ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.1

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB

ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.3

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB

摘要:

Flavonols are essential for pollen germination and tube growth in petunia and can be supplied by either the pollen or stigma at pollination. HPLC analysis and a sensitive bioassay demonstrated that both pollination and wounding induce flavonol accumulation, especially kaempferol, in the outer cell layers and exudate of the stigma. Pollination and wounding induced nearly identical flavonol kinetics and patterns of accumulation in the same target tissue, suggesting that they share elements of a common signal transduction pathway. The wound response was systemic, because kaempferol accumulated in the stigma when distal tissues, such as the corolla, stamens, or sepals, were wounded. We have exploited the germination requirement for flavonols and the high level of kaempferol that accumulates after wounding to enhance plant fecundity. Seed set was significantly increased by mechanically wounding the corolla and stamens prior to the application of pollen to the stigma. A reproductive role for a plant secondary metabolite and the specific function of stigmatic kaempferol are discussed from an evolutionary perspective.

ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.11

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB

摘要:

Arabidopsis fusca mutants display striking purple coloration due to anthocyanin accumulation in their cotyledons. We describe six recessive fusca mutants isolated from Agrobacterium-transformed Arabidopsis families. These mutants first become defective during embryogenesis and exhibit limited seedling development. Double mutant constructs revealed that developmental defects were not simply a consequence of anthocyanin accumulation. fusca seedlings showed altered responses to several environmental and endogenous factors. Allelism tests established that three fusca loci are represented by mutants previously described as defective in light-regulated responses. To study the molecular basis of the fusca phenotype, we cloned the FUS6 gene. FUS6 encodes a novel protein that is hydrophilic, alpha-helical, and contains potential protein kinase C phosphorylation sites. The FUSCA proteins appear to act in a network of signal transduction pathways critical for plant development.

ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.25

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB

摘要:

The synthesis of amylose in amyloplasts is catalyzed by granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS). GBSS gene expression was inhibited via antisense RNA in Agrobacterium rhizogenes-transformed potato plants. Analysis of starch production and starch granule composition in transgenic tubers revealed that reduction of GBSS activity always resulted in a reduction of the production of amylose. Field experiments, performed over a 2-year period, showed that stable inhibition of GBSS gene expression can be obtained. Microscopic evaluation of iodine-stained starch granules was shown to be a sensitive system for qualitative and quantitative examination of amylose formation in starch granules of transgenic potato tubers. In plants showing inhibition of GBSS gene expression, the reduced amylose content in tuber starch was not a consequence of a lower amylose content throughout the entire starch granule. Starch granules of transgenic tubers were found to contain amylose at a percentage similar to wild-type starch in a core of varying size at the hilum of each granule. This indicated that reduced GBSS gene expression results in amylose formation in a restricted zone of the granules. The size of this zone is suggested to be dependent on the GBSS protein level. During development of the granules, the available GBSS protein is thought to become limiting, resulting in the formation of starch that lacks amylose. RNA gel blot analysis of tuber tissue showed that inhibition of GBSS gene expression resulted in a reduced GBSS mRNA level but did not affect the expression level of other starch synthesizing enzymes. Antisense RNA could only be detected in leaf tissue of the transgenic plants.

ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.43

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB

摘要:

In the absence of sulfur, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a unicellular green alga, increases its rate of sulfate import and synthesizes several periplasmic proteins, including an arylsulfatase (Ars). These changes appear to help cells acclimate to a sulfur-deficient environment. The elevated rate of sulfate import results from an increase in the capacity and affinity of the transport system for sulfate. The synthesis of Ars, a periplasmic enzyme that cleaves sulfate from aromatic compounds, enables cells to use these molecules as a source of sulfur when free sulfate is not available. To characterize the ways in which C. reinhardtii perceives changes in the sulfur status of the environment and regulates its responses to these changes, we mutagenized cells and isolated strains exhibiting aberrant accumulation of Ars activity. These mutants were characterized for Ars activity, ars mRNA accumulation, periplasmic protein accumulation, and sulfate transport activity when grown in both sulfur-sufficient and sulfur-deficient conditions. All of the mutants exhibited pleiotropic effects with respect to several of these responses. Strains harboring double mutant combinations were constructed and characterized for Ars activity and ars mRNA accumulation. From the mutant phenotypes, we inferred that both positive and negative regulatory elements were involved in the acclimation process. Both the epistatic relationships among the mutations and the effects of the lesions on the responses of C. reinhardtii to sulfur limitation distinguished these mutants from similar mutants in Neurospora crassa.

ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.53

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB

摘要:

We have taken advantage of an acclimation phenomenon in a chilling-sensitive maize inbred to investigate the molecular, biochemical, and physiological responses to chilling in preemergent maize seedlings. Three-day-old seedlings were exposed to 4[deg]C for 7 days and did not survive chilling stress unless they were preexposed to 14[deg]C for 3 days. cDNAs representing three chilling acclimation-responsive (CAR) genes were isolated by subtraction hybridization and differential screening and found to be differentially expressed during acclimation. Identification of one of these CAR genes as cat3, which encodes the mitochondrial catalase3 isozyme, led us to hypothesize that chilling imposes oxidative stress in the seedlings. Hydrogen peroxide levels were elevated during both acclimation and chilling of nonacclimated seedlings. Further molecular and biochemical analyses indicated that whereas superoxide dismutase activity was not affected, the levels of cat3 transcripts and the activities of catalase3 and guaiacol peroxidase were elevated in mesocotyls during acclimation. Accumulation of H2O2 following a short treatment with aminotriazole, a catalase inhibitor, indicated that catalase3 seems to be an important H2O2-scavenging enzyme in the seedlings. Control 3-day-old seedlings pretreated with H2O2 or menadione, a superoxide-generating compound, at 27[deg]C induced chilling tolerance. Both of these chemical treatments also increased cat3 transcripts and catalase3 and guaiacol peroxidase activities. We suggest that peroxide has dual effects at low temperatures. During acclimation, its early accumulation signals the production of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase3 and guaiacol peroxidase. At 4[deg]C, in nonacclimated seedlings, it accumulates to damaging levels in the tissues due to low levels of these, and perhaps other, antioxidant enzymes.

ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.65

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB

摘要:

Plants have evolved the ability to regulate flowering in response to environmental signals such as temperature and photoperiod. The physiology and genetics of floral induction have been studied extensively, but the molecular mechanisms that underlie this process are poorly understood. To study this process, we isolated a gene, LUMINIDEPENDENS (LD), that is involved in the timing of flowering in Arabidopsis. Mutations in this gene render Arabidopsis late flowering and appear to affect light perception. The late-flowering phenotype of the ld mutation was partially suppressed by vernalization. Genomic and cDNA clones of the LD gene were characterized. The predicted amino acid sequence of the LD protein contains 953 residues and includes two putative bipartite nuclear localization signals and a glutamine-rich region.

ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.75

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB

摘要:

Although the physiological role of plant mitochondria is thought to vary in different tissues at progressive stages of development, there has been little documentation that the complement of mitochondrial proteins is altered in different plant organs. Because the phenomenon of cytoplasmic male sterility suggests an unusual function for mitochondria in floral buds, we examined the tissue-specific expression of mitochondrial proteins in petunia buds at several stages of development, using both fertile and cytoplasmic male sterile plants. On tissue prints of cryostat-sectioned buds, antibodies recognizing subunit A of the mitochondrial ATPase (ATPA) localized very differently from antibodies recognizing subunit II of the cytochrome oxidase (COXII), which indicated that mitochondria in the same tissue could differentially express mitochondrially encoded proteins. The petunia cytoplasmic male sterility-associated fused (pcf) gene encodes a protein that colocalized with ATPA and the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial alternative oxidase (AOA) in sporogenous tissues, where little COXII protein was found. These overlapping and differential localization patterns may provide clues to the molecular mechanism of cytoplasmic male sterility.

ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.85

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB

摘要:

The post-translational transport of cytoplasmically synthesized precursor proteins into chloroplasts requires proteins in the envelope membranes. To identify some of these proteins, label transfer cross-linking was performed using precursor to the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (prSSU) that was blocked at an early stage of the transport process. Two envelope proteins were identified: an 86-kD protein and a 75-kD protein, both present in the outer membrane. Labeling of both proteins required prSSU and could not be accomplished with SSU lacking a transit peptide. Labeling of the 75-kD protein occurred only when low levels of ATP were present, whereas labeling of the 86-kD protein occurred in the absence of exogenous ATP. Although both labeled proteins were identified as proteins of the outer envelope membrane, the labeled form of the 75-kD protein could only be detected in fractions containing mixed envelope membranes. Based on these observations, we propose that prSSU first binds in an ATP-independent fashion to the 86-kD protein. The energy-requiring step is association with the 75-kD protein and assembly of a translocation contact site between the inner and outer membrane of the chloroplastic envelope.

ISSN:1040-4651    

DOI:10.1105/tpc.6.1.93

出版商:American Society of Plant Biologists    

年代:1994

数据来源: ASPB