Depleting cytosolic cysteine compromises the antioxidant capacity of the cytosol in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant cells contain different O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase (OASTL) enzymes involved in Cys biosynthesis and located in different subcellular compartments. These enzymes are made up of a complex variety of isoforms resulting in different subcellular Cys pools. To unravel the contribution of cytosolic Cys to plant metabolism, we characterized the knockout oas-a1.1 and osa-a1.2 mutants, deficient in the most abundant cytosolic OASTL isoform in Arabidposis thaliana. Total intracellular Cys and glutathione concentrations were reduced, and the glutathione redox state was shifted in favour of its oxidized form. Interestingly, the capability of the mutants to chelate heavy metals did not differ from that of the wild type, but the mutants have an enhanced sensitivity to Cd. With the aim of establishing the metabolic network most influenced by the cytosolic Cys pool, we used the ATH1 GeneChip for evaluation of differentially expressed genes in the oas-a1.1 mutant grown under non-stress conditions. The transcriptomic footprints of mutant plants had predicted functions associated with various physiological responses that are dependent on reactive oxygen species and suggested that the mutant was oxidatively stressed. To further elucidate the specific function(s) of the OAS-A1 isoform in the adaptation response to cadmium we extended the trasncriptome experiment to the wild type and oas-a1.1 mutant plants exposed to Cd. The comparison of transcriptomic profiles showed a higher proportion of genes with altered expression in the mutant than in the wild type, highlighting up-regulated genes identified as of the general oxidative stress response rather than metal-responsive genes.

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López-Martín MC, Becana M, Romero LC, Gotor C