The effect of exogenous dihydroxyacetone and methylglyoxal on growth, anthocyanin accumulation, and the glyoxalase system in Arabidopsis

Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) occurs in wide-ranging organisms, including plants, and can undergo spontaneous conversion to methylglyoxal (MG). While the toxicity of MG to plants is well-known, the toxicity of DHA to plants remains to be elucidated. We investigated the effects of DHA and MG on Arabidopsis. Exogenous DHA at up to 10 mM did not affect the radicle emergence, the expansion of green cotyledons, the seedling growth, or the activity of glyoxalase II, while DHA at 10 mM inhibited the root elongation and increased the activity of glyoxalase I. Exogenous MG at 1.0 mM inhibited these physiological responses and increased both activities. Dihydroxyacetone at 10 mM increased the MG content in the roots. These results indicate that DHA is not so toxic as MG in Arabidopsis seeds and seedlings and suggest that the toxic effect of DHA at high concentrations is attributed to MG accumulation by the conversion to MG

Involvement of OST1 Protein Kinase and PYR/PYL/RCAR Receptors in Methyl Jasmonate-Induced Stomatal Closure in Arabidopsis Guard Cells

Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) induces stomatal closure. It has been shown that stomata of many ABA-insensitive mutants are also insensitive to MeJA, and a low amount of ABA is a prerequisite for the MeJA response. However, the molecular mechanisms of the interaction between ABA and MeJA signaling remain to be elucidated. Here we studied the interplay of signaling of the two hormones in guard cells using the quadruple ABA receptor mutant pyr1 pyl1 pyl2 pyl4 and ABA-activated protein kinase mutants ost1-2 and srk2e. In the quadruple mutant, MeJA-induced stomatal closure, H2O2 production, nitric oxide (NO) production, cytosolic alkalization and plasma membrane Ca(2+)-permeable current (ICa) activation were not impaired. At the same time, the inactivation of the inward-rectifying K(+) current was impaired. In contrast to the quadruple mutant, MeJA-induced stomatal closure, H2O2 production, NO production and cytosolic alkalization were impaired in ost1-2 and srk2e as well as in aba2-2, the ABA-deficient mutant. The activation of ICa was also impaired in srk2e. Collectively, these results indicated that OST1 was essential for MeJA-induced stomatal closure, while PYR1, PYL1, PYL2 and PYL4 ABA receptors were not sufficient factors. MeJA did not appear to activate OST1 kinase activity. This implies that OST1 mediates MeJA signaling through an undetectable level of activity or a non-enzymatic action. MeJA induced the expression of an ABA synthesis gene, NCED3, and increased ABA contents only modestly. Taken together with previous reports, this study suggests that MeJA signaling in guard cells is primed by ABA and is not brought about through the pathway mediated by PYR1, PYL1 PYL2 and PYL4

The mechanism of SO2 -induced stomatal closure differs from O3 and CO2 responses and is mediated by nonapoptotic cell death in guard cells.

Plants closing stomata in the presence of harmful gases is believed to be a stress avoidance mechanism. SO2 , one of the major airborne pollutants, has long been reported to induce stomatal closure, yet the mechanism remains unknown. Little is known about the stomatal response to airborne pollutants besides O3 . SLOW ANION CHANNEL-ASSOCIATED 1 (SLAC1) and OPEN STOMATA 1 (OST1) were identified as genes mediating O3 -induced closure. SLAC1 and OST1 are also known to mediate stomatal closure in response to CO2 , together with RESPIRATORY BURST OXIDASE HOMOLOGs (RBOHs). The overlaying roles of these genes in response to O3 and CO2 suggested that plants share their molecular regulators for airborne stimuli. Here, we investigated and compared stomatal closure event induced by a wide concentration range of SO2 in Arabidopsis through molecular genetic approaches. O3 - and CO2 -insensitive stomata mutants did not show significant differences from the wild type in stomatal sensitivity, guard cell viability, and chlorophyll content revealing that SO2 -induced closure is not regulated by the same molecular mechanisms as for O3 and CO2 . Nonapoptotic cell death is shown as the reason for SO2 -induced closure, which proposed the closure as a physicochemical process resulted from SO2 distress, instead of a biological protection mechanism

FIA functions as an early signal component of abscisic acid signal cascade in Vicia faba guard cells

An abscisic acid (ABA)-insensitive Vicia faba mutant, fia (fava bean impaired in ABA-induced stomatal closure) had previously been isolated. In this study, it was investigated how FIA functions in ABA signalling in guard cells of Vicia faba. Unlike ABA, methyl jasmonate (MeJA), H2O2, and nitric oxide (NO) induced stomatal closure in the fia mutant. ABA did not induce production of either reactive oxygen species or NO in the mutant. Moreover, ABA did not suppress inward-rectifying K+ (Kin) currents or activate ABA-activated protein kinase (AAPK) in mutant guard cells. These results suggest that FIA functions as an early signal component upstream of AAPK activation in ABA signalling but does not function in MeJA signalling in guard cells of Vicia faba

Cytoplasmic E2f4 forms organizing centres for initiation of centriole amplification during multiciliogenesis

Abnormal development of multiciliated cells is a hallmark of a variety of human conditions associated with chronic airway diseases, hydrocephalus and infertility. Multiciliogenesis requires both activation of a specialized transcriptional program and assembly of cytoplasmic structures for large-scale centriole amplification that generates basal bodies. It remains unclear, however, what mechanism initiates formation of these multiprotein complexes in epithelial progenitors. Here we show that this is triggered by nucleocytoplasmic translocation of the transcription factor E2f4. After inducing a transcriptional program of centriole biogenesis, E2f4 forms apical cytoplasmic organizing centres for assembly and nucleation of deuterosomes. Using genetically altered mice and E2F4 mutant proteins we demonstrate that centriole amplification is crucially dependent on these organizing centres and that, without cytoplasmic E2f4, deuterosomes are not assembled, halting multiciliogenesis. Thus, E2f4 integrates nuclear and previously unsuspected cytoplasmic events of centriole amplification, providing new perspectives for the understanding of normal ciliogenesis, ciliopathies and cancer

CDPKs CPK6 and CPK3 Function in ABA Regulation of Guard Cell S-Type Anion- and Ca(2+)- Permeable Channels and Stomatal Closure

Abscisic acid (ABA) signal transduction has been proposed to utilize cytosolic Ca(2+) in guard cell ion channel regulation. However, genetic mutants in Ca(2+) sensors that impair guard cell or plant ion channel signaling responses have not been identified, and whether Ca(2+)-independent ABA signaling mechanisms suffice for a full response remains unclear. Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) have been proposed to contribute to central signal transduction responses in plants. However, no Arabidopsis CDPK gene disruption mutant phenotype has been reported to date, likely due to overlapping redundancies in CDPKs. Two Arabidopsis guard cell–expressed CDPK genes, CPK3 and CPK6, showed gene disruption phenotypes. ABA and Ca(2+) activation of slow-type anion channels and, interestingly, ABA activation of plasma membrane Ca(2+)-permeable channels were impaired in independent alleles of single and double cpk3cpk6 mutant guard cells. Furthermore, ABA- and Ca(2+)-induced stomatal closing were partially impaired in these cpk3cpk6 mutant alleles. However, rapid-type anion channel current activity was not affected, consistent with the partial stomatal closing response in double mutants via a proposed branched signaling network. Imposed Ca(2+) oscillation experiments revealed that Ca(2+)-reactive stomatal closure was reduced in CDPK double mutant plants. However, long-lasting Ca(2+)-programmed stomatal closure was not impaired, providing genetic evidence for a functional separation of these two modes of Ca(2+)-induced stomatal closing. Our findings show important functions of the CPK6 and CPK3 CDPKs in guard cell ion channel regulation and provide genetic evidence for calcium sensors that transduce stomatal ABA signaling