II.

Late embryogenesis abundant 14 (LEA14) cDNA was isolated from an EST library prepared from dehydration-treated fibrous roots of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas). Quantitative RT-PCR revealed a variety of different IbLEA14 expression patterns under various abiotic stress conditions. IbLEA14 expression was strongly induced by dehydration, NaCl and abscisic acid treatments in sweetpotato plants. Transgenic sweetpotato non-embryogenic calli harboring IbLEA14 overexpression or RNAi vectors under the control of CaMV 35S promoter were generated. Transgenic calli overexpressing IbLEA14 showed enhanced tolerance to drought and salt stress, whereas RNAi calli exhibited increased stress sensitivity. Under normal culture conditions, lignin contents increased in IbLEA14-overexpressing calli because of the increased expression of a variety of monolignol biosynthesis-related genes. Stress treatments elicited higher expression levels of the gene encoding cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase in IbLEA14-overexpressing lines than in control or RNAi lines. These results suggest that IbLEA14 might positively regulate the response to various stresses by enhancing lignification.

No abstract

The present study examined whether adiponectin can inhibit palmitate-induced apoptosis, and also the associated mechanisms and signal transduction pathways in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Cells treated with 500 mM palmitate for 48 h increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and induced apoptosis. Treatment with antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (1 mM) and globular adiponectin (5 mg/ml) inhibited palmitate-induced ROS generation and apoptosis. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-b-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR; 1 mM), and cAMP activators forskolin (10 mM) and cholera toxin (200 ng/ml) also displayed the same effects. The inhibitory effects of adiponectin on ROS generation and apoptosis were reversed by the AMPK inhibitor compound C (40 mM), cAMP inhibitor SQ22536 (50 mM), and protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H-89 (10 mM). The inhibitory effect of forskolin on palmitateinduced apoptosis was reversed by compound C, whereas the inhibitory effect of AICAR was not reversed by SQ22536 and H-89. AICAR and forskolin could not inhibit palmitate-induced apoptosis in cells treated with dominantnegative AMPK. Forskolin increased phosphorylated AMPK at both Thr-172 and Ser-485/491. These results suggest that adiponectin inhibits palmitate-induced apoptosis by suppression of ROS generation via both the cAMP/PKA and AMPK pathways. Interaction between cAMP/PKA and AMPK pathways may be involved.

Isoflavonoids are a class of biologically active natural products that accumulate in soybean ( Glycine max L.) seeds during development, play vital roles in plant defense, and act as phytoestrogens with important human health benefits. Plant cell suspension cultures represent an excellent source of biologically important secondary metabolites. We found that methyl jasmonate (MJ) treatment increased isoflavone production in soybean suspension cell cultures. To investigate the underlying mechanism, we examined the expression of structural genes ( CHS6, CHS7, CHI1, IFS1, IFS2, IFMaT, and HID) in the isoflavonoid biosynthesis pathways in soybean suspension cells under various abiotic stress conditions. MJ treatment had the most significant effect on gene expression and increased the production of three glycosidic isoflavones (daidzin, malonyldaidzin, and malonylgenistin), with the maximum total isoflavone production (∼10-fold increase) obtained on day 9 after MJ application. MJ treatment significantly increased total phenolic contents and upregulated isoflavonoid biosynthesis genes, shedding light on the underlying mechanism.

SummaryNucleoside diphosphate kinase 2 (NDPK2) is known to regulate the expression of antioxidant genes in plants. Previously, we reported that overexpression of Arabidopsis NDPK2 (AtNDPK2) under the control of an oxidative stress-inducible SWPA2 promoter in transgenic potato and sweetpotato plants enhanced tolerance to various abiotic stresses. In this study, transgenic poplar (Populus alba · Poplus glandulosa) expressing the AtNDPK2 gene under the control of a SWPA2 promoter (referred to as SN) was generated to develop plants with enhanced tolerance to oxidative stress.The level of AtNDPK2 expression and NDPK activity in SN plants following methyl viologen (MV) treatment was positively correlated with the plant's tolerance to MV-mediated oxidative stress. We also observed that antioxidant enzyme activities such as ascorbate peroxidase, catalase and peroxidase were increased in MV-treated leaf discs of SN plants. The growth of SN plants was substantially increased under field conditions including increased branch number and stem diameter. SN plants exhibited higher transcript levels of the auxin-response genes IAA2 and IAA5. These results suggest that enhanced AtNDPK2 expression affects oxidative stress tolerance leading to improved plant growth in transgenic poplar.

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The R2R3-type protein IbMYB1 is a key regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis in the storage roots of sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam]. Previously, we demonstrated that IbMYB1 expression stimulated anthocyanin pigmentation in tobacco leaves and Arabidopsis. Here, we generated dual-pigmented transgenic sweet potato plants that accumulated high levels of both anthocyanins and carotenoids in a single sweet potato storage root. An orange-fleshed cultivar with high carotenoid levels was transformed with the IbMYB1 gene under the control of either the storage root-specific sporamin 1 (SPO1) promoter or the oxidative stress-inducible peroxidase anionic 2 (SWPA2) promoter. The SPO1-MYB transgenic lines exhibited higher anthocyanin levels in storage roots than empty vector control (EV) or SWPA2-MYB plants, but carotenoid content was unchanged. SWPA2-MYB transgenic lines exhibited higher levels of both anthocyanin and carotenoids than EV plants. Analysis of hydrolyzed anthocyanin extracts indicated that cyanidin and peonidin predominated in both overexpression lines. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated that IbMYB1 expression in both IbMYB1 transgenic lines strongly induced the upregulation of several genes in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway, whereas the expression of carotenoid biosynthetic pathway genes varied between transgenic lines. Increased anthocyanin levels in transgenic plants also promoted the elevation of proanthocyanidin and total phenolic levels in fresh storage roots. Consequently, all IbMYB1 transgenic plants displayed much higher antioxidant activities than EV plants. In field cultivations, storage root yields varied between the transgenic lines. Taken together, our results indicate that overexpression of IbMYB1 is a highly promising strategy for the generation of transgenic plants with enhanced antioxidant capacity.