Immunogold labelling indicates high catalase concentrations in amorphous and crystalline inclusions of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) peroxisomes

Overexpressed Arabidopsis Annexin4 accumulates in inclusion body-like structures

Large protein complexes form in the cytosol of prokaryotes and eukaryotes as assemblies of functional enzymes or aggregates of misfolded proteins. Their roles in the cell range from critical components of metabolism to disease-causing agents. We have observed a novel structure in the cells of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana that appears to be a form of inclusion body. These long, spindle-shaped structures form when Arabidopsis are transformed to express high levels of the protein Annexin4 fused to a fluorescent protein. These structures, previously named darts, are visible in all cells of the plant throughout development. Darts take on a variety of morphologies including rings and figure-eights. These structures are not associated with the endomembrane system and are not membrane bounded. Darts appear to be insoluble aggregates of protein analogous to bacterial inclusion bodies and eukaryotic aggresomes. Similar structures have not been observed in untransformed plants, suggesting darts are artifacts of transgenic overexpression.

Dynamic reorganization of metabolic enzymes into intracellular bodies

Both focused and large-scale cell biological and biochemical studies have revealed that hundreds of metabolic enzymes across diverse organisms form large intracellular bodies. These proteinaceous bodies range in form from fibers and intracellular foci--such as those formed by enzymes of nitrogen and carbon utilization and of nucleotide biosynthesis--to high-density packings inside bacterial microcompartments and eukaryotic microbodies. Although many enzymes clearly form functional mega-assemblies, it is not yet clear for many recently discovered cases whether they represent functional entities, storage bodies, or aggregates. In this article, we survey intracellular protein bodies formed by metabolic enzymes, asking when and why such bodies form and what their formation implies for the functionality--and dysfunctionality--of the enzymes that comprise them. The panoply of intracellular protein bodies also raises interesting questions regarding their evolution and maintenance within cells. We speculate on models for how such structures form in the first place and why they may be inevitable.

Proteome of plant peroxisomes: new perspectives on the role of these organelles in cell biology

Peroxisomes are cell organelles bounded by a single membrane with a basically oxidative metabolism. Peroxisomes house catalase and H(2)O(2)-producing flavin-oxidases as the main protein constituents. However, since their discovery in early fifties, a number of new enzymes and metabolic pathways have been reported to be also confined to these organelles. Thus, the presence of exo- and endo-peptidases, superoxide dismutases, the enzymes of the plant ascorbate-glutathione cycle plus ascorbate and glutathione, several NADP-dehydrogenases, and also L-arginine-dependent nitric oxide synthase activity has evidenced the relevant role of these organelles in cell physiology. In recent years, the study of new functions of peroxisomes has become a field of intensive research in cell biology, and these organelles have been proposed to be a source of important signal molecules for different transduction pathways. In plants, peroxisomes participate in seed germination, leaf senescence, fruit maturation, response to abiotic and biotic stress, photomorphogenesis, biosynthesis of the plant hormones jasmonic acid and auxin, and in cell signaling by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS, respectively). In order to decipher the nature and specific role of the peroxisomal proteins in these processes, several approaches including in vivo and in vitro import assays and generation of mutants have been used. In the last decade, the development of genomics and the report of the first plant genomes provided plant biologists a powerful tool to assign to peroxisomes those proteins which harbored any of the two peroxisomal targeting signals (PTS, either PTS1 or PTS2) described so far. Unfortunately, those molecular approaches could not give any response to those proteins previously localized in plant peroxisomes by classical biochemical and cell biology methods that did not contain any PTS. However, more recently, proteomic studies of highly purified organelles have provided evidence of the presence in peroxisomes of new proteins not previously reported. Thus, the contribution of proteomic approaches to the biology of peroxisomes is essential, not only for elucidation of the mechanisms involved in the import of the PTS1- and PTS2-independent proteins, but also to the understanding of the role of these organelles in the cell physiology of plant growth and development.

Glyoxysomal Nature of Microbodies Complexed with Lipid Globules in Botryosphaeria dothidea

ABSTRACT The glyoxysomal nature of microbodies was determined in Botryosphaeria dothidea hyphae based on morphology and in situ enzyme characteristics by transmission electron microscopy and cytochemistry. Bound by a single membrane, microbodies had a homogeneous matrix and varied in size ranging from 200 to 400 nm in diameter. Microbodies often had crystalline inclusions that consisted of parallel arrays of fine tubules in their matrices. Microbodies and lipid globules were placed in close association with each other, forming microbody-lipid globule complexes in hyphae. The cytochemical activities of catalase and malate synthase were localized in microbodies, showing intense electron density of the organelle. In addition, immunogold labeling detected the presence of catalase in a multivesicular body-like organelle and the cell wall as well as in the matrix and crystalline inclusion of microbodies, supporting the enzyme secretion outward. Meanwhile, isocitrate lyase was localized only in matrices of microbodies. These results suggest that the microbodies complexed with lipid globules in B. dothidea hyphae are functionally defined as glyoxysomes which may enable the fungus to survive latent periods using lipids via the glyoxylate cycle and catalase secretion.

The Xylanolytic System of Claviceps purpurea: Cytological Evidence for Secretion of Xylanases in Infected Rye Tissue and Molecular Characterization of Two Xylanase Genes

ABSTRACT Claviceps purpurea is a common phytopathogenic fungus that colonizes ovarian tissue of grasses. A concerted approach involving cytological and molecular techniques was initiated to investigate the role of the fungus' xylanolytic system in the interaction. Using enzyme-gold and immuno-gold electron-microscopic techniques, the presence of arabinoxylans in cell walls of rye ovarian tissues (i.e., along the usual path of infection of C. purpurea) was confirmed; tissue-print and immunostaining analyses indicated the presence of xylanase(s) exclusively in ovaries infected with C. purpurea. This strongly suggests that C. purpurea secretes xylanase while colonizing its host. Two xylanase genes (cpxyl1 and cpxyl2) were isolated from a genomic library of C. purpurea using genes from Cochliobolus carbonum (xyl1) and Magnaporthe grisea (xyn33) as heterologous probes. cpxyl1 of C. purpurea had an open reading frame (ORF) of 832 bp interrupted by a 181-bp intron. The derived gene product (CPXYL1) had a molecular mass of 21.5 kDa and an pI of 8.88; it showed significant homology to family G endo-beta-1,4-xylanases. The cpxyl2 ORF (1,144 bp) contained two introns (76 and 90 bp) and coded for a polypeptide of 33.8 kDa with an pI of 7.01; CPXYL2 belonged to family F xylanases. Southern analyses with genomic DNA demonstrated that both genes were single-copy genes. Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, it could be shown that both genes were expressed in vitro and in planta (during all infection stages). Inactivation of cpxyl1 was achieved by a gene-replacement approach. The mutant strain (Deltacpxyl1) had significantly reduced xylanase activity; Western analyses confirmed that it lacked a polypeptide of approximately 23 kDa.

Secretion of a Fungal Extracellular Catalase by Claviceps purpurea During Infection of Rye: Putative Role in Pathogenicity and Suppression of Host Defense

ABSTRACT Hydrogen peroxide of the host origin accumulates in plant apoplasts in response to pathogen attack and probably functions directly in defense reactions or in signaling, according to a previous study. Since Claviceps purpurea produces compatible interactions with hundreds of host species, we hypothesized that the fungus might interfere with H(2)O(2)-mediated defense by means of secreted catalases. In axenic culture of C. purpurea, catalase activity accumulated in the medium and was inhibited by the catalase inhibitor aminotriazole. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by diaminobenzidine (DAB)-mediated activity staining showed that one specific catalase found in culture filtrate was also present in rye ovaries infected with C. purpurea and in honeydew. This catalase form is probably induced during infection. In situ activity staining, using DAB-mediated enzyme-cytochemistry in electron microscopy, located catalase activity in hyphal walls during both axenic culture and infection of rye. Activity staining accumulated in periplasmic spaces and was especially strong at hyphal surfaces; control staining after aminotriazole inhibition was negative. Intracellular activity staining in organelles of the fungal secretory pathway substantiated that catalase was secreted by C. purpurea. With molecular cytology, anticatalase epitopes were localized with different heterologous catalase antibodies at sites corresponding to the activity staining pattern. In all infection phases, immunogold labeling indicated that the putative catalase was secreted via multivesicular bodies into the fungal wall and diffused into the host apoplast exclusively at the hostpathogen interface. The secretion of fungal catalase is a novel finding in phytopathology, and we discuss its role in the ubiquitous ergot disease.

The predominant protein in peroxisomal cores of sunflower cotyledons is a catalase that differs in primary structure from the catalase in the peroxisomal matrix

This paper describes a biochemical study on the protein composition of crystalline inclusions (cores) from plant peroxisomes. By SDS/PAGE and immunoblotting, a catalase of 59 kDa was identified as the predominant protein component in purified cores from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) cotyledons. A 55-kDa catalase was the only additional peptide detected. In contrast to in cores, the 55-kDa catalase was the major catalase protein in matrix fractions obtained from lysed peroxisomes. These findings suggested two peroxisomal populations of catalase differing in molecular structure and subperoxisomal compartmentation in sunflower cotyledons. Evidence for different amino acid sequences of the two catalases was found by peptide mapping with endoproteinase Glu-C, by expressing a cDNA encoding matrix catalase in Escherichia coli, and by partial amino acid sequencing of peptide fragments from 59-kDa core catalase. These results contradict the previous view that the formation of cores occurred via condensation of matrix catalase, and indicate that new concepts on the biogenesis and physiological function of plant peroxisomal cores need to be developed.