Knockout of the two evolutionarily conserved peroxisomal 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolases in Arabidopsis recapitulates the abnormal inflorescence meristem 1 phenotype

A specific function for peroxisomal β-oxidation in inflorescence development in Arabidopsis thaliana is suggested by the mutation of the abnormal inflorescence meristem 1 gene, which encodes one of two peroxisomal multifunctional proteins. Therefore, it should be possible to identify other β-oxidation mutants that recapitulate the aim1 phenotype. Three genes encode peroxisomal 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase (KAT) in Arabidopsis. KAT2 and KAT5 are present throughout angiosperms whereas KAT1 is a Brassicaceae-specific duplication of KAT2 expressed at low levels in Arabidopsis. KAT2 plays a dominant role in all known aspects of peroxisomal β-oxidation, including that of fatty acids, pro-auxins, jasmonate precursor oxophytodienoic acid, and trans-cinnamic acid. The functions of KAT1 and KAT5 are unknown. Since KAT5 is conserved throughout vascular plants and expressed strongly in flowers, kat2 kat5 double mutants were generated. These were slow growing, had abnormally branched inflorescences, and ectopic organ growth. They made viable pollen, but produced no seed indicating that infertility was due to defective gynaecium function. These phenotypes are strikingly similar to those of aim1. KAT5 in the Brassicaceae encodes both cytosolic and peroxisomal proteins and kat2 kat5 defects could be complemented by the re-introduction of peroxisomal (but not cytosolic) KAT5. It is concluded that peroxisomal KAT2 and KAT5 have partially redundant functions and operate downstream of AIM1 to provide β-oxidation functions essential for inflorescence development and fertility.

Conservation of two lineages of peroxisomal (Type I) 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolases in land plants, specialization of the genes in Brassicaceae, and characterization of their expression in Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana has three genes encoding type I 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolases (KAT1, KAT2, and KAT5), one of which (KAT5) is alternatively transcribed to produce both peroxisomal and cytosolic proteins. To evaluate the potential importance of these four gene products, their evolutionary history in plants and their expression patterns in Arabidopsis were investigated. Land plants as a whole have gene lineages corresponding to KAT2 and KAT5, implying conservation of distinct functions for these two genes. By contrast, analysis of synteny shows that KAT1 arose by duplication of the KAT2 locus. KAT1 is found in the Brassicaceae family, including in the genera Arabidopsis, Capsella, Thellungiella (=Eutrema) and Brassica, but not in the more distantly related Caricaceae (order Brassicales), or other plants. Gene expression analysis using qRT-PCR and β-glucuronidase reporter genes showed strong expression of KAT2 during germination and in many plant tissues throughout the life cycle, consistent with its observed dominant function in fatty acid β-oxidation. KAT1 was expressed very weakly while KAT5 was most strongly expressed during flower development and in seedlings after germination. Isoform-specific qRT-PCR analysis and promoter β-glucuronidase reporters revealed that the two splicing variants of KAT5 have similar expression profiles. Alternative splicing of KAT5 to produce cytosolic and peroxisomal proteins is specific to and ubiquitous in the Brassicaceae, and possibly had an earlier origin in the order Brassicales. This implies that an additional function for KAT5 arose between 43 and 115 mybp. We speculate that this KAT5 mutation was recruited for a cytosolic function in secondary metabolism.

Identification of two Arabidopsis genes encoding a peroxisomal oxidoreductase-like protein and an acyl-CoA synthetase-like protein that are required for responses to pro-auxins

Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxybutyric acid (2,4-DB) are metabolised by peroxisomal beta-oxidation to active auxins that inhibit root growth. We screened Arabidopsis mutants for resistance to IBA and 2,4-DB and identified two new 2,4-DB resistant mutants. The mutant genes encode a putative oxidoreductase (SDRa) and a putative acyl-activating enzyme (AAE18). Both proteins are localised to peroxisomes. SDRa is coexpressed with core beta-oxidation genes, but germination, seedling growth and the fatty acid profile of sdra seedlings are indistinguishable from wild type. The sdra mutant is also resistant to IBA, but aae18 is not. AAE18 is the first example of a gene required for response to 2,4-DB but not IBA. The closest relative of AAE18 is AAE17. AAE17 is predicted to be peroxisomal, but an aae17 aae18 double mutant responded similarly to aae18 for all assays. We propose that AAE18 is capable of activating 2,4-DB but IBA activating enzymes remain to be discovered. We present an updated model for peroxisomal pro-auxin metabolism in Arabidopsis that includes SDRa and AAE18.