In Arabidopsis, mutation at PFL causes pointed first leaves, reduced fresh weight and growth retardation. We have cloned the wild‐type PFL gene by T‐DNA tagging, and demonstrate that it complements the mutant phenotype. PFL codes for ribosomal protein S18, based on the high homology with rat S18 and on purification of S18‐equivalent peptides from plant ribosomes. pfl represents the first mutation in eukaryotic S18 proteins or their S13 prokaryotic counterparts, involved in translation initiation. Arabidopsis contains three S18 gene copies dispersed in the genetic map; they are all transcribed and code for completely identical proteins. No transcript is detected from the mutated gene, S18A. The activity of the S18A promoter is restricted to meristems, with a markedly high expression at the embryonic heart stage, and to wounding sites. This means that plants activate an extra copy of this ribosomal protein gene in tissues with cell division activity. We postulate that in meristematic tissues plants use transcriptional control to synthesize extra ribosomes to increase translational efficiency. In analogy with this, an additional, developmentally regulated gene copy might be expected for all ribosomal proteins.
Abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonates have been implicated in responses to water deficit and wounding. We compared the molecular and physiological effects of jasmonic acid (JA) (< or = 10 microM), ABA, and salt stress in roots of rice. JA markedly induced a cationic peroxidase, two novel 32- and 28-kD proteins, acidic PR-1 and PR-10 pathogenesis-related proteins, and the salt stress-responsive SalT protein in roots. Most JA-responsive proteins (JIPs) from roots also accumulated when plants were subjected to salt stress. None of the JIPs accumulated when plants were treated with ABA. JA did not induce an ABA-responsive group 3 late-embryogenesis abundant (LEA) protein. Salt stress and ABA but not JA induced oslea3 transcript accumulation. By contrast, JA, ABA, and salt stress induced transcript accumulation of salT and osdrr, which encodes a rice PR-10 protein. However, ABA also negatively affected salT transcript accumulation, whereas JA negatively affected ABA-induced oslea3 transcript levels. Endogenous root ABA and methyl jasmonate levels showed a differential increase with the dose and the duration of salt stress. The results indicate that ABA and jasmonates antagonistically regulated the expression of salt stress-inducible proteins associated with water deficit or defense responses.
L-Galactono-␥-lactone dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.2.3; GLDase), an enzyme that catalyzes the final step in the biosynthesis of L-ascorbic acid was purified 1693-fold from a mitochondrial extract of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea, var. botrytis) to apparent homogeneity with an overall yield of 1.1%. The purification procedure consisted of anion exchange, hydrophobic interaction, gel filtration, and fast protein liquid chromatography. The enzyme had a molecular mass of 56 kDa estimated by gel filtration chromatography and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and showed a pH optimum for activity between pH 8.0 and 8.5, with an apparent K m of 3.3 mM for L-galactono-␥-lactone. Based on partial peptide sequence information, polymerase chain reaction fragments were isolated and used to screen a cauliflower cDNA library from which a cDNA encoding GLDase was isolated. The deduced mature GLDase contained 509 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 57,837 Da. Expression of the cDNA in yeast produced a biologically active protein displaying GLDase activity. Furthermore, we identified a substrate for the enzyme in cauliflower extract, which co-eluted with L-galactono-␥-lactone by high-performance liquid chromatography, suggesting that this compound is a naturally occurring precursor of L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis in vivo.
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