Production of native and modified recombinant Der p 1 molecules in tobacco plants.

BACKGROUND: As a complex molecule requiring post-translational processing, it has been difficult to produce the Der p 1 major allergen from the Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus house dust mite in a recombinant form. OBJECTIVE: Here, we tested whether transgenic tobacco plants are suitable to express Der p 1, either as a wild-type molecule or as variants lacking N-glycosylation sites (Gly(-)) and/or cysteine protease activity (Enz(-)). Methods Using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-based transformation, pro Der p 1 molecules bearing mutations within either the N-glycosylation sites (N34Q, N150Q) and/or the cysteine protease-active site (C132V) were expressed in tobacco plants. After purification by ion exchange chromatography, allergens were characterized using immunoblotting, circular dichroism (CD), as well as basophil and T lymphocyte stimulation assays. RESULTS: Four forms of recombinant Der p 1 (i.e. wild-type Gly(+)/Enz(+), as well as Gly(-)/Enz(+), Gly(+)/Enz(-) or Gly(-)/Enz(-) variants) were successfully expressed in tobacco leaves as pro Der p 1 molecules. Spontaneous cleavage of the pro-peptide was observed in tobacco leaf extracts for all forms of recombinant Der p 1 (r Der p 1). CD confirmed that all r Der p 1 molecules, with the exception of the Gly(-)/Enz(-) variant, exhibited secondary structures comparable to the natural protein. A cysteine protease activity was associated only with the Gly(+)/Enz(+) form. All these molecules exhibit a profile similar to natural Der p 1 with respect to IgE immunoreactivity, basophil activation and T cell recognition. CONCLUSION: A tobacco plant expression system allows the production of various forms of mature Der p 1, which could be used for diagnostic or immunotherapeutic purposes.

Arabidopsis polyamine biosynthesis: absence of ornithine decarboxylase and the mechanism of arginine decarboxylase activity.

Unlike other eukaryotes, which can synthesize polyamines only from ornithine, plants possess an additional pathway from arginine. Occasionally non-enzymatic decarboxylation of ornithine could be detected in Arabidopsis extracts; however, we could not detect ornithine decarboxylase (ODC; EC 4. 1.1.17) enzymatic activity or any activity inhibitory to the ODC assay. There are no intact or degraded ODC sequences in the Arabidopsis genome and no ODC expressed sequence tags. Arabidopsis is therefore the only plant and one of only two eukaryotic organisms (the other being the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi) that have been demonstrated to lack ODC activity. As ODC is a key enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis, Arabidopsis is reliant on the additional arginine decarboxylase (ADC; EC 4.1.1.9) pathway, found only in plants and some bacteria, to synthesize putrescine. By using site-directed mutants of the Arabidopsis ADC1 and heterologous expression in yeast, we show that ADC, like ODC, is a head-to-tail homodimer with two active sites acting in trans across the interface of the dimer. Amino acids K136 and C524 of Arabidopsis ADC1 are essential for activity and participate in separate active sites. Maximal activity of Arabidopsis ADC1 in yeast requires the presence of general protease genes, and it is likely that dimer formation precedes proteolytic processing of the ADC pre-protein monomer.

Characterization of monocot and dicot plant S-adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase gene families including identification in the mRNA of a highly conserved pair of upstream overlapping open reading frames.

S-Adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase (AdoMetDC; EC 4.1.1.50) is one of the key regulatory enzymes in the biosynthesis of polyamines. Isolation of genomic and cDNA sequences from rice and Arabidopsis had indicated that this enzyme is encoded by a small multigene family in monocot and dicot plants. Analysis of rice, maize and Arabidopsis AdoMetDC cDNA species revealed that the monocot enzyme possesses an extended C-terminus relative to dicot and human enzymes. Interestingly, we discovered that all expressed plant AdoMetDC mRNA 5' leader sequences contain a highly conserved pair of overlapping upstream open reading frames (uORFs) that overlap by one base. The 5' tiny uORF consists of two or three codons and the 3' small uORF encodes 50-54 residues. Sequences of the small uORFs are highly conserved between monocot, dicot and gymnosperm AdoMetDC mRNA species and the C-terminus of the plant small uORFs is conserved with the C-terminus of nematode AdoMetDC uORFs; such a conserved arrangement is strongly suggestive of a translational regulatory mechanism. No introns were found in the main AdoMetDC proenzyme ORF from any of the plant genes encoding AdoMetDC, whereas introns were found in conserved positions flanking the overlapping uORFs. The absence of the furthest 3' intron from the Arabidopsis gene encoding AdoMetDC2 suggests that this intron was lost recently. Reverse-transcriptase-mediated PCR analysis of the two Arabidopsis genes for AdoMetDC indicated that AdoMetDC1 is abundant and ubiquitous, whereas the gene for AdoMetDC2 is expressed preferentially in leaves and inflorescences. Investigation of recently released Arabidopsis genome sequences has revealed that in addition to the two genes encoding AdoMetDC isolated as part of the present work, four additional genes are present in Arabidopsis but they are probably not expressed.

ACAULIS5, an Arabidopsis gene required for stem elongation, encodes a spermine synthase.

Polyamines have been implicated in a wide range of biological processes, including growth and development in bacteria and animals, but their function in higher plants is unclear. Here we show that the Arabidopsis: ACAULIS5 (ACL5) gene, whose inactivation causes a defect in the elongation of stem internodes by reducing cell expansion, encodes a protein that shares sequence similarity with the polyamine biosynthetic enzymes spermidine synthase and spermine synthase. Expression of the recombinant ACL5 protein in Escherichia coli showed that ACL5 possesses spermine synthase activity. Restoration of the acl5 mutant phenotype by somatic reversion of a transposon-induced allele suggests a non-cell-autonomous function for the ACL5 gene product. We also found that expression of the ACL5 cDNA under the control of a heat shock gene promoter in acl5 mutant plants restores the phenotype in a heat shock-dependent manner. The results of the experiments showed that polyamines play an essential role in promotion of internode elongation through cell expansion in Arabidopsis: We discuss the relationships to plant growth regulators such as auxin and gibberellins that have related functions.

Overexpression of arginine decarboxylase in transgenic plants.

The activity of arginine decarboxylase (ADC), a key enzyme in plant polyamine biosynthesis, was manipulated in two generations of transgenic tobacco plants. Second-generation transgenic plants overexpressing an oat ADC cDNA contained high levels of oat ADC transcript relative to tobacco ADC, possessed elevated ADC enzyme activity and accumulated 10-20-fold more agmatine, the direct product of ADC. In the presence of high levels of the precursor agmatine, no increase in the levels of the polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine was detected in the transgenic plants. Similarly, the activities of ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase were unchanged. No diversion of polyamine metabolism into the hydroxycinnamic acid-polyamine conjugate pool or into the tobacco alkaloid nicotine was detected. Activity of the catabolic enzyme diamine oxidase was the same in transgenic and control plants. The elevated ADC activity and agmatine production were subjected to a metabolic/physical block preventing increased, i.e. deregulated, polyamine accumulation. Overaccumulation of agmatine in the transgenic plants did not affect morphological development.

Attenuation of the Phenotype Caused by the Root-Inducing, Left-Hand, Transferred DNA and Its rolA Gene (Correlations with Changes in Polyamine Metabolism and DNA Methylation).

We present four examples of attenuation of the transformed phenotype caused by the root-inducing, left-hand, transferred DNA from Agrobacterium rhizogenes in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). The first was associated with a genetic variable (homozygosity for the T-DNA), and the second was induced at the physiological level by putrescine and tyramine, suggesting that the transformed phenotype depends on defective polyamine metabolism. Physiological attenuation is further illustrated in the third example, in which the inhibition of flowering caused by P35S-rolA, a gene from the root-inducing, left-hand, transferred DNA driven by a strong viral promoter, was attenuated by grafting the transformed shoot onto non-transformed rootstock that had been induced to flower. Infertility in the resulting flowers was corrected by a mixture of putrescine and tyramine, indicating that P35S-rolA inhibited flowering through interference with polyamine conjugation and that tyramine was essential to fertility. A fourth example of attenuation of the transformed phenotype occurred in lateral branches of plants expressing rolA under the control of its native promoter. In these branches, reduction in the accumulation of rolA transcripts was correlated with the methylation of a site 3[prime] to the rolA coding sequence; thus, the transformed plant seems capable of recognizing and repressing a gene that interferes with flowering.

Molecular cloning and functional identification of a plant ornithine decarboxylase cDNA.

A cDNA for a plant ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), a key enzyme in putrescine and polyamine biosynthesis, has been isolated from root cultures of the solanaceous plant Datura stramonium. Reverse transcription-PCR employing degenerate oligonucleotide primers representing conserved motifs from other eukaryotic ODCs was used to isolate the cDNA. The longest open reading frame potentially encodes a peptide of 431 amino acids and exhibits similarity to other eukaryotic ODCs, prokaryotic and eukaryotic arginine decarboxylases (ADCs), prokaryotic meso-diaminopimelate decarboxylases and the product of the tabA gene of Pseudomonas syringae cv. tabaci. Residues involved at the active site of the mouse ODC are conserved in the plant enzyme. The plant ODC does not possess the C-terminal extension found in the mammalian enzyme, implicated in rapid turnover of the protein, suggesting that the plant ODC may have a longer half-life. Expression of the plant ODC in Escherichia coli and demonstration of ODC activity confirmed that the cDNA encodes an active ODC enzyme. This is the first description of the primary structure of a eukaryotic ODC isolated from an organism where the alternative ADC routine to putrescine is present.

alpha-dl-Difluoromethylornithine, a Specific, Irreversible Inhibitor of Putrescine Biosynthesis, Induces a Phenotype in Tobacco Similar to That Ascribed to the Root-Inducing, Left-Hand Transferred DNA of Agrobacterium rhizogenes.

alpha-dl-Difluoromethylarginine (DFMA) and alpha-dl-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), specific irreversible inhibitors of putrescine biosynthesis were applied to Nicotiana tabacum var. Xanthi nc during floral induction. DFMO, but not DFMA, induced a phenotype in tobacco that resembles the transformed phenotype attributed to the root-inducing, left-hand, transferred DNA of Agrobacterium rhizogenes, including wrinkled leaves, shortened internodes, reduced apical dominance, and retarded flowering. Similar treatment of transformed plants (T phenotype) accentuated their phenotypic abnormalities. Cyclohexylammonium and methylglyoxal bis (guanylhydrazone), inhibitors of spermidine and spermine biosynthesis, produced reproductive abnormalities, but did not clearly mimic the transformed phenotype. This work strengthens the previously reported correlation between the degree of expression of the transformed phenotype due to the root-inducing, left-hand, transferred DNA and inhibition of polyamine accumulation, strongly suggesting that genes carried by the root-inducing, transferred DNA may act through interference with polyamine production via the ornithine pathway.

Polyamines, hydroxycinnamoylputrescines, and root formation in leaf explants of tobacco cultivated in vitro: effects of the suicide inhibitors of putrescine synthesis.

In vitro formation of roots is obtained directly, without intermediate growth of callus, from foliar explants of a tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plant cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium containing IAA. Auxin-induced root formation was accompanied by significant changes in hydroxycinnamoylputrescine levels. Increasing levels were found in leaf explants during the first 14 days in culture; this was followed by a sharp decline after 20 days. Early changes in putrescine conjugates were detected in leaf explants before the visible appearance of roots. An early and transitory accumulation of hydroxycinnamoylputrescines was observed in the roots. Free polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) in leaf explants and roots were always at a low level and only small changes in their concentrations were observed, alpha-dl-difluoromethylarginine and alpha-dl-difluoromethylornithine, specific, irreversible inhibitors of arginine decarboxylase and ornithine decarboxylase, respectively, inhibited putrescine accumulation and root initiation and reduced the fresh and dry weights of leaf explants. These effects were reversed by free putrescine or hydroxycinnamoylputrescines. The results reported here suggest that hydroxycinnamoylputrescines are associated with root formation. The relationship among free polyamines, hydroxycinnamoylputrescines, cell division, and root formation is discussed.

Inverse Relationship between Polyamine Levels and the Degree of Phenotypic Alteration Induced by the Root-Inducing, Left-Hand Transferred DNA from Agrobacterium rhizogenes.

Floral induction in plants is a paradigm for signal perception, transduction, and physiological response. The introduction of root-inducing, left-hand transferred DNA (Ri T-DNA) into the genomes of several plants results in modifications of flowering (D Tepfer [1984] Cell 47: 959-967), including a delay in flowering in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Conjugated polyamines are markers for flowering in numerous species of plants. In tobacco their accumulation is correlated with the onset of flowering (F Cabanne et al. [1981] Physiol Plant 53: 399-404). Using tobacco, we have explored the possibility of a correlation between the expression of Ri TL-DNA and changes in polyamine metabolism. We made use of two levels of phenotypic change, designated T and T', that retard flowering by 5 to 10 and 15 to 20 days, respectively. We show that delay in flowering is correlated with a reduction in polyamine accumulation and with a delay in appearance of conjugated polyamines, and we propose that genes carried by the Ri TL-DNA intervene either directly in polyamine metabolism or that polyamine metabolism is closely linked to direct effects of Ri T-DNA expression.

Effects of the suicide inhibitors of arginine and ornithine decarboxylase activities on organogenesis, growth, free polyamine and hydroxycinnamoyl putrescine levels in leaf explants of Nicotiana xanthi N.C. Cultivated in vitro in a medium producing callus formation.

We studied the effects of dl-alpha-difluoromethylarginine (DFMA) and dl-alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), specific, irreversible inhibitors of arginine decarboxylase (ADC) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), respectively, on organogenesis growth and titers of free polyamines and conjugated putrescines (hydroxycinnamoyl putrescines) in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv Xanthi n.c.) calli. These results suggest that ADC and ODC regulate putrescine biosynthesis during early and later stages of tobacco callus development, respectively. ADC appears active in biosynthesis of large levels of free amines (agmatine and putrescine) while ODC appears active only in biosynthesis of large levels of putrescine conjugates (hydroxycinnamoyl putrescines). DFMA inhibits the fresh and dry weight increases of tobacco calli, whereas DFMO even promoted the fresh and dry weight increases, thus supporting the view that ADC is important for cell division and callus induction. Inhibition of ODC activity by DFMO resulting in an amide deficiency after 4 weeks of culture facilates the expression of differentiated cell functions. Formation of buds is associated with a significant decrease of hydroxycinnamoyl putrescines.