The effect of MEP pathway and other inhibitors on the intracellular localization of a plasma membrane-targeted, isoprenylable GFP reporter protein in tobacco BY-2 cells

Methyl-Jasmonate Functions as a Molecular Switch Promoting Cross-Talk between Pathways for the Biosynthesis of Isoprenoid Backbones Used to Modify Proteins in Plants

In plants, the plastidial mevalonate (MVA)-independent pathway is required for the modification with geranylgeranyl groups of CaaL-motif proteins, which are substrates of protein geranylgeranyltransferase type-I (PGGT-I). As a consequence, fosmidomycin, a specific inhibitor of 1-deoxy-d-xylulose (DX)-5 phosphate reductoisomerase/DXR, the second enzyme in this so-called methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway, also acts as an effective inhibitor of protein prenylation. This can be visualized in plant cells by confocal microscopy by expressing GFP-CaM-CVIL, a prenylation sensor protein. After treatment with fosmidomycin, the plasma membrane localization of this GFP-based sensor is altered, and a nuclear distribution of fluorescence is observed instead. In tobacco cells, a visual screen of conditions allowing membrane localization in the presence of fosmidomycin identified jasmonic acid methyl esther (MeJA) as a chemical capable of gradually overcoming inhibition. Using Arabidopsis protein prenyltransferase loss-of-function mutant lines expressing GFP-CaM-CVIL proteins, we demonstrated that in the presence of MeJA, protein farnesyltransferase (PFT) can modify the GFP-CaM-CVIL sensor, a substrate the enzyme does not recognize under standard conditions. Similar to MeJA, farnesol and MVA also alter the protein substrate specificity of PFT, whereas DX and geranylgeraniol have limited or no effect. Our data suggest that MeJA adjusts the protein substrate specificity of PFT by promoting a metabolic cross-talk directing the origin of the prenyl group used to modify the protein. MVA, or an MVA-derived metabolite, appears to be a key metabolic intermediate for this change in substrate specificity.

Greenhouse evaluation of branching, leaf yield and biochemical compositions of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni to decapitation and foliar application of abscisic acid and fluridone

Stevia is a herbaceous plant containing non-sugar sweeteners that could be regarded as a successor to sugar for diabetics. However, there are some problems with the cultivation of stevia, especially in the greenhouse, including unbranching and low sweetening agents. To overcome this issue, an experiment was designed to increase not only the branching and leaf production but also the sweetness. Therefore, a novel strategy using abscisic acid (0, 50, 100, 150 μM), its inhibitor, i.e. fluridone (0, 50, 100, 150 μM) and decapitation of plant apical meristems was applied. Results showed that when stevia was decapitated, dormant buds responded to the application of abscisic acid and fluridone. Under these conditions, axillary buds were developed to branches. As well leaf, total dry weight, soluble sugars and steviol glycosides (SGs) were significantly increased. In addition, the interaction of abscisic acid (50 and 100 μM) and fluridone (50 μM) had the highest positive effects on plant growth and steviol glycosides production rather than their sole applications. Results also indicated that decapitation removed a terminal dominance over a limited period of time and the terminal dominance was re-established with the growth of the terminal branches, whereas the influence of 50 µM fluridone on stevia was long term and the number of shoots was greater. Since stevia is a costly sweetener, the results of this study could be used in greenhouses, where the cultivation of stevia seems to be reasonable in terms of economic aspects.

Fosmidomycin biosynthesis diverges from related phosphonate natural products

Fosmidomycin and related molecules comprise a family of phosphonate natural products with potent antibacterial, antimalarial and herbicidal activities. To understand the biosynthesis of these compounds, we characterized the fosmidomycin producer, Streptomyces lavendulae, using biochemical and genetic approaches. Surprisingly, we were unable to elicit production of fosmidomycin, instead observing the unsaturated derivative dehydrofosmidomycin, which we showed potently inhibits 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase and has bioactivity against a number of bacteria. The genes required for dehydrofosmidomycin biosynthesis were established by heterologous expression experiments. Bioinformatics analyses, characterization of intermediates, and in vitro biochemistry show that the biosynthetic pathway involves conversion of a two-carbon phosphonate precursor into the unsaturated three-carbon product via a highly unusual rearrangement reaction, catalyzed by the 2-oxoglutarate dependent dioxygenase DfmD. The required genes and biosynthetic pathway for dehydrofosmidomycin differ substantially from that of the related natural product FR-900098, suggesting that the ability to produce these bioactive molecules arose via convergent evolution.

Farnesol-mediated shift in the metabolic origin of prenyl groups used for protein prenylation in plants

Little is known about how plant cells regulate the exchange of prenyl diphosphates between the two compartmentalized isoprenoid biosynthesis pathways. Prenylation of proteins is a suitable model to study such interactions between the plastidial methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) and the cytosolic mevalonate (MVA) pathways because prenyl moieties used to modify proteins rely on both origins. Tobacco cells expressing a prenylatable GFP were treated with specific MEP and/or MVA pathways inhibitors to block the formation of prenyl diphosphates and therefore the possibility to modify the proteins. Chemical complementation assays using prenyl alcohol precursors restore the prenylation. Indeed, geranylgeraniol (C20 prenyl alcohol) and to a lesser but significant level C15-farnesol restored the prenylation of a protein bearing a geranylgeranylation CaaX motif, which under standard conditions is modified by a MEP-derived prenyl group. However, the restoration takes place in different ways. While geranylgeraniol operates directly as a metabolic precursor, the C15-prenyl alcohol functions indirectly as a signal that leads to shift the metabolic origin of prenyl groups in modified proteins, here from the plastidial MEP pathway in favor of the cytosolic MVA pathway. Furthermore, farnesol interferes negatively with the MEP pathway in an engineered Escherichia coli strain synthesizing isoprenoids either starting from MVA or from MEP. Following the cellular uptake of a fluorescent analog of farnesol, we showed its close interaction with tobacco plastids and modification of plastid homeostasis. As a consequence, in tobacco farnesol supposedly inhibits the plastidial MEP pathway and activates the cytosolic MVA pathway, leading to the shift in the metabolic origin and thereby acts as a potential regulator of crosstalk between the two pathways. Together, those results suggest a new role for farnesol (or a metabolite thereof) as a central molecule for the regulation of isoprenoid biosynthesis in plants.

Development of an image-based screening system for inhibitors of the plastidial MEP pathway and of protein geranylgeranylation

We have recently established an in vivo visualization system for the geranylgeranylation of proteins in a stably transformed tobacco BY-2 cell line, which involves expressing a dexamethasone-inducible GFP fused to the prenylable, carboxy-terminal basic domain of the rice calmodulin CaM61, which naturally bears a CaaL geranylgeranylation motif (GFP-BD-CVIL). By using pathway-specific inhibitors it was demonstrated that inhibition of the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway with oxoclomazone and fosmidomycin, as well as inhibition of protein geranylgeranyl transferase type 1 (PGGT-1), shifted the localization of the GFP-BD-CVIL protein from the membrane to the nucleus. In contrast, the inhibition of the mevalonate (MVA) pathway with mevinolin did not affect this localization. Furthermore, complementation assays with pathway-specific intermediates confirmed that the precursors for the cytosolic isoprenylation of this fusion protein are predominantly provided by the MEP pathway. In order to optimize this visualization system from a more qualitative assay to a statistically trustable medium or a high-throughput screening system, we established new conditions that permit culture and analysis in 96-well microtiter plates, followed by fluorescence microscopy. For further refinement, the existing GFP-BD-CVIL cell line was transformed with an estradiol-inducible vector driving the expression of a RFP protein, C-terminally fused to a nuclear localization signal (NLS-RFP). We are thus able to quantify the total number of viable cells versus the number of inhibited cells after various treatments. This approach also includes a semi-automatic counting system, based on the freely available image processing software. As a result, the time of image analysis as well as the risk of user-generated bias is reduced to a minimum. Moreover, there is no cross-induction of gene expression by dexamethasone and estradiol, which is an important prerequisite for this test system.

Past achievements, current status and future perspectives of studies on 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase (HMGS) in the mevalonate (MVA) pathway

HMGS functions in phytosterol biosynthesis, development and stress responses. F-244 could specifically-inhibit HMGS in tobacco BY-2 cells and Brassica seedlings. An update on HMGS from higher plants is presented. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase (HMGS) is the second enzyme in the mevalonate pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis and catalyzes the condensation of acetoacetyl-CoA and acetyl-CoA to produce S-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA). Besides HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR), HMGS is another key enzyme in the regulation of cholesterol and ketone bodies in mammals. In plants, it plays an important role in phytosterol biosynthesis. Here, we summarize the past investigations on eukaryotic HMGS with particular focus on plant HMGS, its enzymatic properties, gene expression, protein structure, and its current status of research in China. An update of the findings on HMGS from animals (human, rat, avian) to plants (Brassica juncea, Hevea brasiliensis, Arabidopsis thaliana) will be discussed. Current studies on HMGS have been vastly promoted by developments in biochemistry and molecular biology. Nonetheless, several limitations have been encountered, thus some novel advances in HMGS-related research that have recently emerged will be touched on.

S-carvone suppresses cellulase-induced capsidiol production in Nicotiana tabacum by interfering with protein isoprenylation

S-Carvone has been described as a negative regulator of mevalonic acid (MVA) production by interfering with 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) activity, a key player in isoprenoid biosynthesis. The impact of this monoterpene on the production of capsidiol in Nicotiana tabacum, an assumed MVA-derived sesquiterpenoid phytoalexin produced in response to elicitation by cellulase, was investigated. As expected, capsidiol production, as well as early stages of elicitation such as hydrogen peroxide production or stimulation of 5-epi-aristolochene synthase activity, were repressed. Despite the lack of capsidiol synthesis, apparent HMGR activity was boosted. Feeding experiments using (1-13C)Glc followed by analysis of labeling patterns by 13C-NMR, confirmed an MVA-dependent biosynthesis; however, treatments with fosmidomycin, an inhibitor of the MVA-independent 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) isoprenoid pathway, unexpectedly down-regulated the biosynthesis of this sesquiterpene as well. We postulated that S-carvone does not directly inhibit the production of MVA by inactivating HMGR, but possibly targets an MEP-derived isoprenoid involved in the early steps of the elicitation process. A new model is proposed in which the monoterpene blocks an MEP pathway-dependent protein geranylgeranylation necessary for the signaling cascade. The production of capsidiol was inhibited when plants were treated with some inhibitors of protein prenylation or by further monoterpenes. Moreover, S-carvone hindered isoprenylation of a prenylable GFP indicator protein expressed in N. tabacum cell lines, which can be chemically complemented with geranylgeraniol. The model was further validated using N. tabacum cell extracts or recombinant N. tabacum protein prenyltransferases expressed in Escherichia coli. Our study endorsed a reevaluation of the effect of S-carvone on plant isoprenoid metabolism.