Ultrastructure of the mesophyll cells of leaves of a catalase-deficient mutant of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Fast and automatic imaging of immunoenzyme-stained neuronal circuits in the whole brain of Drosophila

Knowledge of neuronal wiring and morphogenesis in Drosophila is essential to understand brain function and dysfunction. The immunoenzyme method based on horseradish peroxidase/diaminobenzidine (HRP/DAB) provides high-contrast images to resolve details underlying neuronal architecture. However, the poor staining penetration and a lack of corresponding three-dimensional imaging methodology limit its application. Herein, we modified the HRP/DAB method to stain neuronal circuits in the whole brain of Drosophila. Furthermore, we found that imaging with the micro-optical sectioning tomography system provided a fast and automatic method that could dissect cell-specific neuroanatomical architecture at a submicron voxel resolution.

Reactive oxygen species formation and cell death in catalase-deficient tobacco leaf disks exposed to cadmium

The physiological responses of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) to oxidative stress induced by cadmium were examined with respect to reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, antioxidant enzymes activities, and cell death appearance in wild-type SR1 and catalase-deficient CAT1AS plants. Leaf disks treated with 100 or 500 microM CdCl(2) increased Evans blue staining and leakage of electrolytes in SR1 or CAT1AS plants, more pronouncedly in the transgenic cultivar, but without evidence of lipid peroxidation in any of the cultivars compared to controls. Cadmium significantly reduced the NADPH oxidase-dependent O (2)(-) formation in a dose dependent manner in SR1 very strongly at 500 microM (to 5% of the activity in the nontreated SR1 leaf disks). In CAT1AS, the NADPH oxidase activity was constitutively reduced at 50% with respect to that of SR1, but the magnitude of the decay was less prominent in this cultivar, reaching an average of 64% of the C at 21 h, for both Cd concentrations. Hydrogen peroxide formation was only slightly increased in SR1 or CAT1AS leaf disks at 21 h of exposure compared to the respective controls. Cd increased superoxide dismutase activity more than six times at 21 h in CAT1AS, but not in SR1 and reduced catalase activity by 59% at 21 h of treatment only in SR1 plants. Despite that catalase expression was constitutively lower in CATAS1 compared to SR1 nontreated leaf disks, 500 microM CdCl(2) almost doubled it only in CAT1AS at 21 h. The mechanisms underlying Cd-induced cell death were possibly not related exclusively to ROS formation or detoxification in tobacco SR1 or CAT1AS plants.

The role of peroxisomes in the integration of metabolism and evolutionary diversity of photosynthetic organisms

The peroxisome is a metabolic compartment serving for the rapid oxidation of substrates, a process that is not coupled to energy conservation. In plants and algae, peroxisomes connect biosynthetic and oxidative metabolic routes and compartmentalize potentially lethal steps of metabolism such as the formation of reactive oxygen species and glyoxylate, thus preventing poisoning of the cell and futile recycling. Peroxisomes exhibit properties resembling inside-out vesicles and possess special systems for the import of specific proteins, which form multi-enzyme complexes (metabolons) linking numerous reactions to flavin-dependent oxidation, coupled to the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide by catalase. Hydrogen peroxide and superoxide originating in peroxisomes are important mediators in signal transduction pathways, particularly those involving salicylic acid. By contributing to the synthesis of oxalate, formate and other organic acids, peroxisomes regulate major fluxes of primary and secondary metabolism. The evolutionary diversity of algae has led to the presence of a wide range of enzymes in the peroxisomes that are only similar to higher plants in their direct predecessors, the Charophyceae. The appearance of seed plants was connected to the acquirement by storage tissues, of a peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation function linked to the glyoxylate cycle, which is induced during seed germination and maturation. Rearrangement of the peroxisomal photorespiratory function between different tissues of higher plants led to the appearance of different types of photosynthetic metabolism. The peroxisome may therefore have played a key role in the evolutionary formation of metabolic networks, via establishing interconnections between different metabolic compartments.

Induction and control of chromoplast-specific carotenoid genes by oxidative stress

The differentiation of chloroplasts into chromoplasts involves a series of biochemical changes that culminate with the intense accumulation of long chain chromophore carotenoids such as lycopene, rhodoxanthin, astaxanthin, anhydroeschsoltzxanthin, capsanthin, and capsorubin. The signal pathways mediating these transformations are unknown. Chromoplast carotenoids are known to accumulate in green tissues experiencing stress conditions, and studies indicate that they provide efficient protection against oxidative stress. We tested the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as regulators of chromoplast carotenoid biosynthesis in vivo. The addition of ROS progenitors, such as menadione, tert-butylhydroperoxide, or paraquat and prooxidants such as diamide or buthionine sulfoximine to green pericarp discs of pepper fruits rapidly and dramatically induce the simultaneous expression of multiple carotenogenic gene mRNAS that give rise to capsanthin. Similarly, down-regulation of catalase by amitrole induces expression of carotenogenic gene mRNAs leading to the synthesis of capsanthin in excised green pericarp discs. ROS signals from plastids and mitochondria also contribute significantly to this process. Analysis of the capsanthin-capsorubin synthase promoter in combination with a beta-glucuronidase reporter gene reveals strong activation in transformed pepper protoplasts challenged with the above ROS. Collectively these data demonstrate that ROS act as a novel class of second messengers that mediate intense carotenoid synthesis during chromoplast differentiation.

Regulation of catalases in Arabidopsis

The catalase multi-gene family in Arabidopsis includes three genes encoding individual subunits which associate to form at least six isozymes that are readily resolved by non-denaturing gel electrophoresis. CAT1 and CAT3 map to chromosome 1, and CAT2 maps to chromosome 4. The nucleotide and deduced amino acids sequences of the three coding regions are highly related to each other and to other catalases. Both the individual isozymes and the individual subunit mRNAs show distinct patterns of spatial (organ-specific) expression. Six isozymes are detected in flowers and leaves and two are seen in roots. All three mRNAs are highly expressed in inflorescences, and CAT2 and CAT3 are highly expressed in leaves. All three mRNAs are detectable in freshly imbibed seeds, although the pattern of mRNA relative abundance varies among the three genes during early germination. CAT1 and CAT2 mRNA abundance is induced by light. In contrast, CAT3 is negatively light-responsive. CAT2 and CAT3 mRNA abundance is controlled by the circadian clock. Interestingly, the peak in CAT3 mRNA abundance occurs in the subjective evening, which is out of phase with expression of the Arabidopsis CAT2 catalase gene that shows clock-regulated expression gated to the subjective early morning. CAT1 mRNA abundance is not clock-regulated.

Preferential photoinactivation of catalase and photoinhibition of photosystem II are common early symptoms under various osmotic and chemical stress conditions

Activity of catalase (EC 1.11.1.6) and variable fluorescence (F) were measured in sections of rye leaves (Secale cereale L. cv. Halo) that were exposed for 24 h to moderately high irradiance under osmotic or chemical stress conditions (paraquat, DCMU, mannitol, NaCl, CdCl₂ , CuSO₄ , Pb(NO₃ )₂ , KNO₂ , or K₂ SO₃ ). Changes of the chlorophyll content and of enzyme activities related to peroxide metabolism, such as glycolate oxidase, glutathione reductase, and peroxidase, were assayed for comparison. In the presence of the herbicides paraquat and low DCMU concentrations that exert only partial inhibition of photosynthesis, as well as after most treatments with osmotic or chemical stress factors, catalase markedly declined due to a preferential photoinactivation. At higher DCMU levels catalase did not decline. At low KNO₂ concentrations catalase activity was preferentially increased. In general, photoinactivation of catalase was accompanied by a decline of the F/F_m ratio, indicating photoinhibition of photosystem II, while other parameters were much more stable. Inasmuch as both catalase and the D1 reaction center protein of photosystem II have a rapid turnover in light, their steady state levels appear to decline whenever stress effects either excessively enhance deleterious oxidative conditions and degradation (e. g. Paraquat, low DCMU), or inhibit repair synthesis. Photoinactivation of catalase and of photosystem II represent specific and widely occurring early symptoms of incipient photodamage indicating stress conditions where the repair capacity is not sufficient. During prolonged exposures, e. g. to NaCl and CuSO₄ , chlorophyll was bleached in light and the rate of its photodegradation increased in proportion as the catalase level had declined. The results suggest that the enhanced susceptibility of leaf tissues to photooxidative damage which is widely observed in stressed plants is related to the early loss of catalase.

Leaf development in Lolium temulentum L.: characterization of a slow-to-green mutant

A nuclear-gene mutation of the C3 grass Lolium temulentum L., which arose following cell suspension culture and plant regeneration, is manifested as delayed and incomplete greening, which occurs from the leaf tip downwards. Many plastids in the mutant exhibit abnormal morphology when examined by transmission electron microscopy; the plastid outer envelope lacks integrity and thylakoids, while still stacked, are spread over a wide area surrounded by diffuse stromal contents. These aberrant plastids can coexist with apparently normal chloroplasts in the same cell of mutant plants. Levels of chlorophyll a and b, and carotenoids, are all lower in the mutants than in normal Lolium temulentum. Leaf length, absolute growth rate, and number of cells per unit length at the leaf base, are greatly reduced (20-30% the normal values) in slow-to-green plants, but relative growth rate, duration of leaf growth, length of cell division zone and proportion of cells dividing are little affected. This novel mutant is a potentially valuable resource for studying interrelationships between photosynthetic function and leaf extension growth in grasses.

The value of mutants unable to carry out photorespiration

Manipulation of the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere allows the selection of photorespiratory mutants from populations of seeds treated with powerful mutagens such as sodium azide. So far, barley lines deficient in activity of phosphoglycolate phosphatase, catalase, the glycine to serine conversion, glutamine synthetase, glutamate synthase, 2-oxoglutarate uptake and serine: glyoxylate aminotransferase have been isolated. In addition one line of pea lacking glutamate synthase activity and one barley line containing reduced levels of Rubisco are available. The characteristics of these mutations are described and compared with similar mutants isolated from populations of Arabidopsis. As yet, no mutant lacking glutamine synthetase activity has been isolated from Arabidopsis and possible reasons for this difference between barley and Arabidopsis are discussed. The value of these mutant plants in the elucidation of the mechanism of photorespiration and its relationships with CO2 fixation and amino acid metabolism are highlighted.

Photoinactivation of catalase in vitro and in leaves

Purified catalase from bovine liver and catalase of isolated intact peroxisomes from rye leaves were inactivated in vitro by irradiation with visible light. During photoinactivation the protein moiety of pure catalase was not cleaved; however, the electrophoretic mobility of the native enzyme was decreased, and a major portion of enzyme-bound heme was dissociated. In a suspension of isolated chloroplasts photoinactivation of pure or peroxisomal catalase was mediated by light absorption in the chloroplasts. Both the direct and the chloroplast-mediated photoinactivation of catalase were affected little by the presence of D2O or superoxide dismutase but were greatly retarded by formate. In isolated peroxisomes substantial photoinactivation of catalase occurred only in the presence of nonphotosynthesizing but not in the presence of photosynthesizing isolated chloroplasts. Substantial and selective photoinactivation of catalase was also observed in vivo when leaf sections from various plant species (rye, pea, sunflower, cucumber, maize) were irradiated with light of high intensity in the presence of the translation inhibitors cycloheximide or 2-(4-methyl-2,6-dinitroanilino)-N-methylpropionamide, while catalase activity was much less or not affected in 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea-treated or untreated control sections. The extent of photoinactivation of catalase in leaves depended on light intensity and also occurred in red light. The results suggest that photoinactivation of catalase generally occurs in leaves under high light intensity, though it is not apparent under normal physiological conditions because it is compensated for by new synthesis. Apparent photoinactivation of catalase has to be regarded as an early indication of photodamage in leaves and conceivably enhances its progress.