Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are zinc metalloenzymes that catalyze the interconversion of CO2 and HCO3− and are ubiquitous in nature. Higher plants contain three evolutionarily distinct CA families, αCAs, βCAs, and γCAs, where each family is represented by multiple isoforms in all species. Alternative splicing of CA transcripts appears common; consequently, the number of functional CA isoforms in a species may exceed the number of genes. CAs are expressed in numerous plant tissues and in different cellular locations. The most prevalent CAs are those in the chloroplast, cytosol, and mitochondria. This diversity in location is paralleled in the many physiological and biochemical roles that CAs play in plants. In this review, the number and types of CAs in C3, C4, and crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants are considered, and the roles of the α and γCAs are briefly discussed. The remainder of the review focuses on plant βCAs and includes the identification of homologs between species using phylogenetic approaches, a consideration of the inter- and intracellular localization of the proteins, along with the evidence for alternative splice forms. Current understanding of βCA tissue-specific expression patterns and what controls them are reviewed, and the physiological roles for which βCAs have been implicated are presented.
The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii possesses a CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM) that helps in successful acclimation to low CO2 conditions. Current models of the CCM postulate that a series of ion transporters bring HCO3− from outside the cell to the thylakoid lumen, where the carbonic anhydrase 3 (CAH3) dehydrates accumulated HCO3− to CO2, raising the CO2 concentration for Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco). Previously, HCO3− transporters have been identified at both the plasma membrane and the chloroplast envelope, but the transporter thought to be on the thylakoid membrane has not been identified. Three paralogous genes (BST1, BST2, and BST3) belonging to the bestrophin family have been found to be up-regulated in low CO2 conditions, and their expression is controlled by CIA5, a transcription factor that controls many CCM genes. YFP fusions demonstrate that all 3 proteins are located on the thylakoid membrane, and interactome studies indicate that they might associate with chloroplast CCM components. A single mutant defective in BST3 has near-normal growth on low CO2, indicating that the 3 bestrophin-like proteins may have redundant functions. Therefore, an RNA interference (RNAi) approach was adopted to reduce the expression of all 3 genes at once. RNAi mutants with reduced expression of BST1–3 were unable to grow at low CO2 concentrations, exhibited a reduced affinity to inorganic carbon (Ci) compared with the wild-type cells, and showed reduced Ci uptake. We propose that these bestrophin-like proteins are essential components of the CCM that deliver HCO3− accumulated in the chloroplast stroma to CAH3 inside the thylakoid lumen.
CIA8 is involved in bicarbonate uptake in the carbon dioxide-concentrating mechanism (CCM) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
BackgroundRandom insertional mutagenesis of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using drug resistance cassettes has contributed to the generation of tens of thousands of transformants in dozens of labs around the world. In many instances these insertional mutants have helped elucidate the genetic basis of various physiological processes in this model organism. Unfortunately, the insertion sites of many interesting mutants are never defined due to experimental difficulties in establishing the location of the inserted cassette in the Chlamydomonas genome. It is fairly common that several months, or even years of work are conducted with no result. Here we describe a robust method to identify the location of the inserted DNA cassette in the Chlamydomonas genome.ResultsInsertional mutants were generated using a DNA cassette that confers paromomycin resistance. This protocol identified the cassette insertion site for greater than 80% of the transformants. In the majority of cases the insertion event was found to be simple, without large deletions of flanking genomic DNA. Multiple insertions were observed in less than 10% of recovered transformants.ConclusionThe method is quick, relatively inexpensive and does not require any special equipment beyond an electroporator. The protocol was tailored to ensure that the sequence of the Chlamydomonas genomic DNA flanking the random insertion is consistently obtained in a high proportion of transformants. A detailed protocol is presented to aid in the experimental design and implementation of mutant screens in Chlamydomonas.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13007-017-0170-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Endophytic bacteria colonizing the internal tissues of plants are known to improve plant growth by a wide variety of mechanisms. This study envisages the isolation and evaluation of plant growth promoting attributes of bacterial endophytes in perennial fern Ophioglossum reticulatum L. A total of 20 phenotypically distinguishable bacterial endophytes were isolated from surface sterilized leaf lamina, petiole, rhizome and spike of O. reticulatum L. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index showed that the rhizome (1.54) harbor more diverse types of endophytic bacteria than in its petiole, leaf lamina and spike. The isolated endophytes were characterized on the basis of micromorphological and physio-biochemical characters and tentatively assigned to the genus Bacillus , Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus . The isolates showed distinct variations in their enzymatic activities, sugar fermentation and antibiotic sensitivity profile. A number of endophytic isolates showed plant growth promoting activities like production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and siderophore, growth in nitrogen-free medium and solubilization of phosphate. Time course of growth and IAA production by the potent isolate Bacillus OPR 7 have been determined. Exploitation of such plant growth promoting endophytes appears to be one of the best options in increasing biomass yield and improving plant fitness and productivity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.