Role of glutathione in the growth of Bradyrhizobium sp. (peanut microsymbiont) under different environmental stresses and in symbiosis with the host plant (original) (raw)

Glutathione Plays a Fundamental Role in Growth and Symbiotic Capacity of Sinorhizobium meliloti

Journal of Bacteriology, 2005

Rhizobia form a symbiotic relationship with plants of the legume family to produce nitrogen-fixing root nodules under nitrogen-limiting conditions. We have examined the importance of glutathione (GSH) during free-living growth and symbiosis of Sinorhizobium meliloti. An S. meliloti mutant strain (SmgshA) which is unable to synthesize GSH due to a gene disruption in gshA, encoding the enzyme for the first step in the biosynthesis of GSH, was unable to grow under nonstress conditions, precluding any nodulation. In contrast, an S. meliloti strain (SmgshB) with gshB, encoding the enzyme involved in the second step in GSH synthesis, deleted was able to grow, indicating that ␥-glutamylcysteine, the dipeptide intermediate, can partially substitute for GSH. However, the SmgshB strain showed a delayed-nodulation phenotype coupled to a 75% reduction in the nitrogen fixation capacity. This phenotype was linked to abnormal nodule development. Both the SmgshA and SmgshB mutant strains exhibited higher catalase activity than the wild-type S. meliloti strain, suggesting that both mutant strains are under oxidative stress. Taken together, these results show that GSH plays a critical role in the growth of S. meliloti and during its interaction with the plant partner.

The role of glutathione and glutathione-related enzymes in plant-pathogen interactions

Published in the book: Significance of Glutathione to Plant Adaptation to the Environment, Chapter: 9, Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG, Editors: Dieter Grill, Michael Tausz, Luit J. De Kok, pp.207-239. DOI: 10.1007/0-306-47644-4_9 Abstract. In recent years, the importance of the endogenous plant tripeptide glutathione (GSH) has been increasingly recognized in plant-pathogen interactions due to its contribution to various signaling and defense mechanisms. In this paper the recent developments in the research for possible roles of GSH in infected plants are summarized. GSH participates not only in antioxidative and detoxification reactions but also in redox regulation of the expression of protective genes in infected cells. Several lines of evidence suggest that glutathione S-transferase (GST) isoenzymes also have an important role in plant disease resistance, but their exact functions have remained elusive.

Glutathione plays a fundamental role in growth and symbiotic capacity of Sinorhizobium meliloti

Journal of bacteriology, 2005

Rhizobia form a symbiotic relationship with plants of the legume family to produce nitrogen-fixing root nodules under nitrogen-limiting conditions. We have examined the importance of glutathione (GSH) during free-living growth and symbiosis of Sinorhizobium meliloti. An S. meliloti mutant strain (SmgshA) which is unable to synthesize GSH due to a gene disruption in gshA, encoding the enzyme for the first step in the biosynthesis of GSH, was unable to grow under nonstress conditions, precluding any nodulation. In contrast, an S. meliloti strain (SmgshB) with gshB, encoding the enzyme involved in the second step in GSH synthesis, deleted was able to grow, indicating that gamma-glutamylcysteine, the dipeptide intermediate, can partially substitute for GSH. However, the SmgshB strain showed a delayed-nodulation phenotype coupled to a 75% reduction in the nitrogen fixation capacity. This phenotype was linked to abnormal nodule development. Both the SmgshA and SmgshB mutant strains exhibi...

Role of glutathione and glutathione-related enzymes in response of plants to environmental stress

Published in: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 02/2006; 851(1):251 - 258. DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb09000.x The tripeptide glutathione (GSH, gamma-L-glutamyl-L-cysteinylglycine), and its structural analogues are the principal nonprotein thiol compounds in plants. Following the elucidation of its chemical structure, GSH was soon identified as an antioxidant and later recognized as an essential component of antioxidative and detoxification systems in plant cells. In most tissues, GSH is predominantly present in its reduced form. The regeneration of GSH from oxidized glutathione (GSSG) is catalyzed by glutathione reductase (GR, E.C. 1.6.4.2) enzyme. Elevated GSH levels, GR, and glutathione S-transferase (GST, EC 2.5.1.18) activities were found in plants exposed to a wide range of environmental stress effects2,3 and microbial infections. The physiological basis of the damage suffered by a plant during stress can often be explained as perturbations in oxygen metabolism. An increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been shown to occur in plants exposed to various abiotic and biotic stress effects. Although the adaptive significance of the elevated level of GSH in plants exposed to various stress effects has not been unequivocally established yet, this increased production of GSH seems to contribute to the antioxidative protection of plant cells against stress caused by ROS. In this paper we shall attempt to evaluate the possible roles of GSH and GSH related enzymes in the defense reactions of plants exposed to peroxidizing herbi cides, heavy metals, and biotic stress effects.

Identification of PAD2 as a γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase highlights the importance of glutathione in disease resistance of Arabidopsis: Glutathione deficiency and Arabidopsis disease resistance

Plant Journal, 2006

The Arabidopsis pad2-1 mutant belongs to a series of non-allelic camalexin-deficient mutants. It was originally described as showing enhanced susceptibility to virulent strains of Pseudomonas syringae and was later shown to be hyper-susceptible to the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora brassicae (formerly P. porri). Surprisingly, in both pathosystems, the disease susceptibility of pad2-1 was not caused by the camalexin deficiency, suggesting additional roles of PAD2 in disease resistance. The susceptibility of pad2-1 to P. brassicae was used to map the mutation to the gene At4g23100, which encodes γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-ECS, GSH1). GSH1 catalyzes the first committed step of glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis. The pad2-1 mutation caused an S to N transition at amino acid position 298 close to the active center. The conclusion that PAD2 encodes GSH1 is supported by several lines of evidence: (i) pad2-1 mutants contained only about 22% of wild-type amounts of GSH, (ii) genetic complementation of pad2-1 with wild-type GSH1 cDNA restored GSH production, accumulation of camalexin in response to P. syringae and resistance to P. brassicae and P. syringae, (iii) another GSH1 mutant, cad2-1, showed pad2-like phenotypes, and (iv) feeding of GSH to excised leaves of pad2-1 restored camalexin production and resistance to P. brassicae. Inoculation of Col-0 with P. brassicae caused a coordinated increase in the transcript abundance of GSH1 and GSH2, the gene encoding the second enzyme in GSH biosynthesis, and resulted in enhanced foliar GSH accumulation. The pad2-1 mutant showed enhanced susceptibility to additional pathogens, suggesting an important general role of GSH in disease resistance of Arabidopsis.

Identification of PAD2 as a gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase highlights the importance of glutathione in disease resistance of Arabidopsis

The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology, 2007

The Arabidopsis pad2-1 mutant belongs to a series of non-allelic camalexin-deficient mutants. It was originally described as showing enhanced susceptibility to virulent strains of Pseudomonas syringae and was later shown to be hyper-susceptible to the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora brassicae (formerly P. porri). Surprisingly, in both pathosystems, the disease susceptibility of pad2-1 was not caused by the camalexin deficiency, suggesting additional roles of PAD2 in disease resistance. The susceptibility of pad2-1 to P. brassicae was used to map the mutation to the gene At4g23100, which encodes gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-ECS, GSH1). GSH1 catalyzes the first committed step of glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis. The pad2-1 mutation caused an S to N transition at amino acid position 298 close to the active center. The conclusion that PAD2 encodes GSH1 is supported by several lines of evidence: (i) pad2-1 mutants contained only about 22% of wild-type amounts of GSH, (ii) geneti...

Identification of PAD2 as a γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase highlights the importance of glutathione in disease resistance of Arabidopsis

The Plant Journal, 2006

The Arabidopsis pad2-1 mutant belongs to a series of non-allelic camalexin-deficient mutants. It was originally described as showing enhanced susceptibility to virulent strains of Pseudomonas syringae and was later shown to be hyper-susceptible to the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora brassicae (formerly P. porri). Surprisingly, in both pathosystems, the disease susceptibility of pad2-1 was not caused by the camalexin deficiency, suggesting additional roles of PAD2 in disease resistance. The susceptibility of pad2-1 to P. brassicae was used to map the mutation to the gene At4g23100, which encodes c-glutamylcysteine synthetase (c-ECS, GSH1). GSH1 catalyzes the first committed step of glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis. The pad2-1 mutation caused an S to N transition at amino acid position 298 close to the active center. The conclusion that PAD2 encodes GSH1 is supported by several lines of evidence: (i) pad2-1 mutants contained only about 22% of wild-type amounts of GSH, (ii) genetic complementation of pad2-1 with wild-type GSH1 cDNA restored GSH production, accumulation of camalexin in response to P. syringae and resistance to P. brassicae and P. syringae, (iii) another GSH1 mutant, cad2-1, showed pad2-like phenotypes, and (iv) feeding of GSH to excised leaves of pad2-1 restored camalexin production and resistance to P. brassicae. Inoculation of Col-0 with P. brassicae caused a coordinated increase in the transcript abundance of GSH1 and GSH2, the gene encoding the second enzyme in GSH biosynthesis, and resulted in enhanced foliar GSH accumulation. The pad2-1 mutant showed enhanced susceptibility to additional pathogens, suggesting an important general role of GSH in disease resistance of Arabidopsis.

Glutathione is involved in environmental stress responses in Rhizobium tropici, including acid tolerance

Journal of …, 2000

The isolation of rhizobial strains which exhibit an intrinsic tolerance to acidic conditions has been reported and has facilitated studies on the basic mechanisms underlying acid tolerance. Rhizobium tropici strain CIAT899 displays a high intrinsic tolerance to acidity and therefore was used in this work to study the molecular basis of bacterial responses to acid conditions and other environmental stresses. We generated a collection of R. tropici CIAT899 mutants affected in acid tolerance using Tn5-luxAB mutagenesis, and one mutant strain (CIAT899-13T2), which fails to grow under acid conditions, was characterized in detail. Strain CIAT899-13T2 was found to contain a single Tn5-luxAB insertion in a gene showing a high degree of similarity with the Escherichia coli gshB gene, encoding the enzyme glutathione synthetase. Intracellular potassium pools and intracellular pH levels were found to be lower in the mutant than in the parent. The glutathione-deficient mutant was shown to be sensitive to weak organic acids, osmotic and oxidative stresses, and the presence of methylglyoxal. Glutathione restores responses to these stresses almost to wild-type levels. Our data show that in R. tropici the production of glutathione is essential for growth in extreme environmental conditions. The mutant strain CIAT899-13T2 induced effective nodules; however, it was found to be outcompeted by the wild-type strain in coinoculation experiments.