Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:05:08.048Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The aspartic proteinase is expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds and localized in the protein bodies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2007

Asuman Mutlu
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, The State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902–6000, USA
Xia Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, The State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902–6000, USA
Sridhar M. Reddy
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, The State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902–6000, USA
Susannah Gal*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, The State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902–6000, USA
*
*Correspondence Fax: 607 777 6521 Email: sgal@binghamton.edu

Abstract

We have been studying a seed aspartic proteinase, termed AtAP, from Arabidopsis thaliana. In previous work, we purified the proteinase, analysed its activity and isolated the cDNA sequence. In this paper, the expression of the mRNA for the aspartic proteinase was analysed in seed tissues both by Northern blots for overall regulation and by in situ hybridization to follow cell-specific localization of message. We found a 1.9 kb aspartic proteinase message in dry seeds and seed pods. This message was expressed in many different cell types of the mature dry seed. The localization of the protein within these cells was also determined. Antibodies were raised against the AtAP and purified using affinity chromatography on an AtAP–immobilized-pepstatin A–agarose column. This purified antibody recognized several AtAP peptides in seeds. To localize the enzyme in cells, we isolated protein bodies from the dry seeds of Arabidopsis using a non-aqueous isolation method. The AtAP activity and antigenic peptides were found to be highest in the protein body fraction and co-localized with the seed storage protein 2S albumin and the vacuolar marker enzyme α-mannosidase. This protein body localization of the AtAP was confirmed with immunocytochemical localization by electron microscopy and shows that the protein is not secreted by these cells.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bethke, P.C., Hillmer, S. and Jones, R.L. (1996) Isolation of intact protein storage vacuoles from barley aleurone: identification of aspartic and cystein proteases. Plant Physiology 110, 521529.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boller, T. and Kende, H. (1979) Hydrolytic enzymes in the central vacuole of plant cells. Plant Physiology 63, 11231132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Callis, J. (1995) Regulation of protein degradation. Plant Cell 7, 845857.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, F. and Foolad, M.R. (1997) Molecular organization of a gene in barley which encodes a protein similar to aspartic protease and its specific expression in nucellar cells during degeneration. Plant Molecular Biology 35, 821831.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conceição, A.d.S. and Krebbers, E. (1994) A cotyledon regulatory region is responsible for the different spatial expression patterns of Arabidopsis 2S albumin genes. Plant Journal 5, 493505.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cordeiro, M.C., Pais, M.S. and Brodelius, P.E. (1994) Tissue-specific expression of multiple forms of cyprosin (aspartic proteinase) in flowers of Cynara cardunculus. Physiologia Plantarum 92, 645653.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D'Hondt, K., Stack, S., Gutteridge, S., Vandekerckhove, J., Krebbers, E. and Gal., S. (1997) Aspartic proteinase genes in the Brassicaceae Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus. Plant Molecular Biology 33, 187192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Hondt, K., Bosch, D., Damme, J.F., Goethals, M., Vandekerckhove, J. and Krebbers, E. (1993) An aspartic proteinase present in seeds cleaves Arabidopsis 2S albumin precursors in vitro. Journal of Biological Chemistry 268, 2088420891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Block, M. and Debrouwer, D. (1993) RNA-RNA in situ hybridization using digoxigenin-labeled probes: the use of high-molecular-weight polyvinyl alcohol in the alkaline phosphatase indoxylnitroblue tetrazolium reaction. Analytical Biochemistry 215, 8689.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Clercq, A., Vandewiele, M., Van Damme, J., Guerche, P., Van Montagu, M., Vandekerckhove, J. and Krebbers, E. (1990) Stable accumulation of modified 2S albumin seed storage proteins with higher methionine contents in transgenic plants. Plant Physiology 94, 970979.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunaevsky, Y.E., Sarbakanova, S.T. and Belozersky, M.A. (1989) Wheat seed carboxypeptidase and joint action on gliadin of proteases from dry and germinating seeds. Journal of Experimental Botany 40, 13231329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fujikura, Y. and Karssen, C.M. (1995) Molecular studies on osmoprimed seeds of cauliflower: a partial amino acid sequence of a vigour-related protein and osmoprimingenhanced expression of a putative aspartic protease. Seed Science Research 5, 177181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gu, J., Stephenson, C.G. and Iadarola, M.J. (1994) Recombinant proteins attached to a Nickel-NTA column: use in affinity purification of antibodies. BioTechniques 17, 257262.Google ScholarPubMed
Hara-Nishimura, I. and Nishimura, M. (1987) Proglobulin processing enzyme in vacuoles isolated from developing pumpkin cotyledons. Plant Physiology 85, 440445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hara-Nishimura, I., Shimada, T., Hiraiwa, N. and Nishimura, M. (1995) Vacuolar processing enzyme responsible for maturation of seed proteins. Journal of Plant Physiology 145, 632640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higgins, T.J.V. (1984) Synthesis and regulation of major proteins in seeds. Annual Review of Plant Physiology 35, 191221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiraiwa, N., Takeuchi, Y., Nishimura, M. and Hara-Nishimura, I. (1993) A vacuolar processing enzyme in maturing and germinating seeds: its distribution and associated changes during development. Plant Cell Physiology 34, 11971204.Google Scholar
Hiraiwa, N., Kondo, M., Nishimura, M. and Hara-Nishimura, I. (1997) An aspartic endopeptidase is involved in the breakdown of propeptides of storage proteins in protein-storage vacuoles of plants. European Journal of Biochemistry 246, 133141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jackson, D. (1991) In situ hybridization in plants. pp. 163174in Gurr, S.J..; McPherson, M.J..; Bowles, D.J. (Eds) Molecular Plant Pathology: A Practical Approach. Oxford, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Krebbers, E., Herdies, L., De Clerq, A., Seurinck, J., Leemans, J., Van Damme, J., Segura, M., Gheysen, G., Van Montagu, M. and Vandekerckhove, J. (1988) Determination of the processing sites of an Arabidopsis 2S albumin and characterization of the complete gene family. Plant Physiology 87, 859866.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marttila, S., Jones, B.L. and Mikkonen, A. (1995) Differential localization of two acid proteinases in germinating barley (Hordeum vulgare) seed. Physiologia Plantarum 93, 317327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mutlu, A., Pfeil, J. and Gal, S. (1998) A probarley lectin processing enzyme purified from Arabidopsis thaliana seeds. Phytochemistry 47, 14531459.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mutlu, A. and Gal, S. (1999) Plant aspartic proteinases: enzymes on the way to a function. Physiologia Plantarum, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nishimura, M. (1982) pH in vacuoles isolated from castor bean endosperm. Plant Physiology 70, 742744.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pang, P.P., Pruitt, R.E. and Meyerowitz, E.M. (1988) Molecular cloning, genomic organization, expression and evolution of 12S seed storage protein genes of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Molecular Biology 11, 805820.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paris, N., Stanley, C.M., Jones, R.L. and Rogers, J.C. (1996) Plant cells contain two functionally distinct vacuolar compartments. Cell 85, 563572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pernollet, J.C. (1978) Protein bodies of seeds: ultrastructure, biochemistry, biosynthesis, and degradation. Phytochemistry 17, 14731480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qi, X., Wilson, K.A. and Tan-Wilson, A.L. (1992) Characterization of the major protease involved in the soybean b-conglycinin storage protein mobilization. Plant Physiology 99, 725733.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodrigo, I., Vera, P., Van Look, L.C. and Conejero, V. (1991) Degradation of tobacco pathogenesis-related proteins. Plant Physiology 95, 616622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rodrigo, I., Vera, P. and Conejero, V. (1989) Degradation of tomato pathogenesis-related proteins by an endogenous 37-kDa aspartyl endoproteinase. European Journal of Biochemistry 184, 663669.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Runeberg-Roos, P., Kervinen, J., Kovaleva, V., Raikhel, N.V. and Gal, S. (1994) The aspartic proteinase of barley is a vacuolar enzyme that processes probarley lectin in vitro. Plant Physiology 105, 321329.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Runeberg-Roos, P., Törmäkangas, K. and Östman, A. (1991) Primary structure of a barley-grain aspartic proteinase. A plant aspartic proteinase resembling mammalian cathepsin D. European Journal of Biochemistry 202, 10211027.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaller, A. and Ryan, C.A. (1996) Molecular cloning of a tomato leaf cDNA encoding an aspartic protease, a systemic wound response protein. Plant Molecular Biology 31, 10731077.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shirzadegan, M., Christie, P. and Seemann, J.R. (1991) An efficient method for isolation of RNA from tissue cultured plant cells. Nucleic Acids Research 19, 6055.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, P.K., Krohn, R.I., Hermanson, G.T., Mallia, A.K., Gartner, F.H., Provenzano, A.D., Fujmato, E.K., Goeke, N.M., Olson, B.J. and Klenk, D.C. (1985) Measurement of protein using bicinchoninic acid. Analytical Biochemistry 150, 7685.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strzalka, K., Hara-Nishimura, I. and Nishimura, M., (1995) Changes in physical properties of vacuolar membrane during transformation of protein bodies in to vacuoles in germinating pumpkin seeds. Biochimica Biophysica Acta. 1239 (2), 103110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swanson, S.J., Bethke, P.C. and Jones, R.L. (1998) Barley aleurone cells contain two types of vacuoles: characterization of lytic organelles by use of fluorescent probes. Plant Cell 10, 685698.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tökés, Z.A., Woon, W.C. and Chambers, S.M. (1974) Digestive enzymes secreted by the carnivorous plant Nepenthes macferlanei L. Planta 119, 3946.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Törmäkangas, K., Kervinen, J., Östman, A. and Teeri, T. (1994) Tissue-specific localization of aspartic proteinase in developing and germinating barley grains. Planta 195, 116125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Der Wilden, W. and Chrispeels, M.J. (1983) Characterization of the isozymes of -mannosidase located in the cell wall, protein bodies and endoplasmic reticulum of Phaseolus vulgaris cotyledons. Plant Physiology 71, 8287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yatsu, L.Y. and Jacks, T.J. (1968) Association of lysosomal activity with aleurone grains in plant seeds. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 124, 466471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed