Glucose (Glc) signaling, along with abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, has been implicated in regulating early plant development in Arabidopsis. It is generally believed that high levels of exogenous Glc cause ABA accumulation, which results in a delay of germination and an inhibition of seedling development-a typical stress response. To test this hypothesis and decipher the complex interactions that occur in the signaling pathways, we determined the effects of sugar and ABA on one developmental event, germination. We show that levels of exogenous Glc lower than previously cited could delay the rate of seed germination in wild-ecotype seeds. Remarkably, this effect could not be mimicked by an osmotic effect, and ABA was still involved. With higher concentrations of Glc, previously known Glc-insensitive mutants gin2 and abi4 exhibited germination kinetics similar to wild type, indicating that Glc-insensitive phenotypes are not the same for all developmental stages of growth and that the signaling properties of Glc vary with concentration. Higher concentrations of Glc were more potent in delaying seed germination. However, Glc-delayed seed germination was not caused by increased cellular ABA concentration, rather Glc appeared to slow down the decline of endogenous ABA. Except for the ABA-insensitive mutants, all tested genotypes appeared to have similar ABA perception during germination, where germination was correlated with the timing of ABA drop to a threshold level. In addition, Glc was found to modulate the transcription of genes involved in ABA biosynthesis and perception only after germination, suggesting a critical role of the developmental program in sugar sensing. On the basis of an extensive phenotypic, biochemical, and molecular analysis, we suggest that exogenous Glc application creates specific signals that vary with concentration and the developmental stage of the plant and that Glc-induced fluctuations in endogenous ABA level generate a different set of signals than those generated by external ABA application.Because metabolic and structural functions require the proper amount of carbon source, different organisms have developed the ability to sense internal levels of sugar and accordingly adjust their cellular and metabolic activities. These regulatory mechanisms are particularly important for plants, because sugar production, consumption, and storage occur in the same organism. On one hand, plants have developed sophisticated programs in managing sugar production in source tissue and sugar storage in sink tissue; on the other hand, a complex regulatory circuit controlling gene expression has evolved to accommodate constant changes of sugar-dependent cellular activities (Smeekens, 2000;Coruzzi and Bush, 2001;Coruzzi and Zhou, 2001).Because sugars affect the expression of a diverse array of genes involved in different cellular processes, it is proposed that distinct signaling pathways are employed for the control of these genes. At least three types of Glc signal transduction mechanisms have been found ...
Sterols are important not only for structural components of eukaryotic cell membranes but also for biosynthetic precursors of steroid hormones. In plants, the diverse functions of sterol-derived brassinosteroids (BRs) in growth and development have been investigated rigorously, yet little is known about the regulatory roles of other phytosterols. Recent analysis of Arabidopsis fackel (fk) mutants and cloning of the FK gene that encodes a sterol C-14 reductase have indicated that sterols play a crucial role in plant cell division, embryogenesis, and development. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism underlying the regulatory role of sterols in plant development has not been revealed. In this report, we demonstrate that both sterols and BR are active regulators of plant development and gene expression. Similar to BR, both typical (sitosterol and stigmasterol) and atypical (8, 14-diene sterols accumulated in fk mutants) sterols affect the expression of genes involved in cell expansion and cell division. The regulatory function of sterols in plant development is further supported by a phenocopy of the fk mutant using a sterol C-14 reductase inhibitor, fenpropimorph. Although fenpropimorph impairs cell expansion and affects gene expression in a dose-dependent manner, neither effect can be corrected by applying exogenous BR. These results provide strong evidence that sterols are essential for normal plant growth and development and that there is likely a BR-independent sterol response pathway in plants. On the basis of the expression of endogenous FK and a reporter gene FK::-glucuronidase, we have found that FK is up-regulated by several growth-promoting hormones including brassinolide and auxin, implicating a possible hormone crosstalk between sterol and other hormone-signaling pathways.Sterols are part of the vast family of isoprenoids, a group of structurally related secondary metabolites. These compounds are essential for both animals and plants because they are components of membranes and as such affect cellular functions. The best known sterol is cholesterol, whose signaling functions in cell division, cell growth, cell death, and various developmental processes have been extensively studied in animals (Edwards and Ericsson, 1999). Whereas plants also produce dozens of different sterols, including cholesterol, only brassinosteroids (BR) derived from campesterol have been shown to act as hormone signals. BR hormones play critical roles in regulating cell expansion, morphogenesis, apical dominance, leaf and chloroplast senescence, and gene expression. Cellular defects in BR biosynthesis or response often result in a characteristic dwarf syndrome due to the defect of cell expansion (Altmann, 1998; Clouse and Sasse, 1998). The most common of the plant sterols are sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol; they are produced by a bifurcated sterol biosynthetic pathway involving a common precursor (see Fig. 1; Noguchi et al., 2000). To date, only BRs have been demonstrated to have regulatory roles on postembryonic gro...
Cu-treated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) seedlings showeda significant inhibition in peanut root growth, and a decrease in endogenousindole-3-acetic acid (IAA) content. The decline of IAA content in Cu-treatedtissue was accompanied by an increase in the activity of cationic peroxidase(POD) isozyme P8.5, which was correlated with an increase in cationic PODtranscripts. Cu might suppress the growth of peanut roots by inducing thesynthesis of the cationic POD isozyme that degrades endogenous IAA. Theincrease in the activity of anionic POD isozyme P3.5 was correlated with therise in lignin content in Cu-treated roots. We suggest that the increase inanionic POD isozyme P3.5 induced by Cu might be responsible for ligninsynthesis in peanut roots, and may also remove excess hydrogen peroxide causedby Cu, thus playing a detoxifying role during Cu treatment.
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.