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A WD40 protein, AtGHS40, negatively modulates abscisic acid degrading and signaling genes during seedling growth under high glucose conditions

Journal of Plant Research volume 129, pages 1127–1140 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

The Arabidopsis thaliana T-DNA insertion mutant glucose hypersensitive (ghs) 40-1 exhibited hypersensitivity to glucose (Glc) and abscisic acid (ABA). The ghs40-1 mutant displayed severely impaired cotyledon greening and expansion and showed enhanced reduction in hypocotyl elongation of dark-grown seedlings when grown in Glc concentrations higher than 3 %. The Glc-hypersensitivity of ghs40-1 was correlated with the hyposensitive phenotype of 35S::AtGHS40 seedlings. The phenotypes of ghs40-1 were recovered by complementation with 35S::AtGHS40. The AtGHS40 (At5g11240) gene encodes a WD40 protein localized primarily in the nucleus and nucleolus using transient expression of AtGHS40-mRFP in onion cells and of AtGHS40-EGFP and EGFP-AtGHS40 in Arabidopsis protoplasts. The ABA biosynthesis inhibitor fluridone extensively rescued Glc-mediated growth arrest. Quantitative real time-PCR analysis showed that AtGHS40 was involved in the control of Glc-responsive genes. AtGHS40 acts downstream of HXK1 and is activated by ABI4 while ABI4 expression is negatively modulated by AtGHS40 in the Glc signaling network. However, AtGHS40 may not affect ABI1 and SnRK2.6 gene expression. Given that AtGHS40 inhibited ABA degrading and signaling gene expression levels under high Glc conditions, a new circuit of fine-tuning modulation by which ABA and ABA signaling gene expression are modulated in balance, occurred in plants. Thus, AtGHS40 may play a role in ABA-mediated Glc signaling during early seedling development. The biochemical function of AtGHS40 is also discussed.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

ABI :

ABA insensitive

DAPI:

4′,6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole

EGFP:

Enhanced green fluorescent protein

EtBr:

Ethidium bromide

ghs :

Glucose hypersensitive

Glc:

Glucose

HXK1 :

Hexokinase1

mRFP:

Monomeric red fluorescent protein

Mtl:

Mannitol

qRT-PCR:

Quantitative real-time-PCR

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction

WT:

Wild type

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China (NSC-103-2911-I-005-301, NSC-102-2911-I-005-301) and the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, R.O.C. under the ATU plan.

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  1. Yi-Feng Hsu

    Present address: School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Institute of Biotechnology, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 40227, Taiwan

    Yu-Chun Hsiao, Yi-Feng Hsu, Yun-Chu Chen, Yi-Lin Chang & Co-Shine Wang

  2. NCHU-UCD Plant and Food Biotechnology Center, NCHU, Taichung, 40227, Taiwan

    Yu-Chun Hsiao, Yi-Feng Hsu, Yun-Chu Chen & Co-Shine Wang

  3. Agricultural Biotechnology Center, NCHU, Taichung, 40227, Taiwan

    Yu-Chun Hsiao, Yi-Feng Hsu, Yun-Chu Chen & Co-Shine Wang

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  1. Yu-Chun Hsiao
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Correspondence to Co-Shine Wang.

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Y.-C. Hsiao, Y.-F. Hsu and Y.-C. Chen have equal contribution in this work.

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Hsiao, YC., Hsu, YF., Chen, YC. et al. A WD40 protein, AtGHS40, negatively modulates abscisic acid degrading and signaling genes during seedling growth under high glucose conditions. J Plant Res 129, 1127–1140 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-016-0849-5

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Keywords

  • ABA
  • Arabidopsis thaliana
  • Glc-hypersensitive
  • Seedling growth
  • WD40