In higher plants, the redox-active tripeptide glutathione (GSH) fulfills a plethora of functions. These include its pivotal role for maintaining the cellular redox poise and its involvement in detoxification of heavy metals and xenobiotics. Intimately linked to these functions, GSH also acts as a cellular signal, mediating control of enzyme and/or regulatory protein activities, either directly or via glutaredoxins. The redox potential of the GSH/GSSG couple is not only affected by the GSH/GSSG ratio but also by changes in GSH synthesis and/or degradation. As this couple operates as redox buffer in several cellular compartments, the regulation of GSH biosynthesis and transport (both intra- and intercellularly) are fundamental to the maintenance of cellular redox homeostasis during plant development and, even more so, when plants are exposed to biotic or abiotic stress. This review highlights novel aspects of GSH biosynthesis and transport with a focus on the regulation of the GSH1 (= gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase) enzyme. Interestingly, GSH1 appears to be exclusively confined to the plastids, whereas the second biosynthetic enzyme, GSH2, is predominantly localized in the cytosol. GSH1 expression and enzyme activity are under multiple controls, extending from transcriptional regulation to post-translational redox control. Now that the plant GSH1 protein structure has been solved, the molecular basis of GSH1 function and redox regulation can be addressed. The review concludes with a discussion of the simultaneous changes observed for GSH synthesis, transport, and metabolism during Cd-induced phytochelatin accumulation.

Summary Glutathione (GSH) is a key factor for cellular redox homeostasis and tolerance against abiotic and biotic stress (May et al., 1998; Noctor et al., 1998a). Previous attempts to increase GSH content in plants have met with moderate success (Rennenberg et al., 2007), largely because of tight and multilevel control of its biosynthesis (Rausch et al., 2007). Here, we report the in planta expression of the bifunctional γ‐glutamylcysteine ligase—glutathione synthetase enzyme from Streptococcus thermophilus (StGCL‐GS), which is shown to be neither redox‐regulated nor sensitive to feedback inhibition by GSH. Transgenic tobacco plants expressing StGCL‐GS under control of a constitutive promoter reveal an extreme accumulation of GSH in their leaves (up to 12 μmol GSH/gFW, depending on the developmental stage), which is more than 20‐ to 30‐fold above the levels observed in wild‐type (wt) plants and which can be even further increased by additional sulphate fertilization. Surprisingly, this dramatically increased GSH production has no impact on plant growth while enhancing plant tolerance to abiotic stress. Furthermore, StGCL‐GS‐expressing plants are a novel, cost‐saving source for GSH production, being competitive with current yeast‐based systems (Li et al., 2004).

BackgroundNicotiana rustica (Aztec tobacco), like common tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), is an allotetraploid formed through a recent hybridization event; however, it originated from completely different progenitor species. Here, we report the comparative genome analysis of wild type N. rustica (5 Gb; 2n = 4x = 48) with its three putative diploid progenitors (2.3–3 Gb; 2n = 2x =24), Nicotiana undulata, Nicotiana paniculata and Nicotiana knightiana.ResultsIn total, 41% of N. rustica genome originated from the paternal donor (N. undulata), while 59% originated from the maternal donor (N. paniculata/N. knightiana). Chloroplast genome and gene analyses indicated that N. knightiana is more closely related to N. rustica than N. paniculata. Gene clustering revealed 14,623 ortholog groups common to other Nicotiana species and 207 unique to N. rustica. Genome sequence analysis indicated that N. knightiana is more closely related to N. rustica than N. paniculata, and that the higher nicotine content of N. rustica leaves is the result of the progenitor genomes combination and of a more active transport of nicotine to the shoot.ConclusionsThe availability of four new Nicotiana genome sequences provide insights into how speciation impacts plant metabolism, and in particular alkaloid transport and accumulation, and will contribute to better understanding the evolution of Nicotiana species.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-018-5241-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In tobacco, the heavy metal P1B-ATPases HMA4.1 and HMA4.2 function in root-to-shoot zinc and cadmium transport. We present greenhouse and field data that dissect the possibilities to impact the two homeologous genes in order to define the best strategy for leaf cadmium reduction. In a first step, both genes were silenced using an RNAi approach leading to >90% reduction of leaf cadmium content. To modulate HMA4 function more precisely, mutant HMA4.1 and HMA4.2 alleles of a Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes (TILLING) population were combined. As observed with RNAi plants, knockout of both homeologs decreased cadmium root-to-shoot transfer by >90%. Analysis of plants with segregating null and wild-type alleles of both homeologs showed that one functional HMA4 allele is sufficient to maintain wild-type cadmium levels. Plant development was affected in HMA4 RNAi and double knockout plants that included retarded growth, necrotic lesions, altered leaf morphology and increased water content. The combination of complete functional loss (nonsense mutation) in one homeologous HMA4 gene and the functional reduction in the other HMA4 gene (missense mutation) is proposed as strategy to limit cadmium leaf accumulation without developmental effects.

In the tobacco plant, nicotine N-demethylase enzymes (NND) belonging to the cytochrome P450 family catalyse the conversion of nicotine to nornicotine, the precursor of the carcinogenic tobacco-specific N-nitrosamine, N-nitrosonornicotine. To date three demethylase genes, namely CYP82E4, CYP82E5 and CYP82E10, have been shown to be involved in this process, while the related CYP82E2 and CYP82E3 genes are not functional. We have identified a further gene named CYP82E21 encoding a putative nicotine N-demethylase closely related to the CYP82E genes. The CYP82E21 gene was found in all Nicotiana tabacum cultivars analysed and originates from the tobacco ancestor Nicotiana tomentosiformis. We show that, in contrast to all other previously characterized NND genes, CYP82E21 is not expressed in green or senescent leaves, but in flowers, more specifically in ovaries. The nicotine N-demethylase activity of CYP82E21 was confirmed by ectopic expression of the coding sequence in a tobacco line lacking functional CYP82E4, CYP82E5 and CYP82E10 genes, resulting in an eightfold increase of nicotine demethylation compared to the control plants. Furthermore, nornicotine formation can be reduced in ovaries by introducing a CYP82E21-specific RNAi construct. Together, our results demonstrate that the CYP82E21 gene encodes a functional ovary-specific nicotine N-demethylase.