Saltational evolution of the heterotrimeric G protein signaling mechanisms in the plant kingdom.

Signaling proteins evolved diverse interactions to provide specificity for distinct stimuli. Signaling complexity in the G protein (heterotrimeric guanosine triphosphate-binding protein) network was achieved in animals through subunit duplication and incremental evolution. By combining comprehensive and quantitative phenotypic profiles of Arabidopsis thaliana with protein evolution informatics, we found that plant heterotrimeric G protein machinery evolved by a saltational (jumping) process. Sequence similarity scores mapped onto tertiary structures, and biochemical validation showed that the extra-large Gα (XLG) subunit evolved extensively in the charophycean algae (an aquatic green plant) by gene duplication and gene fusion. In terrestrial plants, further evolution uncoupled XLG from its negative regulator, regulator of G protein signaling, but preserved an α-helix region that enables interaction with its partner Gßγ. The ancestral gene evolved slowly due to the molecular constraints imposed by the need for the protein to maintain interactions with various partners, whereas the genes encoding XLG proteins evolved rapidly to produce three highly divergent members. Analysis of A. thaliana mutants indicated that these Gα and XLG proteins all function with Gßγ and evolved to operate both independently and cooperatively. The XLG-Gßγ machinery specialized in environmental stress responses, whereas the canonical Gα-Gßγ retained developmental roles. Some developmental processes, such as shoot development, involve both Gα and XLG acting cooperatively or antagonistically. These extensive and rapid evolutionary changes in XLG structure compared to those of the canonical Gα subunit contrast with the accepted notion of how pathway diversification occurs through gene duplication with subsequent incremental coevolution of residues among interacting proteins.

Signaling specificity provided by the Arabidopsis thaliana heterotrimeric G-protein γ subunits AGG1 and AGG2 is partially but not exclusively provided through transcriptional regulation.

The heterotrimeric G-protein complex in Arabidopsis thaliana consists of one α, one ß and three γ subunits. While two of the γ subunits, AGG1 and AGG2 have been shown to provide functional selectivity to the Gßγ dimer in Arabidopsis, it is unclear if such selectivity is embedded in their molecular structures or conferred by the different expression patterns observed in both subunits. In order to study the molecular basis for such selectivity we tested genetic complementation of AGG1- and AGG2 driven by the respectively swapped gene promoters. When expressed in the same tissues as AGG1, AGG2 rescues some agg1 mutant phenotypes such as the hypersensitivity to Fusarium oxysporum and D-mannitol as well as the altered levels of lateral roots, but does not rescue the early flowering phenotype. Similarly, AGG1 when expressed in the same tissues as AGG2 rescues the osmotic stress and lateral-root phenotypes observed in agg2 mutants but failed to rescue the heat-stress induction of flowering. The fact that AGG1 and AGG2 are functionally interchangeable in some pathways implies that, at least for those pathways, signaling specificity resides in the distinctive spatiotemporal expression patterns exhibited by each γ subunit. On the other hand, the lack of complementation for some phenotypes indicates that there are pathways in which signaling specificity is provided by differences in the primary AGG1 and AGG2 amino acid sequences.

Gγ1+Gγ2+Gγ3=Gß: the search for heterotrimeric G-protein γ subunits in Arabidopsis is over.

In Arabidopsis, heterotrimeric G-proteins consist of one Gα (GPA1), one Gß (AGB1) and three Gγ (AGG1, AGG2 and AGG3) subunits. Gß and Gγ subunits function as obligate heterodimers, therefore any phenotypes observed in Gß-deficient mutants should be apparent in Gγ-deficient mutants. Nevertheless, the first two Gγ subunits discovered failed to explain many of the phenotypes shown by the agb1 mutants in Arabidopsis, prompting the search for additional Gγ subunits. The recent discovery of an additional, although quite atypical, Gγ subunit in Arabidopsis (AGG3) has helped to complete the picture and explains almost all of the missing agb1 'orphan' phenotypes. There is nevertheless still one unexplained phenotype, the reduction in rosette size reported for agb1, that has not been observed in any of the individual agg mutants or the double agg1agg2 mutant. We have now created a triple gamma mutant (agg1agg2agg3) in Arabidopsis and show that it recapitulates the remaining 'orphan'agb1 phenotypes. Triple agg1agg2agg3 mutants show the reduction in rosette size previously observed in agb1 mutants. In addition we show that small differences in flower and silique size observed between agb1 and agg3 mutants are also accounted for by the triple agg1agg2agg3 mutant. Our results strongly suggest that there are no additional members of the G-protein family remaining to be discovered in Arabidopsis.

Quorum-sensing regulation of adhesion in Serratia marcescens MG1 is surface dependent.

Serratia marcescens is an opportunistic pathogen and a major cause of ocular infections. In previous studies of S. marcescens MG1, we showed that biofilm maturation and sloughing were regulated by N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-based quorum sensing (QS). Because of the importance of adhesion in initiating biofilm formation and infection, the primary goal of this study was to determine whether QS is important in adhesion to both abiotic and biotic surfaces, as assessed by determining the degree of attachment to hydrophilic tissue culture plates and human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells. Our results demonstrate that while adhesion to the abiotic surface was AHL regulated, adhesion to the HCE cell biotic surface was not. Type I fimbriae were identified as the critical adhesin for non-QS-mediated attachment to the biotic HCE cell surface but played no role in adhesion to the abiotic surface. While we were not able to identify a single QS-regulated adhesin essential for attachment to the abiotic surface, four AHL-regulated genes involved in adhesion to the abiotic surface were identified. Interestingly, two of these genes, bsmA and bsmB, were also shown to be involved in adhesion to the biotic surface in a non-QS-controlled fashion. Therefore, the expression of these two genes appears to be cocontrolled by regulators other than the QS system for mediation of attachment to HCE cells. We also found that QS in S. marcescens regulates other potential cell surface adhesins, including exopolysaccharide and the outer membrane protein OmpX. We concluded that S. marcescens MG1 utilizes different regulatory systems and adhesins in attachment to biotic and abiotic surfaces and that QS is a main regulatory pathway in adhesion to an abiotic surface but not in adhesion to a biotic surface.