Two genes in Arabidopsis thaliana encoding GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase are required for ascorbate biosynthesis and seedling viability.

Plants synthesize ascorbate from guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-mannose via L-galactose/L-gulose, although uronic acids have also been proposed as precursors. Genes encoding all the enzymes of the GDP-mannose pathway have previously been identified, with the exception of the step that converts GDP-L-galactose to L-galactose 1-P. We show that a GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase, encoded by the Arabidopsis thaliana VTC2 gene, catalyses this step in the ascorbate biosynthetic pathway. Furthermore, a homologue of VTC2, At5g55120, encodes a second GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase with similar properties to VTC2. Two At5g55120 T-DNA insertion mutants (vtc5-1 and vtc5-2) have 80% of the wild-type ascorbate level. Double mutants were produced by crossing the loss-of-function vtc2-1 mutant with each of the two vtc5 alleles. These show growth arrest immediately upon germination and the cotyledons subsequently bleach. Normal growth was restored by supplementation with ascorbate or L-galactose, indicating that both enzymes are necessary for ascorbate generation. vtc2-1 leaves contain more mannose 6-P than wild-type. We conclude that the GDP-mannose pathway is the only significant source of ascorbate in A. thaliana seedlings, and that ascorbate is essential for seedling growth. A. thaliana leaves accumulate more ascorbate after acclimatization to high light intensity. VTC2 expression and GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase activity rapidly increase on transfer to high light, but the activity of other enzymes in the GDP-mannose pathway is little affected. VTC2 and At5g55120 (VTC5) expression also peak in at the beginning of the light cycle and are controlled by the circadian clock. The GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase step may therefore play an important role in controlling ascorbate biosynthesis.

Arabidopsis thaliana VTC4 encodes L-galactose-1-P phosphatase, a plant ascorbic acid biosynthetic enzyme.

In plants, a proposed ascorbate (vitamin C) biosynthesis pathway occurs via GDP-D-mannose (GDP-D-Man), GDP-L-galactose (GDP-L-Gal), and L-galactose. However, the steps involved in the synthesis of L-Gal from GDP-L-Gal in planta are not fully characterized. Here we present evidence for an in vivo role for L-Gal-1-P phosphatase in plant ascorbate biosynthesis. We have characterized a low ascorbate mutant (vtc4-1) of Arabidopsis thaliana, which exhibits decreased ascorbate biosynthesis. Genetic mapping and sequencing of the VTC4 locus identified a mutation (P92L) in a gene with predicted L-Gal-1-P phosphatase activity (At3g02870). Pro-92 is within a beta-bulge that is conserved in related myo-inositol monophosphatases. The mutation is predicted to disrupt the positioning of catalytic amino acid residues within the active site. Accordingly, L-Gal-1-P phosphatase activity in vtc4-1 was approximately 50% of wild-type plants. In addition, vtc4-1 plants incorporate significantly more radiolabel from [2-(3)H]Man into L-galactosyl residues suggesting that the mutation increases the availability of GDP-L-Gal for polysaccharide synthesis. Finally, a homozygous T-DNA insertion line, which lacks a functional At3g02870 gene product, is also ascorbate-deficient (50% of wild type) and deficient in L-Gal-1-P phosphatase activity. Genetic complementation tests revealed that the insertion mutant and VTC4-1 are alleles of the same genetic locus. The significantly lower ascorbate and perturbed L-Gal metabolism in vtc4-1 and the T-DNA insertion mutant indicate that L-Gal-1-P phosphatase plays a role in plant ascorbate biosynthesis. The presence of ascorbate in the T-DNA insertion mutant suggests there is a bypass to this enzyme or that other pathways also contribute to ascorbate biosynthesis.

Controlled protein precipitation in combination with chip-based nanospray infusion mass spectrometry. An approach for metabolomics profiling of plasma.

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is a common method for profiling biological samples in metabolomics. However, LC-MS data of metabolomic studies are often affected by high noise levels, retention time shifts, and high variability in signal intensities. With a new chip-based nanoelectrospray source it becomes possible to directly infuse complex biological samples such as plasma without any chromatographic separation beforehand. In combination with highly diluted samples and long data acquisition times, the parallel analysis of hundreds of compounds is now possible. In a proof-of-concept study, 10 human plasma samples from females and males were analyzed with the intention to separate the two groups by their different metabolomes. The reproducibility was so high that statistical analysis of the data could be performed without prior normalization. Two groups of female and male samples were separated by a supervised machine learning algorithm, principal component analysis, and hierarchical clustering. Peaks contributing to the group separation were characterized by accurate mass measurement and MS-MS fragmentation and by spiking experiments. The feasibility of direct sample infusion using the new chip-based nanoelectrospray device opens a new dimension for the rapid parallel analysis of complex biological mixtures.

Antisense suppression of l-galactose dehydrogenase in Arabidopsis thaliana provides evidence for its role in ascorbate synthesis and reveals light modulated l-galactose synthesis.

l-Galactose dehydrogenase (l-GalDH), a novel enzyme that oxidizes l-Gal to l-galactono-1,4-lactone (l-GalL), has been purified from pea seedlings and cloned from Arabidopsis thaliana. l-GalL is a proposed substrate for ascorbate biosynthesis in plants, therefore the function of l-GalDH in ascorbate biosynthesis was investigated by overexpression in tobacco and antisense suppression in A. thaliana. In tobacco the highest expressing lines had a 3.5-fold increase in extractable activity, but this did not increase leaf ascorbate concentration. Arabidopsis thaliana, transformed with an antisense l-GalDH construct, produced lines with 30% of wild-type activity. These had lower leaf ascorbate concentration when grown under high light conditions. l-Gal pool size increased in antisense transformants with low l-GalDH activity, and l-Gal concentration was negatively correlated with ascorbate. The results provide direct evidence for a role of l-GalDH in ascorbate biosynthesis. Ascorbate pool size in A. thaliana is increased by acclimation to high light, but l-GalDH expression was not affected. l-Gal accumulation was higher in antisense plants acclimated to high light, indicating that the capacity to synthesize l-Gal from GDP-mannose is increased. Because the only known function of l-GalL is ascorbate synthesis, these antisense plants provide an opportunity to investigate ascorbate function with minimal effects on carbohydrate metabolism. Measurements of other antioxidants revealed an increase in ascorbate- and pyrogallol-dependent peroxidase activity in low-ascorbate lines. As ascorbate is the major hydrogen peroxide-scavenging antioxidant in plants, this could indicate a compensatory mechanism for controlling hydrogen peroxide concentration.