Ectopically expressed glutaredoxin ROXY19 negatively regulates the detoxification pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana

Background: Glutaredoxins (GRXs) are small proteins which bind glutathione to either reduce disulfide bonds or to coordinate iron sulfur clusters. Whereas these well-established functions are associated with ubiquitously occurring GRXs that encode variants of a CPYC or a CGFS motif in the active center, land plants also possess CCxC/S-type GRXs (named ROXYs) for which the biochemical functions are yet unknown. ROXYs physically and genetically interact with bZIP transcription factors of the TGA family. In Arabidopsis, ectopically expressed ROXY19 (originally named GRX480 or GRXC9) negatively regulates expression of jasmonic acid/ethylene-induced defense genes through an unknown mechanism that requires at least one of the redundant transcription factors TGA2, TGA5 or TGA6. Results: Ectopically expressed ROXY19 interferes with the activation of TGA-dependent detoxification genes. Similar to the tga2 tga5 tga6 mutant, 35S:ROXY19 plants are more susceptible to the harmful chemical TIBA (2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid). The repressive function of ROXY19 depends on the integrity of the active site, which can be either CCMC or CPYC but not SSMS. Ectopic expression of the related GRX ROXY18/GRXS13 also led to increased susceptibility to TIBA, indicating potential functional redundancy of members of the ROXY gene family. This redundancy might explain why roxy19 knock-out plants did not show a phenotype with respect to the regulation of the TIBA-induced detoxification program. Complementation of the tga2 tga5 tga6 mutant with either TGA5 or TGA5C186S, in which the single potential target-site of ROXY19 had been eliminated, did not reveal any evidence for a critical redox modification that might be important for controlling the detoxification program. Conclusions: ROXY19 and related proteins of the ROXY gene family can function as negative regulators of TGA-dependent promoters controlling detoxification genes

Prävention des Eintrags von SARS-CoV-2 in Kitas: Erfahrungen aus dem Berliner Bezirk Treptow-Köpenick, Januar bis März 2021

Das Robert Koch-Institut, das Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales Berlin und das Gesundheitsamt des Bezirks Treptow-Köpenick untersuchten im Rahmen eines Amtshilfeersuchens Faktoren, die möglicherweise zum Eintrag und zur Übertragung von SARS-CoV-2 in Kitas des Berliner Bezirks im Zeitraum Januar bis März 2021 beigetragen haben. Im Beitrag werden Präventionsmaßnahmen und potenzielle Risikofaktoren für SARS-CoV-2-Infektionen in Kitas analysiert sowie Einzelfälle und Ausbrüche auf Grundlage der Daten des Gesundheitsamtes epidemiologisch ausgewertet. Aus den Erkenntnissen lassen sich anschließend drei Handlungsempfehlungen ableiten.Peer Reviewe

第73回千葉医学会総会記事

Microarray data of genes with lower expression levels (<0.74, p < 0.05) in 35S:ROXY19 plants as compared to control plants and their response to TIBA in the Col-0 background. The table contains the gene identity (AGI), description, the mean expression values of four independent biological replicates of the genotypes Col-0 and 35S:ROXY19#8, the ratios (FC, fold changes, log2) of the transcript levels in the transgenic line with respect to Col-0 and the corresponding p-values, the ratios between Col-0 treated with 0.1 % DMSO and Col-0 treated with 0.1 mM TIBA/0.1 % DMSO and the corresponding p-values. Since the microarray analysis of the TIBA-treated plants was performed with the Affimetrix ATH1 gene chip, the list contains 301 and not 321 genes. Genes that are not induced by TIBA are shown in light grey. FC, fold changes. For TIBA induction, plants were grown for six to seven weeks on steamed soil (Archut, Fruhstorfer Erde, T25, Str1fein) in growth chambers with light intensity at 37 to 45 μmol photons m−2 s−1 at 22 °C and 60 % humidity. Eight plants were sprayed with either 0.1 mM TIBA/0.1 % DMSO or with 0.1 % DMSO and leaves were harvested after eight h. The experiment was repeated three times. (XLSX 205 kb

The Arabidopsis PR-1 Promoter Contains Multiple Integration Sites for the Coactivator NPR1 and the Repressor SNI1[W]

Systemic acquired resistance is a broad-spectrum plant immune response involving massive transcriptional reprogramming. The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) PATHOGENESIS-RELATED-1 (PR-1) gene has been used in numerous studies to elucidate transcriptional control mechanisms regulating systemic acquired resistance. WRKY transcription factors and basic leucine zipper proteins of the TGA family regulate the PR-1 promoter by binding to specific cis-elements. In addition, the promoter is under the control of two proteins that do not directly contact the DNA: the positive regulator NONEXPRESSOR OF PR GENES1 (NPR1), which physically interacts with TGA factors, and the repressor SUPPRESSOR OF NPR1, INDUCIBLE1 (SNI1). In this study, we analyzed the importance of the TGA-binding sites LS5 and LS7 and the WKRY box LS4 for regulation by NPR1 and SNI1. In the absence of LS5 and LS7, NPR1 activates the PR-1 promoter through a mechanism that requires LS4. Since transcriptional activation of WRKY genes is under the control of NPR1 and since LS4 is not sufficient for the activation of a truncated PR-1 promoter by the effector protein NPR1-VP16 in transient assays, it is concluded that the LS4-dependent activation of the PR-1 promoter is indirect. In the case of NPR1 acting directly through TGA factors at its target promoters, two TGA-binding sites are necessary but not sufficient for NPR1 function in transgenic plants and in the NPR-VP16-based trans-activation assay in protoplasts. SNI1 exerts its negative effect in the noninduced state by targeting unknown proteins associated with sequences between bp −816 and −573. Under induced conditions, SNI1 negatively regulates the function of WRKY transcription factors binding to WKRY boxes between bp −550 and −510

Induction of jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile)-dependent JASMONATE ZIM-DOMAIN (JAZ) genes in NaCl-treated Arabidopsis thaliana roots can occur at very low JA-Ile levels and in the absence of the JA/JA-Ile transporter JAT1/AtABCG16

The plant hormone jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile) is an important regulator of plant growth and defense in response to various biotic and abiotic stress cues. Under our experimental conditions, JA-Ile levels increased approximately seven-fold in NaCl-treated Arabidopsis thaliana roots. Although these levels were around 1000-fold lower than in wounded leaves, genes of the JA-Ile signaling pathway were induced by a factor of 100 or more. Induction was severely compromised in plants lacking the JA-Ile receptor CORONATINE INSENSITIVE 1 or enzymes required for JA-Ile biosynthesis. To explain efficient gene expression at very low JA-Ile levels, we hypothesized that salt-induced expression of the JA/JA-Ile transporter JAT1/AtABCG16 would lead to increased nuclear levels of JA-Ile. However, mutant plants with different jat1 alleles were similar to wild-type ones with respect to salt-induced gene expression. The mechanism that allows COI1-dependent gene expression at very low JA-Ile levels remains to be elucidated

The Arabidopsis GRAS Protein SCL14 Interacts with Class II TGA Transcription Factors and Is Essential for the Activation of Stress-Inducible Promoters[C][W]

The plant signaling molecule salicylic acid (SA) and/or xenobiotic chemicals like the auxin mimic 2,4-D induce transcriptional activation of defense- and stress-related genes that contain activation sequence-1 (as-1)–like cis-elements in their promoters. as-1–like sequences are recognized by basic/leucine zipper transcription factors of the TGA family. Expression of genes related to the SA-dependent defense program systemic acquired resistance requires the TGA-interacting protein NPR1. However, a number of as-1–containing promoters can be activated independently from NPR1. Here, we report the identification of Arabidopsis thaliana SCARECROW-like 14 (SCL14), a member of the GRAS family of regulatory proteins, as a TGA-interacting protein that is required for the activation of TGA-dependent but NPR1-independent SA- and 2,4-D–inducible promoters. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that class II TGA factors TGA2, TGA5, and/or TGA6 are needed to recruit SCL14 to promoters of selected SCL14 target genes identified by whole-genome transcript profiling experiments. The coding regions and the expression profiles of the SCL14-dependent genes imply that they might be involved in the detoxification of xenobiotics and possibly endogenous harmful metabolites. Consistently, plants ectopically expressing SCL14 showed increased tolerance to toxic doses of the chemicals isonicotinic acid and 2,4,6-triiodobenzoic acid, whereas the scl14 and the tga2 tga5 tga6 mutants were more susceptible. Hence, the TGA/SCL14 complex seems to be involved in the activation of a general broad-spectrum detoxification network upon challenge of plants with xenobiotics

Integrative study of Arabidopsis thaliana metabolomic and transcriptomic data with the interactive MarVis-Graph software

State of the art high-throughput technologies allow comprehensive experimental studies of organism metabolism and induce the need for a convenient presentation of large heterogeneous datasets. Especially, the combined analysis and visualization of data from different high-throughput technologies remains a key challenge in bioinformatics. We present here the MarVis-Graph software for integrative analysis of metabolic and transcriptomic data. All experimental data is investigated in terms of the full metabolic network obtained from a reference database. The reactions of the network are scored based on the associated data, and sub-networks, according to connected high-scoring reactions, are identified. Finally, MarVis-Graph scores the detected sub-networks, evaluates them by means of a random permutation test and presents them as a ranked list. Furthermore, MarVis-Graph features an interactive network visualization that provides researchers with a convenient view on the results. The key advantage of MarVis-Graph is the analysis of reactions detached from their pathways so that it is possible to identify new pathways or to connect known pathways by previously unrelated reactions. The MarVis-Graph software is freely available for academic use and can be downloaded at: http://marvis.gobics.de/marvis-graph