scholarly journals Structure of Arabidopsis CESA3 catalytic domain with its substrate UDP-glucose provides insight into the mechanism of cellulose synthesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. e2024015118
Author(s):  
Zhu Qiao ◽  
Edwin R. Lampugnani ◽  
Xin-Fu Yan ◽  
Ghazanfar Abbas Khan ◽  
Wuan Geok Saw ◽  
...  

Cellulose is synthesized by cellulose synthases (CESAs) from the glycosyltransferase GT-2 family. In plants, the CESAs form a six-lobed rosette-shaped CESA complex (CSC). Here we report crystal structures of the catalytic domain of Arabidopsis thaliana CESA3 (AtCESA3CatD) in both apo and uridine diphosphate (UDP)-glucose (UDP-Glc)–bound forms. AtCESA3CatD has an overall GT-A fold core domain sandwiched between a plant-conserved region (P-CR) and a class-specific region (C-SR). By superimposing the structure of AtCESA3CatD onto the bacterial cellulose synthase BcsA, we found that the coordination of the UDP-Glc differs, indicating different substrate coordination during cellulose synthesis in plants and bacteria. Moreover, structural analyses revealed that AtCESA3CatD can form a homodimer mainly via interactions between specific beta strands. We confirmed the importance of specific amino acids on these strands for homodimerization through yeast and in planta assays using point-mutated full-length AtCESA3. Our work provides molecular insights into how the substrate UDP-Glc is coordinated in the CESAs and how the CESAs might dimerize to eventually assemble into CSCs in plants.

Author(s):  
Lei Huang ◽  
Xiaohui Li ◽  
Weiwei Zhang ◽  
Nolan Ung ◽  
Nana Liu ◽  
...  

AbstractCellulose is synthesized by rosette structured cellulose synthase (CESA) complexes (CSCs), each of which is composed of multiple units of CESAs in three different isoforms. CSCs rely on vesicle trafficking for delivery to the plasma membrane where they catalyze cellulose synthesis. Although the rosette structured CSCs were observed decades ago, it remains unclear what amino acids in plant CESA that directly participate in cellulose catalytic synthesis. It is also not clear how the catalytic activity of CSCs influences their efficient transport at the subcellular level. Here we report characterization of the small molecule Endosidin20 (ES20) and present evidence that it represents a new CESA inhibitor. We show data from chemical genetic analyses, biochemical assays, structural modeling, and molecular docking to support our conclusion that ES20 targets the catalytic site of Arabidopsis CESA6. Further, chemical genetic analysis reveals important amino acids that potentially form the catalytic site of plant CESA6. Using high spatiotemporal resolution live-cell imaging, we found that inhibition of CSC catalytic activity by inhibitor treatment, or by creating missense mutation at amino acids in the predicted catalytic site, causes reduced efficiency in CSC transport to the plasma membrane. Our results show that the catalytic activity of plant CSCs is integrated with subcellular trafficking dynamics.One sentence summaryEndosidin20 targets cellulose synthase at the catalytic site to inhibit cellulose synthesis and the inhibition of catalytic activity reduces cellulose synthase complex delivery to the plasma membrane.


Biologia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Anjum ◽  
Saboohi Raza ◽  
Abid Azhar ◽  
Syeda Qamarunnisa

AbstractGeneration of reactive oxidation species in response to different types of stress is a general phenomenon observed in plants. It is considered to be a molecular signaling mechanism of plants to encounter adverse effects. Radical-induced cell death 1 (rcd1 or Atrcd1) gene of Arabidopsis thaliana is a stress responsive gene known to interact with several transcription factors during different types of stress. It is predicted to provide scaffold for mediating interactions between two proteins using its WWE and RST domains. It also has an inactive PARP catalytic domain forming the Similar like rcd1 (SRO) family of plant PARPs along with its homologs. In this study a new homolog from Brassica napus genome (Bnsro1) was identified. Analysis of Bnsro1 was done to predict function on computational basis by comparison with its homolog. Bnsro1 has similarities with Atrcd1 at sequence level and contains same globular domains. It is predicted to be catalytically active as it conserves the 16 amino acids required for NAD


1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seok So Chang ◽  
Soon Ki Park ◽  
Byung Chul Kim ◽  
Bong Joong Kang ◽  
Dal Ung Kim ◽  
...  

Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 161 (2) ◽  
pp. 563-574
Author(s):  
Laura K Palmer ◽  
Darren Wolfe ◽  
Jessica L Keeley ◽  
Ralph L Keil

Abstract Volatile anesthetics affect all cells and tissues tested, but their mechanisms and sites of action remain unknown. To gain insight into the cellular activities of anesthetics, we have isolated genes that, when overexpressed, render Saccharomyces cerevisiae resistant to the volatile anesthetic isoflurane. One of these genes, WAK3/TAT1, encodes a permease that transports amino acids including leucine and tryptophan, for which our wild-type strain is auxotrophic. This suggests that availability of amino acids may play a key role in anesthetic response. Multiple lines of evidence support this proposal: (i) Deletion or overexpression of permeases that transport leucine and/or tryptophan alters anesthetic response; (ii) prototrophic strains are anesthetic resistant; (iii) altered concentrations of leucine and tryptophan in the medium affect anesthetic response; and (iv) uptake of leucine and tryptophan is inhibited during anesthetic exposure. Not all amino acids are critical for this response since we find that overexpression of the lysine permease does not affect anesthetic sensitivity. These findings are consistent with models in which anesthetics have a physiologically important effect on availability of specific amino acids by altering function of their permeases. In addition, we show that there is a relationship between nutrient availability and ubiquitin metabolism in this response.


Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 926
Author(s):  
Maria C. Martins ◽  
Susana F. Fernandes ◽  
Bruno A. Salgueiro ◽  
Jéssica C. Soares ◽  
Célia V. Romão ◽  
...  

Flavodiiron proteins (FDPs) are a family of modular and soluble enzymes endowed with nitric oxide and/or oxygen reductase activities, producing N2O or H2O, respectively. The FDP from Escherichia coli, which, apart from the two core domains, possesses a rubredoxin-like domain at the C-terminus (therefore named flavorubredoxin (FlRd)), is a bona fide NO reductase, exhibiting O2 reducing activity that is approximately ten times lower than that for NO. Among the flavorubredoxins, there is a strictly conserved amino acids motif, -G[S,T]SYN-, close to the catalytic diiron center. To assess its role in FlRd’s activity, we designed several site-directed mutants, replacing the conserved residues with hydrophobic or anionic ones. The mutants, which maintained the general characteristics of the wild type enzyme, including cofactor content and integrity of the diiron center, revealed a decrease of their oxygen reductase activity, while the NO reductase activity—specifically, its physiological function—was almost completely abolished in some of the mutants. Molecular modeling of the mutant proteins pointed to subtle changes in the predicted structures that resulted in the reduction of the hydration of the regions around the conserved residues, as well as in the elimination of hydrogen bonds, which may affect proton transfer and/or product release.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1596
Author(s):  
Elsa Ronzier ◽  
Claire Corratgé-Faillie ◽  
Frédéric Sanchez ◽  
Christian Brière ◽  
Tou Cheu Xiong

Post-translational regulations of Shaker-like voltage-gated K+ channels were reported to be essential for rapid responses to environmental stresses in plants. In particular, it has been shown that calcium-dependent protein kinases (CPKs) regulate Shaker channels in plants. Here, the focus was on KAT2, a Shaker channel cloned in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, where is it expressed namely in the vascular tissues of leaves. After co-expression of KAT2 with AtCPK6 in Xenopuslaevis oocytes, voltage-clamp recordings demonstrated that AtCPK6 stimulates the activity of KAT2 in a calcium-dependent manner. A physical interaction between these two proteins has also been shown by Förster resonance energy transfer by fluorescence lifetime imaging (FRET-FLIM). Peptide array assays support that AtCPK6 phosphorylates KAT2 at several positions, also in a calcium-dependent manner. Finally, K+ fluorescence imaging in planta suggests that K+ distribution is impaired in kat2 knock-out mutant leaves. We propose that the AtCPK6/KAT2 couple plays a role in the homeostasis of K+ distribution in leaves.


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