Stress signaling in response to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in Arabidopsis thaliana involves a nucleoside diphosphate kinase, NDPK-3

Abstract

The study is the first to reveal the proteomic response in plants to a single PAH stress, and indicates that NDPK3 is a positive regulator in the Arabidopsis response to phenanthrene stress. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are highly carcinogenic pollutants that are byproducts of carbon-based fuel combustion, and tend to persist in the environment for long periods of time. PAHs elicit complex, damaging responses in plants, and prior research at the physiological, biochemical, and transcriptional levels has indicated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress play major roles in the PAH response. However, the proteomic response has remained largely unexplored. This study hypothesized that the proteomic response in Arabidopsis thaliana to phenanthrene, a model PAH, would include a strong oxidative stress signature, and would provide leads to potential signaling molecules involved. To explore that proteomic signature, we performed 2D-PAGE experiments and identified 30 proteins levels that were significantly altered including catalases (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxiredoxins (POD), glutathione-S-transferase, and glutathione reductase. Also upregulated was nucleoside diphosphate kinase 3 (NDPK-3), a protein known to have metabolic and stress signaling functions. To address whether NDPK-3 functions upstream of the oxidative stress response, we measured levels of stress-responsive enzymes in NDPK-3 overexpressor, loss-of-function knockout, and wild-type plant lines. In the NDPK-3 overexpressor, the enzyme activities of APX, CAT, POD, as well as superoxide dismutase were all increased compared to wild type; in the NDPK-3 knockout line, these enzymes had reduced activity. This pattern occurred in untreated as well as phenanthrene-treated plants. These data support a model in which NDPK-3 is a positive regulator of the Arabidopsis stress response to PAHs.

White stripe leaf 12 (WSL12), encoding a nucleoside diphosphate kinase 2 (OsNDPK2), regulates chloroplast development and abiotic stress response in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

“…S8c). However, the expression level of OsNDPK3 which involved in the signaling for stress response was significantly increased in wsl12 mutant (Escobar Galvis et al 2001 ; Liu et al 2015 ), which might compensate for the function of OsNDPK2 .…”

Detoxification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Arabidopsis thaliana involves a putative flavonol synthase

“…Interestingly in Arabidopsis , the expression of 12 glutathione transferases increase under phenanthrene exposure, including At4g02520 , At2g02930 , At1g02920 , and At1g02930 [34, 77]. In a search for transporters, AtNAP2 ( POP1 ), a NAP-type ABC transporter which encodes a P-loop containing nucleoside triphosphate hydrolase, was up-regulated during PAH stress [34].…”

Comparative transcriptomic analysis reveals the roles of ROS scavenging genes in response to cadmium in two pak choi cultivars

“…NDPK is associated with tolerance to abiotic stresses by the regulation of H 2 O 2 -mediated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling 45 . Transgenic plants overexpressing PtNDPK2 and AtNDPK3 exhibit increased tolerance to abiotic stresses 46 , 47 .…”