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.
Knocking out cytosolic cysteine synthesis compromises the antioxidant capacity of the cytosol to maintain discrete concentrations of hydrogen peroxide in Arabidopsis.
Specimen part
View SamplesIn bacteria, the biosynthesis of cysteine is accomplished by two enzymes that are encoged by the cysK and cysM genes. CysM is also able to incorporate thiosulfate to produce S-sulfocysteine. In plant cells, the biosynthesis of cysteine occurs in the cytosol, mitochondria and chloroplasts. Chloroplasts contain two O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase homologs, which are encoded by the OAS-B and CS26 genes. An in vitro enzymatic analysis of the recombinant CS26 protein demonstrated that this isoform possesses S-sulfocysteine synthase activity and lacks O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase activity. In vivo functional analysis of this enzyme in knockout mutants demonstrated that mutation of cs26 suppressed the S-sulfocysteine synthase activity that was detected in wild type; furthermore, the mutants exhibited a growth phenotype, but penetrance depended on the light regime. The cs26 mutant plants also had reductions in chlorophyll content and photosynthetic activity (neither of which were observed in oas-b mutants), as well as elevated glutathione levels. However, cs26 leaves were not able to properly detoxify ROS, which accumulated to high levels under long-day growth conditions. The transcriptional profile of the cs26 mutant revealed that the mutation had a pleiotropic effect on many cellular and metabolic processes. Our finding reveals that S-sulfocysteine and the activity of S-sulfocysteine synthase play an important role in chloroplast function and are essential for light-dependent redox regulation within the chloroplast.
Arabidopsis S-sulfocysteine synthase activity is essential for chloroplast function and long-day light-dependent redox control.
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View SamplesCysteine occupies a central position in plant metabolism due to its biochemical functions. Arabidopsis thaliana cells contain different O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase (OASTL) enzymes that catalyze the biosynthesis of cysteine. Because they are localized in the cytosol, plastids and mitochondria, this results in multiple subcellular cysteine pools. Much progress has been made on the most abundant OASTL enzymes; however, information on the less abundant OASTL-like proteins has been scarce. To unequivocally establish the enzymatic reaction catalyzed by the minor cytosolic OASTL isoform CS-LIKE (AT5G28030), we expressed this enzyme in bacteria and characterized the purified recombinant protein. Our results demonstrate that CS-LIKE catalyzes the desulfuration of L-cysteine to sulfide plus ammonia and pyruvate. Thus, CS-LIKE is a novel L-cysteine desulfhydrase (EC 4.4.1.1), and we propose to designate it DES1. The impact and functionality of DES1 in cysteine metabolism was revealed by the phenotype of the T-DNA insertion mutants des1-1 and des1-2. Mutation of the DES1 gene leads to premature leaf senescence, as demonstrated by the increased expression of senescence-associated genes and transcription factors. Also, the absence of DES1 significantly reduces the total cysteine desulfuration activity in leaves, and there is a concomitant increase in the total cysteine content. As a consequence, the expression levels of sulfur-responsive genes are de-regulated, and the mutant plants show enhanced antioxidant defenses and tolerance to conditions that promote oxidative stress. Our results suggest that DES1 from Arabidopsis is an L-cysteine desulfhydrase involved in maintaining cysteine homeostasis, mainly at late developmental stages or under environmental perturbations.
Cysteine homeostasis plays an essential role in plant immunity.
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View SamplesCyanide is stoichiometrically produced as a co-product of the ethylene biosynthesis pathway, and it is detoxified by the b-cyanoalanine synthase enzyme. The molecular and phenotypical analysis of T-DNA insertional mutants of the mitochondrial b-cyanoalanine synthase CYS-C1 suggests that discrete accumulation of cyanide is not toxic for the plant and does not alter mitochondrial respiration rates, but does act as a strong inhibitor of root hair development. The cys-c1 null allele is defective in root hair formation and accumulates cyanide in root tissues. The root hair defect is phenocopied in wild type plants by the exogenous addition of cyanide to the growth medium and is reversed by the addition of hydroxocobalamin. Hydroxocobalamin not only recovers the root phenotype of the mutant, but also the formation of ROS at the initial step of the root hair tip. Transcriptional profile analysis of the cys-c1 mutant reveals that cyanide accumulation acts as a repressor signal for several genes encoding enzymes involved in cell wall rebuilding and the formation of the root hair tip, as well as genes involved in ethylene signaling and metabolism. Our results demonstrate that mitochondrial b-cyanoalanine synthase activity is essential to maintain a low level of cyanide for proper root hair development.
Mitochondrial beta-cyanoalanine synthase is essential for root hair formation in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Specimen part
View SamplesArabidopsis thaliana cells contain different O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase (OASTL) enzymes that catalyze the biosynthesis of cysteine. Recently, we have deeply investigated about one of the minor OASTL-like protein located in the cytosol, named DES1, highlighting some important clues about its metabolic function. We have demonstrated that DES1 catalyzes the desulfuration of L-cysteine to sulfide plus ammonia and pyruvate, instead of the biosynthesis of Cys, and thus, is a novel L-cysteine desulfhydrase (EC 4.4.1.1). The functionality of DES1 is being revealed by the phenotype of the T-DNA insertion mutants des1-1 and des1-2. We have performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis on leaves of the des1-1 and Col-0 wild type plants grown for 30 days under long-day conditions. The normalized data from the replicates showed differential expression of 1614 genes in the des1-1 mutant, with 701 genes down-regulated and 913 genes up-regulated by more than twofold, with a False Discovery Rate (FDR) of < 0.05 and an intensity signal restriction of lgSignal >7. This des1-1 transcriptional profile show a strong alteration when compared to a previous comparative transcriptomic analysis performed on leaves of the des1-1 and Col-0 wild type plants grown for 20 days under identical long-day conditions (GSE 19244). We have also performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis on leaves of the des1-1 and Col-0 wild type plants grown for 20 days and treated with sodium sulfide for 10 additional days. The comparison of the transcriptional profile of des1-1+Na2S versus Col-0+Na2S clearly shows that exogenous sulfide reversed the transcriptional level differences between the mutant and the wild type to reach similar transcriptional patterns as the array GSE19244. Our results suggest a role of sulfide as transcriptional regulator in the des1-1 mutant background.
Cysteine-generated sulfide in the cytosol negatively regulates autophagy and modulates the transcriptional profile in Arabidopsis.
Age, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesNeural precursor cells (NPCs) in the mammalian neocortex generate various neuronal and glial cell types in a developmental stage-dependent manner. Most neocortical NPCs lose their neurogenic potential after birth. We have previously shown that high mobility group A (HMGA) proteins confer the neurogenic potential on early-stage NPCs during the midgestation period, although the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here we performed microarray analysis and compared expression profiles between control and HMGA2-overexpressed NPCs.
IMP2 regulates differentiation potentials of mouse neocortical neural precursor cells.
Specimen part
View SamplesNeural precursor cells (NPCs) are multipotent cells that can generate neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes in the mammalian central nervous system. Although Zbtb20 was expressed in NPCs, its functions in neural development are not fully understood. We performed microarray analysis to examine changes in gene expression between control and Zbtb20-overexpressed NPCs.
Zbtb20 promotes astrocytogenesis during neocortical development.
Specimen part
View SamplesA unique embryonic stem cells showing nave state was established from primplantation mouse blastocyst but maintaind their self renew under FGF2 stimulus condition
Development of FGF2-dependent pluripotent stem cells showing naive state characteristics from murine preimplantation inner cell mass.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesMicroarray gene expression profiling to identify differentially regulated genes in Musculus longissimus dorsi (MLD) of Japanese Black (JB) steers compared to Holstein steers (HS)
Transcriptome profiling of Musculus longissimus dorsi in two cattle breeds with different intramuscular fat deposition.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesNeural precursor cells (NPCs) are multipotent cells that can generate neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes in the mammalian central nervous system. Although high mobility group nucleosomal binding domain 1 (HMGN1) was highly expressed in NPCs, its functions in neural development are not fully understood. We performed microarray analysis to examine changes in gene expression between control and HMGN1-overexpressed NPCs.
High mobility group nucleosome-binding family proteins promote astrocyte differentiation of neural precursor cells.
Specimen part
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