Davide Guerra | Consiglio per la Ricerca e Sperimentazione in Agricoltura (original) (raw)
Papers by Davide Guerra
Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 2013
Post-translational modifications (PTMs) chemically and physically alter the properties of protein... more Post-translational modifications (PTMs) chemically and physically alter the properties of proteins, including their folding, subcellular localization, stability, activity, and consequently their function. In spite of their relevance, studies on PTMs in plants are still limited. Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO) modification regulates several biological processes by affecting protein-protein interactions, or changing the subcellular localizations of the target proteins. Here, we describe a novel proteomic approach to identify SUMO targets that combines 2-D liquid chromatography, immunodetection, and mass spectrometry (MS) analyses. We have applied this approach to identify nuclear SUMO targets in response to heat shock. Using a bacterial SUMOylation system, we validated that some of the targets identified here are, in fact, labeled with SUMO1. Interestingly, we found that GIGANTEA (GI), a photoperiodic-pathway protein, is modified with SUMO in response to heat shock both in vitro and in vivo.
Frontiers in plant science, 2015
Drought and heat tolerance are complex quantitative traits. Moreover, the adaptive significance o... more Drought and heat tolerance are complex quantitative traits. Moreover, the adaptive significance of some stress-related traits is more related to plant survival than to agronomic performance. A web of regulatory mechanisms fine-tunes the expression of stress-related traits and integrates both environmental and developmental signals. Both post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications contribute substantially to this network with a pivotal regulatory function of the transcriptional changes related to cellular and plant stress response. Alternative splicing and RNA-mediated silencing control the amount of specific transcripts, while ubiquitin and SUMO modify activity, sub-cellular localization and half-life of proteins. Interactions across these modification mechanisms ensure temporally and spatially appropriate patterns of downstream-gene expression. For key molecular components of these regulatory mechanisms, natural genetic diversity exists among genotypes with different ...
Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 2015
The Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccum (2n = 4x = 28) accession MG5323 showed a useful level of resi... more The Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccum (2n = 4x = 28) accession MG5323 showed a useful level of resistance to leaf rust disease. A segregating population of 110 recombinant inbred lines (RILs)
Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold in a Changing World, 2013
Crop Stress and its Management: Perspectives and Strategies, 2011
... and Sinclair 2002) . Although intraspecific variability for OA and the asso-ciation between O... more ... and Sinclair 2002) . Although intraspecific variability for OA and the asso-ciation between OA and grain yield maintenance under drought stress have been reported in a number of crop species (Chimenti et al. 2006) , the correlation ...
... GUERRA D.*, MASTRANGELO AM**, POZO JC***, SCHWEIZER P.**** CATTIVELLI L.*, MAZZUCOTELLI E.** ... more ... GUERRA D.*, MASTRANGELO AM**, POZO JC***, SCHWEIZER P.**** CATTIVELLI L.*, MAZZUCOTELLI E.** *) CRA – Genomic Research Centre, Via S. Protaso 302, 29017 Fiorenzuola d'Arda (Piacenza, Italy) **) CRA – Cereal Research Centre, SS 16 Km 675, 71100 ...
Plant Signaling & Behavior, 2012
Determining the half-life of proteins, ubiquitination plays a fundamental role in the regulation ... more Determining the half-life of proteins, ubiquitination plays a fundamental role in the regulation of cellular processes through the proteasome-mediated protein degradation. Main actors of this theme are the E3 ubiquitin ligases which specifically recruit the protein targets for ubiquitination. 1 Further, ubiquitination enzymes can crosstalk, providing an additional layer of ubiquitin-dependent control on cellular activities. The ubiquitin proteasome system strongly impacts on the signaling pathways of abiotic stress tolerance, including those dependent by ABA. 2 The control of the E3 ligases on stress response can be exerted through the suppression of stress signaling pathways during favorable growth conditions, the degradation of negative regulators of stress response upon stress exposition, or the attenuation of stress signaling pathways for further growth once environmental conditions have improved. In a previous paper we showed that WVIP2 3 and TdRF1 are two RING finger proteins of durum wheat (Triticum durum) with a demonstrated ubiquitin ligases activity. 4 The corresponding genes are stress responsive, both upregulated upon cold treatment and downregulated by ABA, and with contrasting behavior in response to dehydration, with TdRF1 upregulated and WVIP2 downregulated. Further, transient induced gene silencing experiments suggested a positive and negative effect for TdRF1 and WVIP2, respectively, on tolerance to dehydration in vitro.
Plant Science, 2008
The molecular response of plants to abiotic stresses has been often considered as a complex proce... more The molecular response of plants to abiotic stresses has been often considered as a complex process mainly based on the modulation of transcriptional activity of stress-related genes. Nevertheless, recent findings have suggested new layers of regulation and complexity. Upstream molecular mechanisms are involved in the plant response to abiotic stress, above all in the regulation of timings and amount of specific stress responses. Post-transcriptional mechanisms based on alternative splicing and RNA processing, as well as RNA silencing define the actual transcriptome supporting the stress response. Beyond protein phosphorylation, other post-translational modifications like ubiquitination and sumoylation regulate the activation of pre-existing molecules to ensure a prompt response to stress. In addition, cross-connections exist among these mechanisms, clearly demonstrating further and superimposed complexity levels in the response to environmental changes. Even if not widely identified, the targets of these mechanisms characterised so far are mainly regulatory elements of the stress response pathways. The network of post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications ensures temporally and spatially appropriate patterns of downstream stress-related gene expression. Future attempts of plant engineering could exploit insights from a deeper comprehension of these emerging sites of regulation of stress responses to develop stress resistant plants. #
Plant physiology, 2012
Plants exploit ubiquitination to modulate the proteome with the final aim to ensure environmental... more Plants exploit ubiquitination to modulate the proteome with the final aim to ensure environmental adaptation and developmental plasticity. Ubiquitination targets are specifically driven to degradation through the action of E3 ubiquitin ligases. Genetic analyses have indicated wide functions of ubiquitination in plant life; nevertheless, despite the large number of predicted E3s, only a few of them have been characterized so far, and only a few ubiquitination targets are known. In this work, we characterized durum wheat (Triticum durum) RING Finger1 (TdRF1) as a durum wheat nuclear ubiquitin ligase. Moreover, its barley (Hordeum vulgare) homolog was shown to protect cells from dehydration stress. A protein network interacting with TdRF1 has been defined. The transcription factor WHEAT BEL1-TYPE HOMEODOMAIN1 (WBLH1) was degraded in a TdRF1-dependent manner through the 26S proteasome in vivo, the mitogen-activated protein kinase TdWNK5 [for Triticum durum WITH NO LYSINE (K)5] was able ...
Current Genomics, 2006
The regulation of protein expression and activity has been for long time considered only in terms... more The regulation of protein expression and activity has been for long time considered only in terms of transcription/translation efficiency. In the last years, the discovery of post-transcriptional and post-translational regulation mechanisms pointed out that the key factor in determining transcript/protein amount is the synthesis/degradation ratio, together with post-translational modifications of proteins. Polyubiquitinaytion marks target proteins directed to degradation mediated by 26S-proteasome. Recent functional genomics studies pointed out that about 5% of Arabidopsis genome codes for proteins of ubiquitination pathway. The most of them (more than one thousand genes) correspond to E3 ubiquitin ligases that specifically recognise target proteins. The huge size of this gene family, whose members are involved in regulation of a number of biological processes including hormonal control of vegetative growth, plant reproduction, light response, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and DNA repair, indicates a major role for protein degradation in control of plant life.
To cite th is article / Pou r citer cet article -Expression an alysis of gen es in volved in resp... more To cite th is article / Pou r citer cet article -Expression an alysis of gen es in volved in respon se to drou gh t stress in wh eat.
Molecular Biotechnology, 2012
Extensive insights into the genome composition, organization, and evolution have been gained from... more Extensive insights into the genome composition, organization, and evolution have been gained from the plant genome sequencing and annotation ongoing projects. The analysis of crop genomes provided surprising evidences with important implications in plant origin and evolution: genome duplication, ancestral re-arrangements and unexpected polyploidization events opened new doors to address fundamental questions related to species proliferation, adaptation, and functional modulations. Detailed paleogenomic analysis led to many speculation on how chromosomes have been shaped over time in terms of gene content and order. The completion of the genome sequences of several major crops, prompted to a detailed identification and annotation of transposable elements: new hypothesis related to their composition, chromosomal distribution, insertion models, amplification rate, and evolution patterns are coming up. Availability of full genome sequence of several crop species as well as from many accessions within species is providing new keys for biodiversity exploitation and interpretation. Re-sequencing is enabling high-throughput genotyping to identify a wealth of SNP and afterward to produce haplotype maps necessary to accurately associate molecular variation to phenotype.
Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 2013
Post-translational modifications (PTMs) chemically and physically alter the properties of protein... more Post-translational modifications (PTMs) chemically and physically alter the properties of proteins, including their folding, subcellular localization, stability, activity, and consequently their function. In spite of their relevance, studies on PTMs in plants are still limited. Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO) modification regulates several biological processes by affecting protein-protein interactions, or changing the subcellular localizations of the target proteins. Here, we describe a novel proteomic approach to identify SUMO targets that combines 2-D liquid chromatography, immunodetection, and mass spectrometry (MS) analyses. We have applied this approach to identify nuclear SUMO targets in response to heat shock. Using a bacterial SUMOylation system, we validated that some of the targets identified here are, in fact, labeled with SUMO1. Interestingly, we found that GIGANTEA (GI), a photoperiodic-pathway protein, is modified with SUMO in response to heat shock both in vitro and in vivo.
Frontiers in plant science, 2015
Drought and heat tolerance are complex quantitative traits. Moreover, the adaptive significance o... more Drought and heat tolerance are complex quantitative traits. Moreover, the adaptive significance of some stress-related traits is more related to plant survival than to agronomic performance. A web of regulatory mechanisms fine-tunes the expression of stress-related traits and integrates both environmental and developmental signals. Both post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications contribute substantially to this network with a pivotal regulatory function of the transcriptional changes related to cellular and plant stress response. Alternative splicing and RNA-mediated silencing control the amount of specific transcripts, while ubiquitin and SUMO modify activity, sub-cellular localization and half-life of proteins. Interactions across these modification mechanisms ensure temporally and spatially appropriate patterns of downstream-gene expression. For key molecular components of these regulatory mechanisms, natural genetic diversity exists among genotypes with different ...
Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 2015
The Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccum (2n = 4x = 28) accession MG5323 showed a useful level of resi... more The Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccum (2n = 4x = 28) accession MG5323 showed a useful level of resistance to leaf rust disease. A segregating population of 110 recombinant inbred lines (RILs)
Plant and Microbe Adaptations to Cold in a Changing World, 2013
Crop Stress and its Management: Perspectives and Strategies, 2011
... and Sinclair 2002) . Although intraspecific variability for OA and the asso-ciation between O... more ... and Sinclair 2002) . Although intraspecific variability for OA and the asso-ciation between OA and grain yield maintenance under drought stress have been reported in a number of crop species (Chimenti et al. 2006) , the correlation ...
... GUERRA D.*, MASTRANGELO AM**, POZO JC***, SCHWEIZER P.**** CATTIVELLI L.*, MAZZUCOTELLI E.** ... more ... GUERRA D.*, MASTRANGELO AM**, POZO JC***, SCHWEIZER P.**** CATTIVELLI L.*, MAZZUCOTELLI E.** *) CRA – Genomic Research Centre, Via S. Protaso 302, 29017 Fiorenzuola d'Arda (Piacenza, Italy) **) CRA – Cereal Research Centre, SS 16 Km 675, 71100 ...
Plant Signaling & Behavior, 2012
Determining the half-life of proteins, ubiquitination plays a fundamental role in the regulation ... more Determining the half-life of proteins, ubiquitination plays a fundamental role in the regulation of cellular processes through the proteasome-mediated protein degradation. Main actors of this theme are the E3 ubiquitin ligases which specifically recruit the protein targets for ubiquitination. 1 Further, ubiquitination enzymes can crosstalk, providing an additional layer of ubiquitin-dependent control on cellular activities. The ubiquitin proteasome system strongly impacts on the signaling pathways of abiotic stress tolerance, including those dependent by ABA. 2 The control of the E3 ligases on stress response can be exerted through the suppression of stress signaling pathways during favorable growth conditions, the degradation of negative regulators of stress response upon stress exposition, or the attenuation of stress signaling pathways for further growth once environmental conditions have improved. In a previous paper we showed that WVIP2 3 and TdRF1 are two RING finger proteins of durum wheat (Triticum durum) with a demonstrated ubiquitin ligases activity. 4 The corresponding genes are stress responsive, both upregulated upon cold treatment and downregulated by ABA, and with contrasting behavior in response to dehydration, with TdRF1 upregulated and WVIP2 downregulated. Further, transient induced gene silencing experiments suggested a positive and negative effect for TdRF1 and WVIP2, respectively, on tolerance to dehydration in vitro.
Plant Science, 2008
The molecular response of plants to abiotic stresses has been often considered as a complex proce... more The molecular response of plants to abiotic stresses has been often considered as a complex process mainly based on the modulation of transcriptional activity of stress-related genes. Nevertheless, recent findings have suggested new layers of regulation and complexity. Upstream molecular mechanisms are involved in the plant response to abiotic stress, above all in the regulation of timings and amount of specific stress responses. Post-transcriptional mechanisms based on alternative splicing and RNA processing, as well as RNA silencing define the actual transcriptome supporting the stress response. Beyond protein phosphorylation, other post-translational modifications like ubiquitination and sumoylation regulate the activation of pre-existing molecules to ensure a prompt response to stress. In addition, cross-connections exist among these mechanisms, clearly demonstrating further and superimposed complexity levels in the response to environmental changes. Even if not widely identified, the targets of these mechanisms characterised so far are mainly regulatory elements of the stress response pathways. The network of post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications ensures temporally and spatially appropriate patterns of downstream stress-related gene expression. Future attempts of plant engineering could exploit insights from a deeper comprehension of these emerging sites of regulation of stress responses to develop stress resistant plants. #
Plant physiology, 2012
Plants exploit ubiquitination to modulate the proteome with the final aim to ensure environmental... more Plants exploit ubiquitination to modulate the proteome with the final aim to ensure environmental adaptation and developmental plasticity. Ubiquitination targets are specifically driven to degradation through the action of E3 ubiquitin ligases. Genetic analyses have indicated wide functions of ubiquitination in plant life; nevertheless, despite the large number of predicted E3s, only a few of them have been characterized so far, and only a few ubiquitination targets are known. In this work, we characterized durum wheat (Triticum durum) RING Finger1 (TdRF1) as a durum wheat nuclear ubiquitin ligase. Moreover, its barley (Hordeum vulgare) homolog was shown to protect cells from dehydration stress. A protein network interacting with TdRF1 has been defined. The transcription factor WHEAT BEL1-TYPE HOMEODOMAIN1 (WBLH1) was degraded in a TdRF1-dependent manner through the 26S proteasome in vivo, the mitogen-activated protein kinase TdWNK5 [for Triticum durum WITH NO LYSINE (K)5] was able ...
Current Genomics, 2006
The regulation of protein expression and activity has been for long time considered only in terms... more The regulation of protein expression and activity has been for long time considered only in terms of transcription/translation efficiency. In the last years, the discovery of post-transcriptional and post-translational regulation mechanisms pointed out that the key factor in determining transcript/protein amount is the synthesis/degradation ratio, together with post-translational modifications of proteins. Polyubiquitinaytion marks target proteins directed to degradation mediated by 26S-proteasome. Recent functional genomics studies pointed out that about 5% of Arabidopsis genome codes for proteins of ubiquitination pathway. The most of them (more than one thousand genes) correspond to E3 ubiquitin ligases that specifically recognise target proteins. The huge size of this gene family, whose members are involved in regulation of a number of biological processes including hormonal control of vegetative growth, plant reproduction, light response, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and DNA repair, indicates a major role for protein degradation in control of plant life.
To cite th is article / Pou r citer cet article -Expression an alysis of gen es in volved in resp... more To cite th is article / Pou r citer cet article -Expression an alysis of gen es in volved in respon se to drou gh t stress in wh eat.
Molecular Biotechnology, 2012
Extensive insights into the genome composition, organization, and evolution have been gained from... more Extensive insights into the genome composition, organization, and evolution have been gained from the plant genome sequencing and annotation ongoing projects. The analysis of crop genomes provided surprising evidences with important implications in plant origin and evolution: genome duplication, ancestral re-arrangements and unexpected polyploidization events opened new doors to address fundamental questions related to species proliferation, adaptation, and functional modulations. Detailed paleogenomic analysis led to many speculation on how chromosomes have been shaped over time in terms of gene content and order. The completion of the genome sequences of several major crops, prompted to a detailed identification and annotation of transposable elements: new hypothesis related to their composition, chromosomal distribution, insertion models, amplification rate, and evolution patterns are coming up. Availability of full genome sequence of several crop species as well as from many accessions within species is providing new keys for biodiversity exploitation and interpretation. Re-sequencing is enabling high-throughput genotyping to identify a wealth of SNP and afterward to produce haplotype maps necessary to accurately associate molecular variation to phenotype.