Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Proline-Rich Proteins May Regulate Free Cellular Proline Levels during Drought Stress in Tomato


Affiliations
1 Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi 221 305, India
 

Proline (Pro)-rich proteins (PRPs), initially identified as structural proteins of cell wall, have emerged as multifunctional plant proteins in recent past. Their vibrant role in plant development and environmental stress promoted us to study a SlPRP gene of tomato, which was significantly downregulated under drought stress in a microarray experiment performed in our laboratory. Promoter analysis of SlPRP revealed a number of stress-responsive protein-binding sites, confirming its expression in response to stress. Expression of SlPRP gene in different tissues of tomato, viz. ischolar_main, stem, leaf and flower was studied to analyse the gene expression pattern in response to drought stress. Further, we have correlated the expression of SlPRP gene with Pro levels of the respective plant tissues under drought stress. In anticipation, it has been observed that downregulation of SlPRP gene is coupled with simultaneous increase in cellular Pro concentration in all the tissues under drought stress, except the ischolar_mains. This could help preserve the available cellular proline to function as osmoprotectant during stress. The present results propose a hypothesis where PRPs may regulate free cellular proline levels during drought stress by regulating their own gene expression. Thus, it may be concluded that transcription of PRPs in plants is synchronized with the cellular Pro concentration under environmental stress in order to provide drought tolerance to plants.

Keywords

Drought Stress, Gene Expression, Prolinerich Proteins, Tomato.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Chen, J. and Varner, J. E., Isolation and characterization of cDNA clones for carrot extension and a proline-rich 33-kDa protein. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1985, 82, 4399–4403.

  • Fowler, T. J., Bernhardt, C. and Tierney, M. L., Characterization and expression of four proline-rich cell wall protein genes in Arabidopsis encoding two distinct subsets of multiple domain proteins. Plant Physiol., 1999, 121, 1081–1091.

  • Hong, J. C., Nagao, R. T. and Key, J. L., Characterization of a proline-rich cell wall protein gene family of soybean: a comparative analysis. J. Biol. Chem., 1990, 265, 2470–2475.

  • Subramaniam, K., Ranie, J., Srinivasa, B. R., Sinha, A. M. and Mahadevan, S., Cloning and sequence of a cDNA encoding a novel hybrid proline-rich protein associated with cytokinin-induced haustoria formation in Cuscuta reflexa. Gene, 1994, 14, 207–210.

  • Dvorakova, L., Srba, M., Opatrny, Z. and Fischer, L., Hybrid proline-rich proteins: novel players in plant cell elongation. Ann. Bot., 2012, 109, 453–462.

  • Castonguay, Y., Laberge, S., Nadeau, P. and Vezina, L. P., A cold induced gene from Medicago sativa encodes a bimodular protein similar to developmentally regulated proteins. Plant Mol. Biol., 1994, 24, 799–804.

  • Menke, U., Renault, N. and Mueller-Roeber, B., StGCPRP, a potato gene strongly expressed in stomatal guard cells, defines a novel type of repetitive proline-rich proteins. Plant Physiol., 2000, 122, 677–686.

  • Peng, T., Jia, M. M. and Liu, J. H., RNAi-based functional elucidation of PtrPRP, a gene encoding a hybrid proline rich protein, in cold tolerance of Poncirus trifoliate. Front. Plant Sci., 2015, 6, 808.

  • Priyanka, B., Sekhar, K., Reddy, V. D. and Rao, K. V., Expression of pigeonpea hybrid-proline-rich protein encoding gene (CcHyPRP) in yeast and Arabidopsis affords multiple abiotic stress tolerance. Plant Biotechnol. J., 2010, 8, 76–87.

  • Li, W. et al., Identification of early salt stress responsive proteins in seedling ischolar_mains of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) employing iTRAQ-based proteomic technique. Front. Plant Sci., 2015, 6, 732.

  • Gujjar, R. S., Akhtar, M., Rai, A. and Singh, M., Expression analysis of drought induced genes in wild tomato line (Solanum habrochaites). Curr. Sci., 2014, 107, 496–502.

  • He, C. Y., Zhang, J. S. and Chen, S. Y., A soybean gene encoding a proline-rich protein is regulated by salicylic acid, an endogenous circadian rhythm and by various stresses. Theor. Appl. Genet., 2002, 104, 1125–1131.

  • Kishor, P. K., Hong, Z., Miao, G. H., Hu, C. A. and Verma, D. P., Overexpression of [delta]-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase increases proline production and confers osmotolerance in transgenic plants. Plant Physiol., 1995, 108, 1387–1394.

  • Perez-Arellano, I., Carmona-Alvarez, F., Martinez, A. I., Rodriguez-Diaz, J. and Cervera, J., Pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase and proline biosynthesis: from osmotolerance to rare metabolic disease. Protein Sci., 2010, 19, 372–382.

  • Chen, D., Kessler, B. and Monselise, S. P., Studies on water regime and nitrogen metabolism of citrus seedlings grown under water stress. Plant Physiol., 1964, 39, 379–386.

  • Barthakur, S., Babu, V. and Bansal, K. C., Over-expression of osmotin induces proline accumulation and confers tolerance to osmotic stress in transgenic tobacco. J. Plant Biochem. Biotechnol., 2001, 10, 31–37.

  • Verbruggenm, N. and Hermans, C., Proline accumulation in plants: a review. Amino Acids, 2008, 35, 753–759.

  • Lescot, M. et al., PlantCARE, a database of plant cis-acting regulatory elements and a portal to tools for in silico analysis of promoter sequences. Nucleic Acids Res., 2002, 30, 325–327.

  • Bates, L. S., Waldren, R. P. and Teare, I. D., Rapid determination of free proline for water stress studies. Plant Soil, 1973, 39, 205–207.

  • Stines, A. P., Naylor, D. J., Hoj, P. B. and Heeswijack, R., Proline accumulation in developing grapevine fruit occurs independently of changes in the levels of delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase mRNA or protein. Plant Physiol., 1999, 120, 923–923.

  • Szabados, L. and Savoure, A., Proline: a multifunctional amino acid. Trends Plant Sci., 2010, 15, 89–97.

  • Meringer, M. V. et al., Saline and osmotic stresses stimulate PLD/diacylglycerol kinase activities and increase the level of phosphatidic acid and proline in barley ischolar_mains. Environ. Exp. Bot., 2016, 128, 69–78.

  • Maggio, A. et al., Does proline accumulation play an active role in stress-induced growth reduction. Plant J., 2002, 31, 699–712.

  • Yamada, M., Morishita, H., Urano, K., Shiozaki, N., Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K., Shinozaki, K. and Yoshiba, Y., Effects of free proline accumulation in petunias under drought stress. J. Exp. Bot., 2005, 56, 1975–1981.

  • Hare, P. D., Cress, W. A. and Van-Staden, J., A regulatory role for proline metabolism in stimulating Arabidopsis thaliana seed germination. Plant Growth Regul., 2003, 39, 41–50.

  • Kant, S., Kant, P., Raveh, E. and Barak, S., Evidence that differential gene expression between the halophyte Thellungiella halophila and Arabidopsis thaliana is responsible for higher levels of the compatible osmolyte proline and tight control of Na+ uptake in T. halophila. Plant Cell Environ., 2006, 29, 1220–1234.


Abstract Views: 319

PDF Views: 120




  • Proline-Rich Proteins May Regulate Free Cellular Proline Levels during Drought Stress in Tomato

Abstract Views: 319  |  PDF Views: 120

Authors

Ranjit Singh Gujjar
Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi 221 305, India
Suhas G. Karkute
Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi 221 305, India
Ashutosh Rai
Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi 221 305, India
Major Singh
Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi 221 305, India
Bijendra Singh
Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi 221 305, India

Abstract


Proline (Pro)-rich proteins (PRPs), initially identified as structural proteins of cell wall, have emerged as multifunctional plant proteins in recent past. Their vibrant role in plant development and environmental stress promoted us to study a SlPRP gene of tomato, which was significantly downregulated under drought stress in a microarray experiment performed in our laboratory. Promoter analysis of SlPRP revealed a number of stress-responsive protein-binding sites, confirming its expression in response to stress. Expression of SlPRP gene in different tissues of tomato, viz. ischolar_main, stem, leaf and flower was studied to analyse the gene expression pattern in response to drought stress. Further, we have correlated the expression of SlPRP gene with Pro levels of the respective plant tissues under drought stress. In anticipation, it has been observed that downregulation of SlPRP gene is coupled with simultaneous increase in cellular Pro concentration in all the tissues under drought stress, except the ischolar_mains. This could help preserve the available cellular proline to function as osmoprotectant during stress. The present results propose a hypothesis where PRPs may regulate free cellular proline levels during drought stress by regulating their own gene expression. Thus, it may be concluded that transcription of PRPs in plants is synchronized with the cellular Pro concentration under environmental stress in order to provide drought tolerance to plants.

Keywords


Drought Stress, Gene Expression, Prolinerich Proteins, Tomato.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv114%2Fi04%2F915-920