Multiple PLDs required for high salinity and water deficit tolerance in plants

Involvement of Arabidopsis thaliana phospholipase Dzeta2 in root hydrotropism through the suppression of root gravitropism

Root hydrotropism is the phenomenon of directional root growth toward moisture under water-deficient conditions. Although physiological and genetic studies have revealed the involvement of the root cap in the sensing of moisture gradients, and those of auxin and abscisic acid (ABA) in the signal transduction for asymmetric root elongation, the overall mechanism of root hydrotropism is still unclear. We found that the promoter activity of the Arabidopsis phospholipase Dzeta2 gene (PLDzeta2) was localized to epidermal cells in the distal root elongation zone and lateral root cap cells adjacent to them, and that exogenous ABA enhanced the activity and extended its area to the entire root cap. Although pldzeta2 mutant root caps did not exhibit a morphological phenotype in either the absence or presence of exogenous ABA, the inhibitory effect of ABA on gravitropism, which was significant in wild-type roots, was not observed in pldzeta2 mutant roots. In root hydrotropism experiments, pldzeta2 mutations significantly retarded or disturbed root hydrotropic responses. A drought condition similar to that used in a hydrotropism experiment enhanced the PLDzeta2 promoter activity in the root cap, as did exogenous ABA. These results suggest that PLDzeta2 responds to drought through ABA signaling in the root cap and accelerates root hydrotropism through the suppression of root gravitropism.

Biochemical characterization of two wheat phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase isoforms with different sensitivities to inhibition by phosphatidic acid

In plants the triple methylation of phosphoethanolamine to phosphocholine catalyzed by phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEAMT) is considered a rate-limiting step in the de novo synthesis of phosphatidylcholine. Besides being a major membrane phospholipid, phosphatidylcholine can be hydrolyzed into choline and phosphatidic acid. Phosphatidic acid is widely recognized as a second messenger in stress signaling, and choline can be oxidized within the chloroplast to yield the putative osmoprotectant glycine betaine. Here we describe the cloning and biochemical characterization of a second wheat PEAMT isoform that has a four times higher specific activity than the previously described WPEAMT/TaPEAMT1 enzyme and is less sensitive to product inhibition by S-adenosyl homocysteine, but more sensitive to inhibition by phosphocholine. Both enzymes follow a sequential random Bi Bi mechanism and show mixed-type product inhibition patterns with partial inhibition for TaPEAMT1 and a strong non-competitive component for TaPEAMT2. An induction of TaPEAMT protein expression and activity is observed after cold exposure, ahead of an increase in gene expression. Our results demonstrate direct repression of in vitro enzymatic activities by phosphatidic acid for both enzymes, with TaPEAMT1 being more sensitive than TaPEAMT2 in the physiological concentration range. Other lipid ligands identified in protein-lipid overlays are phosphoinositide mono- as well as some di-phosphates and cardiolipin. These results provide new insights into the complex regulatory circuits of phospholipid biosynthesis in plants and underline the importance of head group biosynthesis in adaptive stress responses.

Function and regulation of phospholipid signalling in plants

As an important metabolic pathway, phosphatidylinositol metabolism generates both constitutive and signalling molecules that are crucial for plant growth and development. Recent studies using genetic and molecular approaches reveal the important roles of phospholipid molecules and signalling in multiple processes of higher plants, including root growth, pollen and vascular development, hormone effects and cell responses to environmental stimuli plants. The present review summarizes the current progress in our understanding of the functional mechanism of phospholipid signalling, with an emphasis on the regulation of Ins(1,4,5)P3-Ca2+ oscillation, the second messenger molecule phosphatidic acid and the cytoskeleton.

Phospholipid signaling responses in salt-stressed rice leaves

Salinity is one of the major environmental factors limiting growth and productivity of rice plants. In this study, the effect of salt stress on phospholipid signaling responses in rice leaves was investigated. Leaf cuts were radiolabeled with 32P-orthophosphate and the lipids extracted and analyzed by thin-layer chromatography, autoradiography and phosphoimaging. Phospholipids were identified by co-migration of known standards. Results showed that 32P(i) was rapidly incorporated into the minor lipids, phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP2) and phosphatidic acid (PA) and, interestingly, also into the structural lipids phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG), which normally label relatively slowly, like phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylinositol (PI). Only very small amounts of PIP2 were found. However, in response to salt stress (NaCl), PIP2 levels rapidly (<30 min) increased up to 4-fold, in a time- and dose-dependent manner. PA and its phosphorylated product, diacylglycerolpyrophosphate (DGPP), also increased upon NaCl stress, while cardiolipin (CL) levels decreased. All other phospholipid levels remained unchanged. PA signaling can be generated via the combined action of phospholipase C (PLC) and diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) or directly via phospholipase D (PLD). The latter can be measured in vivo, using a transphosphatidylation assay. Interestingly, these measurements revealed that salt stress inhibited PLD activity, indicating that the salt stress-induced PA response was not due to PLD activity. Comparison of the 32P-lipid responses in salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive cultivars revealed no significant differences. Together these results show that salt stress rapidly activates several lipid responses in rice leaves but that these responses do not explain the difference in salt tolerance between sensitive and tolerant cultivars.

Phospholipase D activation is an early component of the salicylic acid signaling pathway in Arabidopsis cell suspensions

Salicylic acid (SA) plays a central role in defense against pathogen attack, as well as in germination, flowering, senescence, and the acquisition of thermotolerance. In this report we investigate the involvement of phospholipase D (PLD) in the SA signaling pathway. In presence of exogenous primary alcohols, the production of phosphatidic acid by PLD is diverted toward the formation of phosphatidylalcohols through a reaction called transphosphatidylation. By in vivo metabolic phospholipid labeling with (33)P(i), PLD activity was found to be induced 45 min after addition of SA. We show that incubation of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) cell suspensions with primary alcohols inhibited the induction of two SA-responsive genes, PATHOGENESIS-RELATED1 and WRKY38, in a dose-dependent manner. This inhibitory effect was more pronounced when the primary alcohols were more hydrophobic. Secondary or tertiary alcohols had no inhibitory effect. These results provide compelling arguments for PLD activity being upstream of the induction of these genes by SA. A subsequent study of n-butanol effects on the SA-responsive transcriptome identified 1,327 genes differentially expressed upon SA treatment. Strikingly, the SA response of 380 of these genes was inhibited by n-butanol but not by tert-butanol. A detailed analysis of the regulation of these genes showed that PLD could act both positively and negatively, either on gene induction or gene repression. The overlap with the previously described phosphatidylinositol-4-kinase pathway is discussed.

Plant phospholipid signaling: "in a nutshell"

Since the discovery of the phosphoinositide/phospholipase C (PI/PLC) system in animal systems, we know that phospholipids are much more then just structural components of biological membranes. In the beginning, this idea was fairly straightforward. Receptor stimulation activates PLC, which hydrolyses phosphatidylinositol4,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P2] into two second messengers: inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) and diacylglycerol (DG). While InsP3 difuses into the cytosol and triggers the release of calcium from an internal store via ligand-gated calcium channels, DG remains in the membrane where it recruits and activates members of the PKC family. The increase in calcium, together with the change in phosphorylation status, (in)activates a variety of protein targets, leading to a massive reprogramming, allowing the cell to appropriately respond to the extracellular stimulus. Later, it became obvious that not just PLC, but a variety of other phospholipid-metabolizing enzymes were activated, including phospholipase A, phospholipase D, and PI 3-kinase. More recently, it has become apparent that PtdIns4P and PtdIns(4,5)P2 are not just signal precursors but can also function as signaling molecules themselves. While plants contain most of the components described above, and evidence for their role in cell signaling is progressively increasing, major differences between plants and the mammalian paradigms exist. Below, these are described "in a nutshell."