The impact of the overexpression of human UDP-galactose transporter gene hUGT1 in tobacco plants

Identification of major QTLs for drought tolerance in soybean, together with a novel candidate gene, GmUAA6

Drought tolerance is a complex trait in soybean that is controlled by polygenetic quantitative trait loci (QTLs). In this study, wilting score, days-to-wilting, leaf relative water content, and leaf relative conductivity were used to identify QTLs associated with drought tolerance in recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between a drought-sensitive variety, Lin, and a drought-tolerant variety, Meng. A total of 33 drought-tolerance QTLs were detected. Of these 17 were major QTLs. In addition, 15 were novel drought-tolerance QTLs. The most predominant QTL was on chromosome 11. This was detected in at least three environments. The overlapped mapping interval of the four measured traits was 0.2 cM in genetic distance (about 220 kb in physical length). Glyma.11g143500 (designated as GmUAA6), which encodes a UDP-N-acetylglucosamine transporter, was identified as the most likely candidate gene. The allele of GmUAA6 from Lin (GmUAA6Lin) was associated with improved soybean drought tolerance. Overexpression of GmUAA6Lin in Arabidopsis and soybean hairy roots enhanced drought tolerance. Furthermore, a 3-bp insertion/deletion (InDel) in the coding sequence of GmUAA6 explained up to 49.9% of the phenotypic variation in drought tolerance-related traits, suggesting that this InDel might be used in future marker-assisted selection of drought-tolerant lines in soybean breeding programs.

Changes of lignin biosynthesis in tobacco leaves during maturation

Lignin is one of the most valuable renewable industrial materials. To elucidate the mechanism via which lignin is synthesised, we compared the lignin content, leaf hardness, cell wall thickness of palisade tissue, and gene expression patterns of lignin biosynthetic enzymes in three tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) varieties during maturation. The results consistently showed that during maturation, the accumulation of lignin gradually increased in tobacco leaves, reaching a peak at full maturity (45 days after topping), and then gradually decreased. Similarly, the transcript level analysis revealed that the gene expression pattern of NtPAL, NtC4H, NtCCoAOMT and NtCOMT were relatively high, and consistent with the lignin content changes. Thus, the four genes may play regulatory roles in the synthesis of tobacco lignin. Analysis of tissue expression patterns of the lignin synthesis-related gene showed that the NtPAL, NtC4H, Nt4CL, NtHCT, NtCCoAOMT, NtCOMT, NtCCR, NtCAD, and NtPAO were all expressed in stems, roots, and leaves. NtC3H and NtF5H were specifically expressed in stems and roots, and not in leaves. Consistently, the NtC3H promoter induced high GUS expression in stems and petioles, marginal in roots, and no GUS activity in leaves. These results provide insights into molecular regulation of lignin biosynthesis in tobacco.

Expression of the human UDP-galactose transporter gene hUGT1 in tobacco plants' enhanced plant hardness

We reported previously that tobacco plants transformed with the human UDP-galactose transporter 1 gene (hUGT1) had enhanced growth, displayed characteristic traits, and had an increased proportion of galactose (hyper-galactosylation) in the cell wall matrix polysaccharides. Here, we report that hUGT1-transgenic plants have an enhanced hardness. As determined by breaking and bending tests, the leaves and stems of hUGT1-transgenic plants were harder than those of control plants. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the cell walls of palisade cells in leaves, and those of cortex cells and xylem fibers in stems of hUGT1-transgenic plants, were thicker than those of control plants. The increased amounts of total cell wall materials extracted from the leaves and stems of hUGT1-transgenic plants supported the increased cell wall thickness. In addition, the cell walls of the hUGT1-transgenic plants showed an increased lignin contents, which was supported by the up-regulation of lignin biosynthetic genes. Thus, the heterologous expression of hUGT1 enhanced the accumulation of cell wall materials, which was accompanied by the increased lignin content, resulting in the increased hardness of the leaves and stems of hUGT1-trangenic plants. The enhanced accumulation of cell wall materials might be related to the hyper-galactosylation of cell wall matrix polysaccharides, most notably arabinogalactan, because of the enhanced UDP-galactose transport from the cytosol to the Golgi apparatus by hUGT1, as suggested in our previous report.

UDP-galactose transporter gene hUGT1 expression in tobacco plants leads to hyper-galactosylated cell wall components

We reported previously that tobacco plants transformed with the human UDP-galactose transporter 1 gene (hUGT1-transgenic plants) displayed morphological, architectural, and physiological alterations, such as enhanced growth, increased accumulation of chlorophyll and lignin, and a gibberellin-responsive phenotype. In the present study, we demonstrated that hUGT1 expression altered the monosaccharide composition of cell wall matrix polysaccharides, such as pectic and hemicellulosic polysaccharides, which are biosynthesized in the Golgi lumen. An analysis of the monosaccharide composition of the cell wall matrix polysaccharides revealed that the ratio of galactose to total monosaccharides was significantly elevated in the hemicellulose II and pectin fractions of hUGT1-transgenic plants compared with that of control plants. A hyper-galactosylated xyloglucan structure was detected in hemicellulose II using oligosaccharide mass profiling. These results indicated that, because of the enhanced UDP-galactose transport from the cytosol to the Golgi apparatus by hUGT1, galactose incorporation in the cell wall matrix polysaccharides increased. This increased galactose incorporation may have contributed to increased galactose tolerance in hUGT1-transgenic plants.

Characterization of plants expressing the human β1,4-galactosyltrasferase gene

Modification of the plant N-glycosylation pathway towards human type structures is an important strategy to implement plants as expression systems for therapeutic proteins. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the overall impact of non-plant glycosylation enzymes in stable transformed plants. Here, we analyzed transgenic lines (Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis thaliana) that stably express a modified version of human β1,4-galactosyltransferase ((ST)GalT). While some transgenic plants grew normally, other lines exhibited a severe phenotype associated with stunted growth and developmental retardation. The severity of the phenotype correlated with both increased (ST)GalT mRNA and protein levels but no differences were observed between N-glycosylation profiles of plants with and without the phenotype. In contrast to non-transgenic plants, all (ST)GalT expressing plants synthesized significant amounts of incompletely processed (largely depleted of core fucose) N-glycans with up to 40% terminally galactosylated structures. While transgenic plants showed no differences in nucleotide sugar composition and cell wall monosaccharide content, alterations in the reactivity of cell wall carbohydrate epitopes associated with arabinogalactan-proteins and pectic homogalacturonan were detected in (ST)GalT expressing plants. Notably, plants with phenotypic alterations showed increased levels of hydrogen peroxide, most probably a consequence of hypersensitive reactions. Our data demonstrate that unfavorable phenotypical modifications may occur upon stable in planta expression of non-native glycosyltransferases. Such important issues need to be taken into consideration in respect to stable glycan engineering in plants.