Genome-wide analysis identifies gain and loss/change of function within the small multigenic insecticidal Albumin 1 family of Medicago truncatula

BACKGROUND

Albumin 1b peptides (A1b) are small disulfide-knotted insecticidal peptides produced by Fabaceae (also called Leguminosae). To date, their diversity among this plant family has been essentially investigated through biochemical and PCR-based approaches. The availability of high-quality genomic resources for several fabaceae species, among which the model species Medicago truncatula (Mtr), allowed for a genomic analysis of this protein family aimed at i) deciphering the evolutionary history of A1b proteins and their links with A1b-nodulins that are short non-insecticidal disulfide-bonded peptides involved in root nodule signaling and ii) exploring the functional diversity of A1b for novel bioactive molecules.

RESULTS

Investigating the Mtr genome revealed a remarkable expansion, mainly through tandem duplications, of albumin1 (A1) genes, retaining nearly all of the same canonical structure at both gene and protein levels. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the ancestral molecule was most probably insecticidal giving rise to, among others, A1b-nodulins. Expression meta-analysis revealed that many A1b coding genes are silent and a wide tissue distribution of the A1 transcripts/peptides within plant organs. Evolutionary rate analyses highlighted branches and sites with positive selection signatures, including two sites shown to be critical for insecticidal activity. Seven peptides were chemically synthesized and folded in vitro, then assayed for their biological activity. Among these, AG41 (aka MtrA1013 isoform, encoded by the orphan TA24778 contig.), showed an unexpectedly high insecticidal activity. The study highlights the unique burst of diversity of A1 peptides within the Medicago genus compared to the other taxa for which full-genomes are available: no A1 member in Lotus, or in red clover to date, while only a few are present in chick pea, soybean or pigeon pea genomes.

CONCLUSION

The expansion of the A1 family in the Medicago genus is reminiscent of the situation described for another disulfide-rich peptide family, the "Nodule-specific Cysteine-Rich" (NCR), discovered within the same species. The oldest insecticidal A1b toxin was described from the Sophorae, dating the birth of this seed-defense function to more than 58 million years, and making this model of plant/insect toxin/receptor (A1b/insect v-ATPase) one of the oldest known.

Recent advances in the study of nod factor perception and signal transduction

Rhizobial lipochitooligosaccharidic Nod factors mediate the specific recognition between leguminous plants and their prokaryotic symbionts. This review summarizes recent findings on the way plants could perceive and transduce these bacterial signals. It starts by summarizing knowledge about Nod factor binding sites, before moving to the potential implications in Nod factor signal transduction of G proteins, root-hair plasma membrane depolarisation, cytoplasmic and extracellular alkalinisation and finally variations in cytoplasmic calcium concentration.

Ligand specificity of a high-affinity binding site for lipo-chitooligosaccharidic Nod factors in Medicago cell suspension cultures

Rhizobial lipo-chitooligosaccharides (LCOs) are signaling molecules involved in host-range recognition for the establishment of the symbiosis with leguminous plants. The major LCO of Rhizobium meliloti, the symbiont of Medicago plants contains four or five N-acetylglucosamines, O-acetylated and N-acylated with a C16:2 fatty acid on the terminal nonreducing sugar and O-sulfated on the reducing sugar. In this paper, the ligand specificity of a high-affinity binding site (Nod factor binding site 2 or NFBS2), enriched in a plasma membrane-enriched fraction of Medicago cell suspension cultures, is reported. By using chemically synthesized LCOs, the role of structural elements, important for symbiotic activities, as recognition motifs for NFBS2 was determined. The results show that the substitutions on the nonreducing sugar of the LCOs (the O-acetate group, the fatty acid, and the hydroxyl group on the C4 of the sugar) are determinants for high-affinity binding to NFBS2. In contrast, the sulfate group, which is necessary for all biological activities on Medicago, is not discriminated by NFBS2. However, the reducing sugar of the LCO seems to interact with NFBS2, because ligand binding is affected by the reduction of the free anomeric carbon and depends on the number of N-acetyl glucosamine residues. These results suggest that the recognition of the LCOs by NFBS2 is mediated by structural elements in both the lipid and oligosaccharidic moities, but not by the sulfate group.