function of two PBIs in detail. PBI1 is ascorbate peroxidase (sAPX). Fluorescence method of dihydrorho-damine 123 oxidation revealed that expression of Bax in yeast cells generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), and which was greatly reduced by co-expression with sAPX. These results suggest that sAPX inhibits the generation of ROS by Bax, which in turn suppresses Baxinduced cell death in yeast. PBI2 encodes nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK). ROS stress strongly induces the expression of the NDPK2 gene in Arabidopsis thaliana (AtNDPK2). Transgenic plants overexpressing AtNDPK2 have lower levels of ROS than wildtype plants. Mutants lacking AtNDPK2 had higher levels of ROS than wildtype. $H_2O_2$ treatment induced the phosphorylation of two endogenous proteins whose molecular weights suggested they are AtMPK3 and AtMPK6. In the absence of $H_2O_2$ treatment, phosphorylation of these proteins was slightly elevated in plants overexpressing AtNDPK2 but markedly decreased in the AtNDPK2 deletion mutant. Yeast two-hybrid and in vitro protein pull-down assays revealed that AtNDPK2 specifically interacts with AtMPK3 and AtMPK6. Furthermore, AtNDPK2 also enhances the MBP phosphorylation activity of AtMPK3 in vitro. Finally, constitutive overexpression of AtNDPK2 in Arabidopsis plants conferred an enhanced tolerance to multiple environmental stresses that elicit ROS accumulation in situ. Thus, AtNDPK2 appears to play a novel regulatory role in $H_2O_2$-mediated MAPK signaling in plants.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.334-341
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• 2005

Plants are sessile and rely on a wide variety of growth hormones to adjust growth and development in response to internal and external stimuli. We have identified a gene, designated NAN, encoding a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor that regulates cell elongation and seed germination in plants. NAN has an HLH motif in its C-terminal region but does not have any other discernible homologies to bHLH proteins. A bipartite nuclear localization signal is located close to the HLH motif. An Arabidopsis mutant, nan-1D, in which NAN is activated by the insertion of the 35S enhancer, exhibits growth retardation with short hypocotyls and curled leaves. It is also characterized by reduced seed germination and apical hook formation, symptomatic of GA deficiency or disrupted GA signaling. The phenotypic effects of nan-1D were increased by treatment with paclobutrazol (PAC), an inhibitor of gibberellic acid (GA) biosynthesis. NAN is constitutively expressed throughout the life cycle. Our observations indicate that NAN has a housekeeping role in plant growth and development, particularly in seed germination and cell elongation, and that it may modulate GA signaling.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2013

Understanding salt tolerance mechanisms is important for the increase of crop yields, and so, several screening approaches were developed to identify plant genes which are involved in salt tolerance of plants. Here, we transformed the Arabidopsis cDNA library into a salt-sensitive calcineurin (CaN)-deficient ($cnb{\Delta}$) yeast mutant and isolated the colonies which can suppress salt-sensitive phenotype of $cnb{\Delta}$ mutant. Through this functional complementation screen, a total of 34 colonies functionally suppressed the salt-sensitive phenotype of $cnb{\Delta}$ yeast cells, and sequencing analysis revealed that these are 9 genes, including CaS, AtSUMO1 and AtHB-12. Among these genes, the ectopic expression of CaS gene increased salt tolerance in yeast, and CaS transcript was up-regulated under high salinity conditions. CaS-antisense transgenic plants showed reduced root elongation under 100 mM NaCl treatment compared to the wild type plant, which survived under 150 mM NaCl treatment, whereas CaS-antisense transgenic plant leaves turned yellow under 150 mM NaCl treatment. These results indicate that the expression of CaS gene is important for stress tolerance in yeast and plants.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.264-270
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• 2017

Brassinosteroid (BR), a plant steroid hormone, plays a critical role in the growth and developmental processes through its canonical signaling and crosstalk with various internal and external signaling pathways. Recent studies have revealed the essential interplay mechanisms between BR and ABA during seed germination and early seedling establishment. However, molecular mechanisms for this important signaling crosstalk are largely unknown. To understand the crosstalk between BR-mediated signaling pathways and ABA functions during early seedling development, we carried out a comparative genome-wide transcriptome analysis with an Agilent Arabidopsis $4{\times}44K$ oligo chip. We selected and compared the expression patterns of ABA response genes in ABA-insensitive bes1-D mutant with wild type seedlings on which ABA was exogenously applied. As a result, we identified 2,353 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ABA-treated bes1-D and wild type seedlings. GO enrichment analysis revealed that ABA signaling, response, and metabolism were critically down-regulated by BR-activated signaling pathways. In addition, the genome-wide transcriptome analysis data revealed that BR-regulated signaling pathways were tightly connected to diverse signal cues including abiotic/biotic stress, auxin, ROS etc. In this study, we newly identified the molecular mechanisms of BR-mediated repression of ABA signaling outputs. Also, our data suggest that interplay among diverse signaling pathways is critical for the adaptive response of the plant to various environmental factors.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.571-577
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• 2017

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important phytohormone involved in abiotic stress tolerance in plants. The group A bZIP transcription factors play important roles in the ABA signaling pathway in Arabidopsis but little is known about their functions in rice. In our current study, we have isolated and characterized a group A bZIP transcription factor in rice, OsABF3 (Oryza sativa ABA responsive element binding factor 3). We examined the expression patterns of OsABF3 in various tissues and time course analysis after abiotic stress treatments such as drought, salinity, cold, oxidative stress, and ABA in rice. Subcellular localization analysis in maize protoplasts using a GFP fusion vector further indicated that OsABF3 is a nuclear protein. Moreover, in a yeast one-hybrid experiment, OsABF3 was shown to bind to ABA responsive elements (ABREs) and its N-terminal region found to be necessary to transactivate a downstream reporter. A homozygous T-DNA insertional mutant of OsABF3 is more sensitive to salinity, drought, and oxidative stress compared with wild type plants ＆ OsABF3OX plants. In addition, this Osabf3 mutant showed a significantly decreased sensitivity to high levels of ABA at germination and post-germination. Collectively, our present results indicate that OsABF3 functions as a transcriptional regulator that modulates the expression of abiotic stress-responsive genes through an ABA-dependent pathway.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.27-27
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• 2015

Clubroot (Plasmodiophora brassicae) is a serious agricultural problem affecting Brassica crop production worldwide. It also infects the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. During infection, this biotrophic pathogen manipulates the development and metabolism of its host leading to the development of galls in the root and hypocotyl. In turn, its own development is strongly influenced by the host. The aim of this study is to investigate the metabolism of clubroot-infected plants using a combination of transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches. We have used direct injection mass spectrometry to obtain a metabolic fingerprint of when changes in the metabolome occur and linked this with changes in host and pathogen gene expression. We have identified alterations in carbohydrate metabolism that occur during P. brassicae infection of A. thaliana plants. Transcriptomic analysis showed that host genes associated with sugar transport and metabolism were induced during gall formation and that the pathogen also expresses genes associated with these processes. We have examined the impact of inactivating host sucrose synthase, cytosolic invertase and sugar permeases on gall formation, identifying host genes that are required for gall formation. We have also explored how sugar status is changed in root tissue, developing and mature leaf during infection of wild type and mutant plants.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.89-96
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• 1995

An Avabidofsis thaliana gene encoding phosphoribosyl anthranilate transferase is shown to be the gene that is defective in blue fluorescent trp 1 mutant plants. This gene, named PAT1, coding region is homologous to those for the phosphoribosyl anthranilate transferase from many microorganisms. This is due to a defect in tryptophan biosynthesis that leads to an accumulation of anthranilate, a fluorescent intermediate in the tryptophan pathway. PAT1 is a single-copy gene that complements all of the visible phenotypes of the different trp1 mutants. Experiments to determine the regulation of the PAT1 gene are in progress. The wild-type PAT1 promoter and several promoter deletions of PAT1 gene have been transformed into Arabidopsis tryptophan mutants. These constructs might identify promoter elements that control this patterns. We have isolated the homozygous lines in T3 seeds and analysed the protein levels using PAT antibody and PAT protein level increased two fold in pHSl07. Finally, the potential of using PAT1 as a selectable marker or visible reporter of gene expression is being explored.

• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.265-270
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• 1995

Acetolactate synthase (ALS, EC 4.1.3.18) is the first common enzyme in the biosynthesis of leucine, isoleucine, and valine. It is the target enzyme for several classes of herbicides, including the sulfonylureas, the imidazolinones, the triazolopyrimidines, the pyrimidyl-oxy-benzoates and the pyrimidyl-thio-benzens. The sulfonylurea-resistant ALS gene (SurB) from Nicotiana tabaccum [Lee et al. (1988) The EMBO J. 7, 1241-1248] was cloned into the bacterial expression plasmid pT7-7. The resulting recombinant plasmid pT7-ALS was used to transform an ALS-deficient Escherichia coli strain MF2000. MF2000 cells transformed with pT7-ALS grew in the absence of valine and isoleucine. ALS activities of 0.042 and 0.0002 ${\mu}mol/min/mg$ protein were observed in the crude extracts prepared from MF2000 cells transformed with plasmids pT7-ALS and pT7-7, respectively. In addition, the former crude extract containing mutant ALS was insensitive to inhibition by K11570, a new chemical class of herbicides. $IC_{50}$ values for K11570 were $0.13{\pm}0.01$ mM. For comparison, a plasmid pTATX containing the wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana ALS coding sequences was also expressed in MF2000. ALS activities of 0.037 ${\mu}mol/min/mg$ protein were observed, and the wild type ALS was sensitive to two different classes of herbicides, K11570 and ALLY, a sulfonylurea. $IC_{50}$ values for K11570 and ALLY were $0.63{\pm}0.07$ and $80{\pm}5.6$ nM, respectively. Thus, the results suggest that the sulfonylurea-resistant tobacco ALS was functionally expressed in the bacteria, and that K11570 herbicides bind to the regulatoty site of ALS enzymes.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.89-95
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• 2010

Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) is a key enzyme of the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway which catalyses the NADPH-dependent reduction of 2R,3R-trans-dihydroflavonols to leucoanthocyanidins. In this study we describe cloning and expression of the genes encoding the flavonoid-biosynthetic enzyme DFR in Gypsophila paniculata L. Inspection of the 1279 bp long sequence revealed an open reading frame 1063 bp, including a 36 bp 5' leader region and 181 bp 3' untranslated region. Comparison of the coding region of this DFR cDNA sequence including the sequences of Arabidopsis thaliana, Citrus sinensis, Dianthus caryophyllus, Ipomoea batatas, Matthiola incana, Nierembergia sp, Petunia hybrida, Solanum tuberosum, Vitis vinifera reveals an identity higher than 69% at the nucleotide level. The function of this nucleotide sequences was verified by comparison with amino acid sequences of the amino-terminus and tryptic peptides from purified plant enzyme, by northern blotting with mRNA from wild type and mutant plants, by in vitro expression yielding and enzymatically active reductase, as indicated by the small leucopelargonidin peak. Genomic southern blot analysis showed the presence of only one gene for DFR in Gypsophila paniculata.