scholarly journals The Kinase CIPK11 Functions as a Negative Regulator in Drought Stress Response in Arabidopsis

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanlin Ma ◽  
Jing Cao ◽  
Qiaoqiao Chen ◽  
Jiahan He ◽  
Zhibin Liu ◽  
...  

Drought is a major limiting factor for plant growth and crop productivity. Many Calcineurin B-like interacting protein kinases (CIPKs) play crucial roles in plant adaptation to environmental stresses. It is particularly essential to find the phosphorylation targets of CIPKs and to study the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this study, we demonstrate that CIPK11 acts as a novel component to modulate drought stress in plants. The overexpression of CIPK11 (CIPK11OE) in Arabidopsis resulted in the decreased tolerance of plant to drought stress. When compared to wild type plants, CIPK11OE plants exhibited higher leaf water loss and higher content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) after drought treatment. Additionally, a yeast two hybrid screening assay by using CIPK11 as a bait captures Di19-3, a Cys2/His2-type zinc-finger transcription factor that is involved in drought stress, as a new interactor of CIPK11. Biochemical analysis revealed that CIPK11 interacted with Di19-3 in vivo and it was capable of phosphorylating Di19-3 in vitro. Genetic studies revealed that the function of CIPK11 in regulating drought stress was dependent on Di19-3. The transcripts of stress responsive genes, such as RAB18, RD29A, RD29B, and DREB2A were down-regulated in the CIPK11OE plants. Whereas overexpression of CIPK11 in di19-3 mutant background, expression levels of those marker genes were not significantly altered. Taken together, our results demonstrate that CIPK11 partly mediates the drought stress response by regulating the transcription factor Di19-3.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4701
Author(s):  
Qing He ◽  
Hanyang Cai ◽  
Mengyan Bai ◽  
Man Zhang ◽  
Fangqian Chen ◽  
...  

The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) is a plant-specific transcription factor family that plays crucial roles in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, little is known about the function of bZIP genes in soybean. In this study, we isolated a bZIP gene, GmbZIP19, from soybean. A subcellular localization study of GmbZIP19 revealed its nucleus localization. We showed that GmbZIP19 expression was significantly induced by ABA (abscisic acid), JA (jasmonic acid) and SA (salicylic acid), but reduced under salt and drought stress conditions. Further, GmbZIP19 overexpression Arabidopsis lines showed increased resistance to S. sclerotiorum and Pseudomonas syringae associated with upregulated ABA-, JA-, ETH- (ethephon-)and SA-induced marker genes expression, but exhibited sensitivity to salt and drought stresses in association with destroyed stomatal closure and downregulated the salt and drought stresses marker genes’ expression. We generated a soybean transient GmbZIP19 overexpression line, performed a Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay and found that GmbZIP19 bound to promoters of ABA-, JA-, ETH-, and SA-induced marker genes in soybean. The yeast one-hybrid verified the combination. The current study suggested that GmbZIP19 is a positive regulator of pathogen resistance and a negative regulator of salt and drought stress tolerance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. e201800254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sehee Choi ◽  
Hyun-Yi Kim ◽  
Pu-Hyeon Cha ◽  
Seol Hwa Seo ◽  
Chulho Lee ◽  
...  

Longitudinal bone growth ceases with growth plate senescence during puberty. However, the molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon are largely unexplored. Here, we examined Wnt-responsive genes before and after growth plate senescence and found that CXXC finger protein 5 (CXXC5), a negative regulator of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, was gradually elevated with reduction of Wnt/β-catenin signaling during senescent changes of rodent growth plate. Cxxc5−/− mice demonstrated delayed growth plate senescence and tibial elongation. As CXXC5 functions by interacting with dishevelled (DVL), we sought to identify small molecules capable of disrupting this interaction. In vitro screening assay monitoring CXXC5–DVL interaction revealed that several indirubin analogs were effective antagonists of this interaction. A functionally improved indirubin derivative, KY19382, elongated tibial length through delayed senescence and further activation of the growth plate in adolescent mice. Collectively, our findings reveal an important role for CXXC5 as a suppressor of longitudinal bone growth involving growth plate activity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 84 (12) ◽  
pp. 3434-3444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin O. Childress ◽  
Adrianne N. Edwards ◽  
Kathryn L. Nawrocki ◽  
Sarah E. Anderson ◽  
Emily C. Woods ◽  
...  

The formation of spores is critical for the survival ofClostridium difficileoutside the host gastrointestinal tract. Persistence ofC. difficilespores greatly contributes to the spread ofC. difficileinfection (CDI), and the resistance of spores to antimicrobials facilitates the relapse of infection. Despite the importance of sporulation toC. difficilepathogenesis, the molecular mechanisms controlling spore formation are not well understood. The initiation of sporulation is known to be regulated through activation of the conserved transcription factor Spo0A. Multiple regulators influence Spo0A activation in other species; however, many of these factors are not conserved inC. difficileand few novel factors have been identified. Here, we investigated the function of a protein, CD1492, that is annotated as a kinase and was originally proposed to promote sporulation by directly phosphorylating Spo0A. We found that deletion ofCD1492resulted in increased sporulation, indicating that CD1492 is a negative regulator of sporulation. Accordingly, we observed increased transcription of Spo0A-dependent genes in theCD1492mutant. Deletion of CD1492 also resulted in decreased toxin productionin vitroand in decreased virulence in the hamster model of CDI. Further, theCD1492mutant demonstrated effects on gene expression that are not associated with Spo0A activation, including lowersigDandrstAtranscription, suggesting that this protein interacts with factors other than Spo0A. Altogether, the data indicate that CD1492 negatively affects sporulation and positively influences motility and virulence. These results provide further evidence thatC. difficilesporulation is regulated differently from that of other endospore-forming species.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 6663
Author(s):  
Maurycy Jankowski ◽  
Mariusz Kaczmarek ◽  
Grzegorz Wąsiatycz ◽  
Claudia Dompe ◽  
Paul Mozdziak ◽  
...  

Next-generation sequencing (RNAseq) analysis of gene expression changes during the long-term in vitro culture and osteogenic differentiation of ASCs remains to be important, as the analysis provides important clues toward employing stem cells as a therapeutic intervention. In this study, the cells were isolated from adipose tissue obtained during routine surgical procedures and subjected to 14-day in vitro culture and differentiation. The mRNA transcript levels were evaluated using the Illumina platform, resulting in the detection of 19,856 gene transcripts. The most differentially expressed genes (fold change >|2|, adjusted p value < 0.05), between day 1, day 14 and differentiated cell cultures were extracted and subjected to bioinformatical analysis based on the R programming language. The results of this study provide molecular insight into the processes that occur during long-term in vitro culture and osteogenic differentiation of ASCs, allowing the re-evaluation of the roles of some genes in MSC progression towards a range of lineages. The results improve the knowledge of the molecular mechanisms associated with long-term in vitro culture and differentiation of ASCs, as well as providing a point of reference for potential in vivo and clinical studies regarding these cells’ application in regenerative medicine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (19) ◽  
pp. 6092-6106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping-Xia Zhao ◽  
Zi-Qing Miao ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Si-Yan Chen ◽  
Qian-Qian Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Drought is one of the most important environmental factors limiting plant growth and productivity. The molecular mechanisms underlying plant drought resistance are complex and not yet fully understood. Here, we show that the Arabidopsis MADS-box transcription factor AGL16 acts as a negative regulator in drought resistance by regulating stomatal density and movement. Loss-of-AGL16 mutants were more resistant to drought stress and had higher relative water content, which was attributed to lower leaf stomatal density and more sensitive stomatal closure due to higher leaf ABA levels compared with the wild type. AGL16-overexpressing lines displayed the opposite phenotypes. AGL16 is preferentially expressed in guard cells and down-regulated in response to drought stress. The expression of CYP707A3 and AAO3 in ABA metabolism and SDD1 in stomatal development was altered in agl16 and overexpression lines, making them potential targets of AGL16. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, transient transactivation, yeast one-hybrid, and electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we demonstrated that AGL16 was able to bind the CArG motifs in the promoters of the CYP707A3, AAO3, and SDD1 and regulate their transcription, leading to altered leaf stomatal density and ABA levels. Taking our findings together, AGL16 acts as a negative regulator of drought resistance by modulating leaf stomatal density and ABA accumulation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 6952
Author(s):  
Mingxin Yu ◽  
Junling Liu ◽  
Bingshuai Du ◽  
Mengjuan Zhang ◽  
Aibin Wang ◽  
...  

NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2) transcription factors are ubiquitously distributed in eukaryotes and play significant roles in stress response. However, the functional verifications of NACs in Picea (P.) wilsonii remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we identified the NAC transcription factor PwNAC11 as a mediator of drought stress, which was significantly upregulated in P. wilsonii under drought and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. Yeast two-hybrid assays showed that both the full length and C-terminal of PwNAC11 had transcriptional activation activity and PwNAC11 protein cannot form a homodimer by itself. Subcellular observation demonstrated that PwNAC11 protein was located in nucleus. The overexpression of PwNAC11 in Arabidopsis obviously improved the tolerance to drought stress but delayed flowering time under nonstress conditions. The steady-state level of antioxidant enzymes’ activities and light energy conversion efficiency were significantly increased in PwNAC11 transgenic lines under dehydration compared to wild plants. PwNAC11 transgenic lines showed hypersensitivity to ABA and PwNAC11 activated the expression of the downstream gene ERD1 by binding to ABA-responsive elements (ABREs) instead of drought-responsive elements (DREs). Genetic evidence demonstrated that PwNAC11 physically interacted with an ABA-induced protein—ABRE Binding Factor3 (ABF3)—and promoted the activation of ERD1 promoter, which implied an ABA-dependent signaling cascade controlled by PwNAC11. In addition, qRT-PCR and yeast assays showed that an ABA-independent gene—DREB2A—was also probably involved in PwNAC11-mediated drought stress response. Taken together, our results provide the evidence that PwNAC11 plays a dominant role in plants positively responding to early drought stress and ABF3 and DREB2A synergistically regulate the expression of ERD1.


Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 334
Author(s):  
Aisha Y. Madani ◽  
Yasser Majeed ◽  
Houari B. Abdesselem ◽  
Maha V. Agha ◽  
Muneera Vakayil ◽  
...  

Obesity promotes premature aging and dysfunction of white adipose tissue (WAT) through the accumulation of cellular senescence. The senescent cells burden in WAT has been linked to inflammation, insulin-resistance (IR), and type 2 diabetes (T2D). There is limited knowledge about molecular mechanisms that sustain inflammation in obese states. Here, we describe a robust and physiologically relevant in vitro system to trigger senescence in mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. By employing transcriptomics analyses, we discovered up-regulation of key pro-inflammatory molecules and activation of interferon/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1/3 signaling in senescent preadipocytes, and expression of downstream targets was induced in epididymal WAT of obese mice, and obese human adipose tissue. To test the relevance of STAT1/3 signaling to preadipocyte senescence, we used Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) technology to delete STAT1/3 and discovered that STAT1 promoted growth arrest and cooperated with cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate-Adenosine Monophosphate (GMP-AMP) synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) to drive the expression of interferon β (IFNβ), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10), and interferon signaling-related genes. In contrast, we discovered that STAT3 was a negative regulator of STAT1/cGAS-STING signaling—it suppressed senescence and inflammation. These data provide insights into how STAT1/STAT3 signaling coordinates senescence and inflammation through functional interactions with the cGAS/STING pathway.


Proteomes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhujia Ye ◽  
Sasikiran Reddy Sangireddy ◽  
Chih-Li Yu ◽  
Dafeng Hui ◽  
Kevin Howe ◽  
...  

Switchgrass plants were grown in a Sandwich tube system to induce gradual drought stress by withholding watering. After 29 days, the leaf photosynthetic rate decreased significantly, compared to the control plants which were watered regularly. The drought-treated plants recovered to the same leaf water content after three days of re-watering. The root tip (1cm basal fragment, designated as RT1 hereafter) and the elongation/maturation zone (the next upper 1 cm tissue, designated as RT2 hereafter) tissues were collected at the 29th day of drought stress treatment, (named SDT for severe drought treated), after one (D1W) and three days (D3W) of re-watering. The tandem mass tags mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics analysis was performed to identify the proteomes, and drought-induced differentially accumulated proteins (DAPs). From RT1 tissues, 6156, 7687, and 7699 proteins were quantified, and 296, 535, and 384 DAPs were identified in the SDT, D1W, and D3W samples, respectively. From RT2 tissues, 7382, 7255, and 6883 proteins were quantified, and 393, 587, and 321 proteins DAPs were identified in the SDT, D1W, and D3W samples. Between RT1 and RT2 tissues, very few DAPs overlapped at SDT, but the number of such proteins increased during the recovery phase. A large number of hydrophilic proteins and stress-responsive proteins were induced during SDT and remained at a higher level during the recovery stages. A large number of DAPs in RT1 tissues maintained the same expression pattern throughout drought treatment and the recovery phases. The DAPs in RT1 tissues were classified in cell proliferation, mitotic cell division, and chromatin modification, and those in RT2 were placed in cell wall remodeling and cell expansion processes. This study provided information pertaining to root zone-specific proteome changes during drought and recover phases, which will allow us to select proteins (genes) as better defined targets for developing drought tolerant plants. The mass spectrometry proteomics data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD017441.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Lo ◽  
Amnon Sharir ◽  
Michael D Paul ◽  
Hayarpi Torosyan ◽  
Christopher Agnew ◽  
...  

The Hedgehog (HH) pathway is critical for development and adult tissue homeostasis. Aberrant HH signaling can cause congenital malformations, such as digit anomalies and holoprosencephaly, and other diseases, including cancer. Signal transduction is initiated by HH ligand binding to the Patched 1 (PTCH1) receptor on primary cilia, thereby releasing inhibition of Smoothened (SMO), a HH pathway activator. Although cholesterol and several oxysterol lipids, which are enriched in the ciliary membrane, play a crucial role in HH activation, the molecular mechanisms governing the regulation of these lipid molecules remain unresolved. Here, we identify Canopy 4 (CNPY4), a Saposin-like protein, as a regulator of the HH pathway that controls membrane sterol lipid levels. Cnpy4—/— embryos exhibit multiple defects consistent with HH signaling perturbations, most notably changes in digit number. Knockdown of Cnpy4 hyperactivates the HH pathway at the level of SMO in vitro, and elevates membrane levels of accessible sterol lipids such as cholesterol, an endogenous ligand involved in SMO activation. Thus, our data demonstrate that CNPY4 is a negative regulator that fine-tunes the initial steps of HH signal transduction, revealing a previously undescribed facet of HH pathway regulation that operates through control of membrane composition.


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