Transport of Anthocyanins and other Flavonoids by the Arabidopsis ATP-Binding Cassette Transporter AtABCC2

Flavonoids have important developmental, physiological, and ecological roles in plants and are primarily stored in the large central vacuole. Here we show that both an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter(s) and an H+-antiporter(s) are involved in the uptake of cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (C3G) by Arabidopsis vacuolar membrane-enriched vesicles. We also demonstrate that vesicles isolated from yeast expressing the ABC protein AtABCC2 are capable of MgATP-dependent uptake of C3G and other anthocyanins. The uptake of C3G by AtABCC2 depended on the co-transport of glutathione (GSH). C3G was not altered during transport and a GSH conjugate was not formed. Vesicles from yeast expressing AtABCC2 also transported flavone and flavonol glucosides. We performed ligand docking studies to a homology model of AtABCC2 and probed the putative binding sites of C3G and GSH through site-directed mutagenesis and functional studies. These studies identified residues important for substrate recognition and transport activity in AtABCC2, and suggest that C3G and GSH bind closely, mutually enhancing each other’s binding. In conclusion, we suggest that AtABCC2 along with possibly other ABCC proteins are involved in the vacuolar transport of anthocyanins and other flavonoids in the vegetative tissue of Arabidopsis

Mixed H_2 / H∞ control: Synthesis equations for the discrete-time case

A discrete mixed H 2 /H1 optimal control problem is studied, where an upper bound on an H 2 cost is minimized subject to an H1 norm bound on the closed-loop transfer function. New synthesis equations for the optimal controller are obtained, which are the discrete-time counterparts of continuoustime synthesis equations given in the literature. The synthesis equations are obtained by deriving a set of optimality conditions for the parameters of an optimal controller parameterization. The sufficiency and necessity of the optimality conditions is also studied. Supported by grant from IIT, Kharagpur 1 Introduction In this note a discrete-time version of the mixed H 2 =H1 problem due to Bernstein and Haddad [1] is studied. The problem consists of the minimization of an upper bound on an H 2 cost subject to an H1 norm bound, in the special case when the H 2 and the H1 loops have different outputs but share the same inputs. In the continuous-time case, the solution to this problem and it..

Plant Vacuolar ATP-binding Cassette Transporters That Translocate Folates and Antifolates in Vitro and Contribute to Antifolate Tolerance in Vivo

The vacuoles of pea (Pisum sativum) leaves and red beet ( Beta vulgaris) storage root are major sites for the intracellular compartmentation of folates. In the light of these findings and preliminary experiments indicating that some plant multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) subfamily ATP-binding cassette transporters are able to transport compounds of this type, the Arabidopsis thaliana vacuolar MRP, AtMRP1(AtABCC1), and its functional equivalent(s) in vacuolar membrane vesicles purified from red beet storage root were studied. In so doing, it has been determined that heterologously expressed AtMRP1 and its equivalents in red beet vacuolar membranes are not only competent in the transport of glutathione conjugates but also folate monoglutamates and antifolates as exemplified by pteroyl-L-glutamicacid and methotrexate (MTX), respectively. In agreement with the results of these in vitro transport measurements, analyses of atmrp1 T-DNA insertion mutants of Arabidopsis ecotypes Wassilewskia and Columbia disclose an MTX-hypersensitive phenotype. atmrp1 knock-out mutants are more sensitive than wild-type plants to growth retardation by nanomolar concentrations of MTX, and this is associated with impaired vacuolar antifolate sequestration. The vacuoles of protoplasts isolated from the leaves of Wassilewskia atmrp1 mutants accumulate 50% less [H-3] MTX than the vacuoles of protoplasts from wild-type plants when incubated in media containing nanomolar concentrations of this antifolate, and vacuolar membrane-enriched vesicles purified from the mutant catalyze MgATP-dependent [H-3] MTX uptake at only 40% of the capacity of the equivalent membrane fraction from wild-type plants. AtMRP1 and its counterparts in other plant species therefore have the potential for participating in the vacuolar accumulation of folates and related compounds

The plastidial folylpolyglutamate synthetase and root apical meristem maintenance

Folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS) catalyzes the attachment of glutamate residues to the folate molecule in plants. Three isoforms of FPGS have been identified in Arabidopsis and these are localized in the plastid (AtDFB), mitochondria (AtDFC) and cytosol (AtDFD). We recently determined that mutants in the AtDFB (At5G05980) gene disrupt primary root development in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. Transient expression of AtDFB-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion under the control of the native AtDFB promoter in Nicotiana tabacum leaf epidermal cells verified the plastid localization of AtDFB. Furthermore, low concentrations of methotrexate (MTX), a compound commonly used as a folate antagonist in plant and mammalian cells induced primary root defects in wild type seedlings that were similar to atdfb. In addition, atdfb seedlings were more sensitive to MTX when compared to wild type. Quantitative (q) RT-PCR showed lower transcript levels of the mitochondrial and cytosolic FPGS in roots of 7-day-old atdfb seedling suggesting feedback regulation of AtDFB on the expression of other FPGS isoforms during early seedling development. The primary root defects of atdfb, which can be traced in part to altered quiescent center (QC) identity, pave the way for future studies that could link cell type specific folate and FPGS isoform requirements to whole organ development