Generating cellular Ca2+ signals requires coordinated transport activities from both Ca2+ influx and efflux pathways. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), multiple efflux pathways exist, some of which involve Ca2+-pumps belonging to the Autoinhibited Ca2+-ATPase (ACA) family. Here we show that ACA1, 2, and 7 localize to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and are important for plant growth and pollen fertility. While phenotypes for plants harboring single gene knockouts (KOs) were weak or undetected, a triple KO of aca1/2/7 displayed a 2.6-fold decrease in pollen transmission efficiency, whereas inheritance through female gametes was normal. The triple KO also resulted in smaller rosettes showing a high frequency of lesions. Both vegetative and reproductive phenotypes were rescued by transgenes encoding either ACA1, 2, or 7, suggesting that all three isoforms are biochemically redundant. Lesions were suppressed by expression of a transgene encoding NahG, an enzyme that degrades salicylic acid (SA). Triple KO mutants showed elevated mRNA expression for two SA-inducible marker genes, PR1 (Pathogenesis-related 1) and PR2. The aca1/2/7 lesion phenotype was similar but less severe than SA-dependent lesions associated with a double KO of vacuolar pumps aca4 and 11. Imaging of Ca2+ dynamics triggered by blue light or the pathogen elicitor flg22 revealed that aca1/2/7 mutants display Ca2+ transients with increased magnitudes and durations. Together, these results indicate that ER-localized ACAs play important roles in regulating Ca2+ signals, and that the loss of these pumps results in male fertility and vegetative growth deficiencies.

The lipid bilayer of biological membranes has a complex composition, including high chemical heterogeneity, the presence of nanodomains of specific lipids, and asymmetry with respect to lipid composition between the two membrane leaflets. In membrane trafficking, membrane vesicles constantly bud off from one membrane compartment and fuse with another, and both budding and fusion events have been proposed to require membrane lipid asymmetry. One mechanism for generating asymmetry in lipid bilayers involves the action of the P4 ATPase family of lipid flippases; these are biological pumps that use ATP as an energy source to flip lipids from one leaflet to the other. The model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) contains 12 P4 ATPases (AMINOPHOSPHOLIPID ATPASE1–12; ALA1–12), many of which are functionally redundant. Studies of P4 ATPase mutants have confirmed the essential physiological functions of these pumps and pleiotropic mutant phenotypes have been observed, as expected when genes required for basal cellular functions are disrupted. For instance, phenotypes associated with ala3 (dwarfism, pollen defects, sensitivity to pathogens and cold, and polar growth) can be related to membrane trafficking problems. P5 ATPases are evolutionarily related to P4 ATPases, and may be the counterpart of P4 ATPases in the endoplasmic reticulum. The absence of P4 and P5 ATPases from prokaryotes and their ubiquitous presence in eukaryotes make these biological pumps a defining feature of eukaryotic cells. Here we review recent advances in the field of plant P4 and P5 ATPases.

A subclass of lipid flippases contribute to glycerolipid and sphingolipid homeostasis in Arabidopsis leaves, and play critical roles in cell expansion and vegetative growth. Footnotes: Author contributions: J.D. authored the manuscript. R.P. and J.D. analyzed vegetative physiology. S.M. bred the double-knockout lines and identified dwarf mutants. E.B., A.R., and J.S. performed subcellular localization experiments. L.P. and R.L. were involved in the cloning of ALA5 for yeast expression. T.B. performed lipid uptake and functional complementation assays. R.L. analyzed the data and carried out statistical analysis for yeast experiments. M.P. and R.L. supervised yeast experiments. E.C. and R.C. performed sphingolipid profiling of ala4/5 mutants. J.H. performed all plant crosses, supervised in planta experiments, and assisted J.D. in writing. J.H. agrees to serve as author responsible for contact.

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A potential strategy to mitigate oxidative damage in plants is to increase the abundance of antioxidants, such as ascorbate (i.e., vitamin C). In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), a rate limiting step in ascorbate biosynthesis is a phosphorylase encoded by Vitamin C Defective 2 (VTC2). To specifically overexpress VTC2 (VTC2 OE) in pollen, the coding region was expressed using a promoter from a gene with ∼150-fold higher expression in pollen, leading to pollen grains with 8-fold increased VTC2 mRNA. VTC2 OE resulted in a near-sterile phenotype with a 50-fold decrease in pollen transmission efficiency and a 5-fold reduction in number of seeds per silique. In vitro assays revealed pollen grains were more prone to bursting (>2-fold) or produced shorter, morphologically abnormal pollen tubes. The inclusion of a genetically-encoded Ca2+ reporter, mCherry-GCaMP6fast (CGf), revealed pollen tubes with altered tip-focused Ca2+ dynamics and increased bursting frequency during periods of oscillatory and arrested growth. Despite these phenotypes, VTC2 OE pollen failed to show expected increases in ascorbate or reductions in ROS, as measured using a redox sensitive dye or a roGFP2. However, mRNA expression analyses revealed greater than 2-fold reductions in mRNA encoding two enzymes critical to biosynthetic pathways related to cell walls or glyco-modifications of lipids and proteins: GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMP) and GDP-D-mannose 3’,5’ epimerase (GME). These results support a model in which the near-sterile defects resulting from VTC2 OE in pollen are associated with feedback mechanisms that can alter one or more signaling or metabolic pathways critical to pollen tube growth and fertility.

Thiamin and thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP) are essential components for the function of enzymes involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates and amino acids in living organisms. In addition to its role as a cofactor, thiamin plays a key role in resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses in plants. Most of the studies used exogenous thiamin to enhance stress tolerance in plants. In this study, we achieved this objective by genetically engineering Arabidopsis thaliana and Camelina sativa for the seed-specific co-overexpression of the Arabidopsis thiamin biosynthetic genes Thi4, ThiC, and ThiE. Elevated thiamin content in the seeds of transgenic plants was accompanied by the enhanced expression levels of transcripts encoding thiamin cofactor-dependent enzymes. Furthermore, seed germination and root growth in thiamin over-producing lines were more tolerant to oxidative stress caused by salt and paraquat treatments. The transgenic seeds also accumulated more oil (up to16.4% in Arabidopsis and17.9% in C. sativa) and carbohydrate but less protein than the control seeds. The same results were also observed in TPP over-producing Arabidopsis plants generated by the seed-specific overexpression of TPK1. Together, our findings suggest that thiamin and TPP over-production in transgenic lines confer a boosted abiotic stress tolerance and alter the seed carbon partitioning as well.