Search for: All records

Abstract ACYL CARRIER PROTEIN4 (ACP4) is the most abundant ACP isoform in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) leaves and acts as a scaffold for de novo fatty acid biosynthesis and as a substrate for acyl-ACP-utilizing enzymes. Recently, ACP4 was found to interact with a protein-designated plastid RHOMBOID LIKE10 (RBL10) that affects chloroplast monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) biosynthesis, but the cellular function of this interaction remains to be explored. Here, we generated and characterized acp4 rbl10 double mutants to explore whether ACP4 and RBL10 directly interact in influencing chloroplast lipid metabolism. Alterations in the content and molecular species of chloroplast lipids such as MGDG and phosphatidylglycerol were observed in the acp4 and rbl10 mutants, which are likely associated with the changes in the size and profiles of diacylglycerol (DAG), phosphatidic acid (PA), and acyl-ACP precursor pools. ACP4 contributed to the size and profile of the acyl-ACP pool and interacted with acyl-ACP-utilizing enzymes, as expected for its role in fatty acid biosynthesis and chloroplast lipid assembly. RBL10 appeared to be involved in the conversion of PA to DAG precursors for MGDG biosynthesis as evidenced by the increased 34:x PA and decreased 34:x DAG in the rbl10 mutant and the slow turnover of radiolabeled PA in isolated chloroplasts fed with [14C] acetate. Interestingly, the impaired PA turnover in rbl10 was partially reversed in the acp4 rbl10 double mutant. Collectively, this study shows that ACP4 and RBL10 affect chloroplast lipid biosynthesis by modulating substrate precursor pools and appear to act independently. 

Summary Central metabolism produces amino and fatty acids for protein and lipids that establish seed value. Biosynthesis of storage reserves occurs in multiple organelles that exchange central intermediates including two essential metabolites, malate, and pyruvate that are linked by malic enzyme. Malic enzyme can be active in multiple subcellular compartments, partitioning carbon and reducing equivalents for anabolic and catabolic requirements. Prior studies based on isotopic labeling and steady‐state metabolic flux analyses indicated malic enzyme provides carbon for fatty acid biosynthesis in plants, though genetic evidence confirming this role is lacking. We hypothesized that increasing malic enzyme flux would alter carbon partitioning and result in increased lipid levels in soybeans.Homozygous transgenic soybean plants expressing Arabidopsis malic enzyme alleles, targeting the translational products to plastid or outside the plastid during seed development, were verified by transcript and enzyme activity analyses, organelle proteomics, and transient expression assays. Protein, oil, central metabolites, cofactors, and acyl‐acyl carrier protein (ACPs) levels were quantified overdevelopment.Amino and fatty acid levels were altered resulting in an increase in lipids by 0.5–2% of seed biomass (i.e. 2–9% change in oil).Subcellular targeting of a single gene product in central metabolism impacts carbon and reducing equivalent partitioning for seed storage reserves in soybeans. 

Abstract The negative association between protein and oil production in soybean (Glycine max) seed is well-documented. However, this inverse relationship is based primarily on the composition of mature seed, which reflects the cumulative result of events over the course of soybean seed development and therefore does not convey information specific to metabolic fluctuations during developmental growth regimes. In this study, we assessed maternal nutrient supply via measurement of seed coat exudates and metabolite levels within the cotyledon throughout development to identify trends in the accumulation of central carbon and nitrogen metabolic intermediates. Active metabolic activity during late seed development was probed through transient labeling with 13C substrates. The results indicated: (1) a drop in lipid contents during seed maturation with a concomitant increase in carbohydrates, (2) a transition from seed filling to maturation phases characterized by quantitatively balanced changes in carbon use and CO2 release, (3) changes in measured carbon and nitrogen resources supplied maternally throughout development, (4) 13C metabolite production through gluconeogenic steps for sustained carbohydrate accumulation as the maternal nutrient supply diminishes, and (5) oligosaccharide biosynthesis within the seed coat during the maturation phase. These results highlight temporal engineering targets for altering final biomass composition to increase the value of soybeans and a path to breaking the inverse correlation between seed protein and oil content. 

The cell membrane plays a pivotal role in protecting bacteria against external threats, such as antibiotics. Cationic phospholipids such as lysyl-phosphatidyglycerol (L-PG) resist the action of cationic antimicrobial peptides through electrostatic repulsion. 

Flux analysis indicates that camelina pod photosynthesis contributes to seed yield. 

Pollen germination is an essential process for pollen tube growth, pollination, and therefore seed production in flowering plants, and it requires energy either from remobilization of stored carbon sources, such as lipids and starches, or from secreted exudates from the stigma. Transcriptome analysis fromin vitropollen germination previously showed that 14 GO terms, including metabolism and energy, were overrepresented inArabidopsis. However, little is understood about global changes in carbohydrate and energy-related metabolites during the transition from mature pollen grain to hydrated pollen, a prerequisite to pollen germination, in most plants, includingArabidopsis. In this study, we investigated differential metabolic pathway enrichment among mature, hydrated, and germinated pollen using an untargeted metabolomic approach. Integration of publicly available transcriptome data with metabolomic data generated as a part of this study revealed starch and sucrose metabolism increased significantly during pollen hydration and germination. We analyzed in detail alterations in central metabolism, focusing on soluble carbohydrates, non-esterified fatty acids, glycerophospholipids, and glycerolipids. We found that several metabolites, including palmitic acid, oleic acid, linolenic acid, quercetin, luteolin/kaempferol, and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), were elevated in hydrated pollen, suggesting a potential role in activating pollen tube emergence. The metabolite levels of mature, hydrated, and germinated pollen, presented in this work provide insights on the molecular basis of pollen germination. 

The combination of 13C-isotopic labeling and mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) offers an approach to analyze metabolic flux in situ. However, combining isotopic labeling and MSI presents technical challenges ranging from sample preparation, label incorporation, data collection, and analysis. Isotopic labeling and MSI individually create large, complex data sets, and this is compounded when both methods are combined. Therefore, analyzing isotopically labeled MSI data requires streamlined procedures to support biologically meaningful interpretations. Using currently available software and techniques, here we describe a workflow to analyze 13C-labeled isotopologues of the membrane lipid and storage oil lipid intermediate―phosphatidylcholine (PC). Our results with embryos of the oilseed crops, Camelina sativa and Thlaspi arvense (pennycress), demonstrated greater 13C-isotopic labeling in the cotyledons of developing embryos compared with the embryonic axis. Greater isotopic enrichment in PC molecular species with more saturated and longer chain fatty acids suggest different flux patterns related to fatty acid desaturation and elongation pathways. The ability to evaluate MSI data of isotopically labeled plant embryos will facilitate the potential to investigate spatial aspects of metabolic flux in situ.