Abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role in plant growth and developmental processes. Although some ABA signal molecules, such as cADPR, Ca2+, etc., have been reported, there. was no evidence proving the involvement of cAMP in A-B-A, signal transduction. In this present study, the constructed gene ( rd29A-GUS) was transformed into Nicotiana tabacum, and calli was induced from the transgenic plant. The suspension cells obtained from the callus grew well and uniformly. Treatment of the suspension cells with ABA led to an increase in GUS activity, indicating that these transgenic suspension cells are useful for the study of ABA signaling. Addition of nicotinamide (cADPR inhibitor) or U-73122 (phospholiphase C inhibitor) could only partially inhibit the increase of GUS activity elicited by ABA. The inhibitory effect of nicotinamide was enhanced by application of K252a (inhibitor of protein kinase). Treatment of the suspension cells with 8-Br-cAMP, a membrane-permeable analogue of cAMP, could partially replace the effect of ABA. Furthermore, intracellular addition of IBMX (phosphodiesterase inhibitor) mimicked die effect of exogenous cAMP on the deduction of expression of rd29A promoter. These results suggested that cAMP was an important messenger in ABA signal transduction in tobacco suspension cell.
Tobacco BY-2 suspension cells were used to study the chemical damage and its associated mechanisms caused by Cu^2＋. Treatment with 100 μmol/L Cu^2＋ generated a large amount of HzOz and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances （TBARS） in cells. Using phospholipase D （PLD） specific inhibitor （1-butanol） or phosphatidic acid （PA）, we demonstrated that PLD plays an important role in the generation of H2O2 and TBARS. Semi-quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and enzyme activity assays with wild type and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate （NADPH） oxidaseoverexpressing BY-2 cells revealed that PLD and PA are the key factors leading to NADPH oxidase activation, which is responsible for H2O2 and TBARS production induced by Cu^2＋. Moreover, the content of ascorbic acid （AsA）, an effective antioxidant, was sharply reduced in BY-2 cells exposed to excessive Cu^2＋. Furthermore, a significant downregulation of the enzymes of AsA biosynthesis and the antioxidant system was found. This evidence suggests that excessive Cu^2＋-elevated reactive oxygen species （ROS） production is caused by upregulated PLD that elevates the activity of NADPH oxidase and its collapsed antioxidant systems that scavenges ROS.
Zhong-Lian Yu Jin-Guang Zhang Xue-Chen Wang Jia Chen
Protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation are the general means of regulation metabolism within a cell. A PKA catalytic subunit was found in Arabidopsis genome using Blast software. The cDNA was cloned by RT-PCR and sequencing result indicated a high degree of homology at protein level. The cDNA was subcloned into pET30a (+) and expressed in E. coli at different temperatures. The target protein was insoluble when induced at 37degreesC, while dissolvable if induced at 22degreesC with 0.01 mmol/L IPTG. Ni2+-NTA affinity chromatography was used to purify the target protein, which was shown to have cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity. Western blotting analysis indicated that stress treatments affected the expression of PKA catalytic subunit at protein level just to a small extent.
For understanding the function of tonoplast protein in plant cell signal pathway, we have identified an integral protein kinase activity from the highly purified tonoplast isolated from maize ( Zea mays L.) root by a new nonradioactive method in which a color labeled peptide was used as substrate. The protein kinase was Ca 2+ _dependent and CaM and phosphatidylserine_independent, like the calmodulin_like domain protein kinase (CDPK) in many plants. The optimal pH value and Ca 2+ concentration were 6.5 and 10 μmol/L, respectively. According to the optimal pH value and the effect of detergent, it could be inferred that the active site of this protein kinase is oriented toward the cytoplasm. Zn 2+ had no obvious effect on its activity, indicating that this protein kinase has no zinc_finger domain that exists in some mammalian protein kinases. At the same time, when tonoplast proteins were prephosphorylated in the presence of Ca 2+ and ATP, both the ATP_hydrolysis and the proton_transport activity of vacuolar H +_ATPase were stimulated. This stimulation could be reversed by an alkaline_phosphatase. These results indicate that a Ca 2+ _dependent protein kinase was located in the tonoplast, and a Ca 2+ _dependent phosphorylation, probably caused by this kinase, activated the vacuolar H +_ATPase activity. These results are helpful for further research on the function of CDPK in the course of signal transduction in plants.
