All flowering plants produce S-methylmethionine (SMM) from Met and have a separate mechanism to convert SMM back to Met. The functions of SMM and the reasons for its interconversion with Met are not known. In this study, by using the aphid stylet collection method together with mass spectral and radiolabeling analyses, we established that l-SMM is a major constituent of the phloem sap moving to wheat ears. The SMM level in the phloem ( approximately 2% of free amino acids) was 1.5-fold that of glutathione, indicating that SMM could contribute approximately half the sulfur needed for grain protein synthesis. Similarly, l-SMM was a prominently labeled product in phloem exudates obtained by EDTA treatment of detached leaves from plants of the Poaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, and Cucurbitaceae that were given l-(35)S-Met. cDNA clones for the enzyme that catalyzes SMM synthesis (S-adenosylMet:Met S-methyltransferase; EC 2.1.1.12) were isolated from Wollastonia biflora, maize, and Arabidopsis. The deduced amino acid sequences revealed the expected methyltransferase domain ( approximately 300 residues at the N terminus), plus an 800-residue C-terminal region sharing significant similarity with aminotransferases and other pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzymes. These results indicate that SMM has a previously unrecognized but often major role in sulfur transport in flowering plants and that evolution of SMM synthesis in this group involved a gene fusion event. The resulting bipartite enzyme is unlike any other known methyltransferase.

Water limitation of plants causes stomatal closure to prevent water loss by transpiration. For this purpose, progressing soil water deficit is communicated from roots to shoots. Abscisic acid (ABA) is the key signal in stress-induced stomatal closure, but ABA as an early xylem-delivered signal is still a matter of debate. In this study, poplar plants () were exposed to water stress to investigate xylem sap sulfate and ABA, stomatal conductance, and sulfate transporter () expression. In addition, stomatal behavior and expression of ABA receptors, drought-responsive genes, transcription factors, and were studied after feeding sulfate and ABA to detached poplar leaves and epidermal peels of Arabidopsis (). The results show that increased xylem sap sulfate is achieved upon drought by reduced xylem unloading by PtaSULTR3;3a and PtaSULTR1;1, and by enhanced loading from parenchyma cells into the xylem via PtaALMT3b. Sulfate application caused stomatal closure in excised leaves and peeled epidermis. In the loss of sulfate-channel function mutant, At, sulfate-triggered stomatal closure was impaired. The QUAC1/ALMT12 anion channel heterologous expressed in oocytes was gated open by extracellular sulfate. Sulfate up-regulated the expression of , a key step of ABA synthesis, in guard cells. In conclusion, xylem-derived sulfate seems to be a chemical signal of drought that induces stomatal closure via QUAC1/ALMT12 and/or guard cell ABA synthesis.

The reduction of adenosine 5-phosphosulfate (APS) to sulfite catalyzed by adenosine 5-phosphosulfate reductase is considered to be the key step of sulfate assimilation in higher plants. However, analogous to enteric bacteria, an alternative pathway of sulfate reduction via phosphoadenosine 5-phosphosulfate (PAPS) was proposed. To date, the presence of the corresponding enzyme, PAPS reductase, could be neither confirmed nor excluded in plants. To find possible alternative routes of sulfate assimilation we disrupted the adenosine 5-phosphosulfate reductase single copy gene in Physcomitrella patens by homologous recombination. This resulted in complete loss of the correct transcript and enzymatic activity. Surprisingly, the knockout plants grew on sulfate as the sole sulfur source, and the concentration of thiols in the knockouts did not differ from the wild type plants. However, when exposed to a sublethal concentration of cadmium, the knockouts were more sensitive than wild type plants. When fed [35 S]sulfate, the knockouts incorporated 35 S in thiols; the flux through sulfate reduction was ϳ50% lower than in the wild type plants. PAPS reductase activity could not be measured with thioredoxin as reductant, but a cDNA and a gene coding for this enzyme were detected in P. patens. The moss Physcomitrella patens is thus the first plant species wherein PAPS reductase was confirmed on the molecular level and also the first organism wherein both APS-and PAPS-dependent sulfate assimilation co-exist.

Plants close stomata when root water availability becomes limiting. Recent studies have demonstrated that soil-drying induces root-to-shoot sulfate transport via the xylem and that sulfate closes stomata. Here we provide evidence for a physiologically relevant signaling pathway that underlies sulfate-induced stomatal closure in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We uncovered that, in the guard cells, sulfate activates NADPH oxidases to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and that this ROS induction is essential for sulfate-induced stomata closure. In line with the function of ROS as the secondmessenger of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, sulfate does not induce ROS in the ABA-synthesis mutant, aba3-1, and sulfateinduced ROS were ineffective at closing stomata in the ABA-insensitive mutant abi2-1 and a SLOW ANION CHANNEL1 loss-of-function mutant. We provided direct evidence for sulfate-induced accumulation of ABA in the cytosol of guard cells by application of the ABAleon2.1 ABA sensor, the ABA signaling reporter ProRAB18:GFP, and quantification of endogenous ABA marker genes. In concordance with previous studies, showing that ABA DEFICIENT3 uses Cys as the substrate for activation of the ABSCISIC ALDEHYDE OXIDASE3 (AAO3) enzyme catalyzing the last step of ABA production, we demonstrated that assimilation of sulfate into Cys is necessary for sulfate-induced stomatal closure and that sulfate-feeding or Cys-feeding induces transcription of NINE-CIS-EPOXYCAROTENOID DIOXYGENASE3, limiting the synthesis of the AAO3 substrate. Consequently, Cys synthesis-depleted mutants are sensitive to soil-drying due to enhanced water loss. Our data demonstrate that sulfate is incorporated into Cys and tunes ABA biosynthesis in leaves, promoting stomatal closure, and that this mechanism contributes to the physiological water limitation response.

All flowering plants produce S -methylmethionine (SMM) from Met and have a separate mechanism to convert SMM back to Met. The functions of SMM and the reasons for its interconversion with Met are not known. In this study, by using the aphid stylet collection method together with mass spectral and radiolabeling analyses, we established that L -SMM is a major constituent of the phloem sap moving to wheat ears. The SMM level in the phloem ( ‫ف‬ 2% of free amino acids) was 1.5-fold that of glutathione, indicating that SMM could contribute approximately half the sulfur needed for grain protein synthesis. Similarly, L -SMM was a prominently labeled product in phloem exudates obtained by EDTA treatment of detached leaves from plants of the Poaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, and Cucurbitaceae that were given L -35 S-Met. cDNA clones for the enzyme that catalyzes SMM synthesis ( S -adenosylMet:Met S -methyltransferase; EC 2.1.1.12) were isolated from Wollastonia biflora , maize, and Arabidopsis. The deduced amino acid sequences revealed the expected methyltransferase domain ( ‫ف‬ 300 residues at the N terminus), plus an 800-residue C-terminal region sharing significant similarity with aminotransferases and other pyridoxal 5 -phosphate-dependent enzymes. These results indicate that SMM has a previously unrecognized but often major role in sulfur transport in flowering plants and that evolution of SMM synthesis in this group involved a gene fusion event. The resulting bipartite enzyme is unlike any other known methyltransferase. INTRODUCTIONPlant Met metabolism differs from that in other organisms by involving S -methylmethionine (SMM). SMM is a ubiquitous constituent of the free amino acid pool in flowering plants, occurring in leaves, roots, and other organs at levels that typically range from 0.5 to 3 mol g Ϫ 1 dry weight, a concentration that is often higher than those of Met or S -adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) (Giovanelli et al., 1980;Mudd and Datko, 1990;Bezzubov and Gessler, 1992). SMM also has been detected as a metabolite of radiolabeled L -Met in all flowering plants tested ( Ͼ 50 species from Ͼ 20 families; Paquet et al., 1995). As shown in Figure 1, SMM is formed from L -Met via the action of AdoMet:Met S -methyltransferase (MMT; EC 2.1.1.12) and can be reconverted to Met by donating a methyl group to L -homocysteine (Hcy) in a reaction catalyzed by Hcy S -methyltransferase (HMT; EC 2.1.1.10; Giovanelli et al., 1980;Mudd and Datko, 1990). The tandem action of MMT and HMT, together with S -adenosyl-L -Hcy hydrolase, constitutes the SMM cycle, which is apparently futile (Mudd and Datko, 1990).As expected from the universality of SMM, MMT activity has been found in many flowering plants (Giovanelli et al., 1980;Mudd and Datko, 1990). It has been purified from leaves of Wollastonia biflora (James et al., 1995a) and from germinating barley (Pimenta et al., 1998), and it is known to have subunits of ‫ف‬ 115 kD. Because this is approximately three times larger than any other small-molecule methyltransferase (F...