Effect of "osmotic stress" on protein and nucleic acid synthesis in isolated tobacco protoplasts

Cytometric analysis of growth-regulator-dependent transcription and cell-cycle progression in Petunia protoplast cultures

Acridine orange simultaneously stains DNA and RNA. Using flow cytometry, synthesis of these nucleic acids can be related throughout a culture time-course. This technique has been used with nuclei isolated from Petunia hybrida protoplasts during 48 h of culture. Nuclear RNA content has been evaluated with respect to DNA levels, namely the cell-cycle phase.Nuclear RNA synthesis was not dependent upon exogeneous hormones during the first 18 h of culture, but either auxin (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4-D) or cytokinin (N(6)-benzyladenine) were necessary for entry into the S phase. Cytokinin alone could stimulate maximal RNA synthesis within each cell-cycle phase up to 24 h. In complete medium, DNA synthesis only began from a phase "G1B" having substantial RNA, although a subnormal amount of RNA (in protoplasts cultivated only with 2,4-D) did not prevent protoplast entry into the S phase. However, both hormones were necessary for highest RNA levels and G2 frequencies after 48 h. As in mammalian cells, the mean RNA level in plant 4C nuclei is double that of 2C nuclei. G2 nuclei are larger than G1 nuclei, but upon activation G1 nuclei in fact diminsh in size.This study aimed to identify restriction points in the cell cycle as affected by growth regulators and the specific synthesis of nucleic acids. For example, the RNA levels induced by N(6)-benzyladenine, although similar to those in complete medium, were not sufficient to induce mitosis. Conversely, 2,4-D action was probably limited by low nucleotide synthesis in the absence of cytokinin.

Plant disease and the regulation of enzymes involved in lignification : Effects of osmotic pressure on phenylpropanoid enzymes and on the hypersensitive response of tobacco to tobacco mosaic virus

Tobacco varieties carrying the N gene from Nicotiana glutinosa respond to infection by Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) by forming necrotic local lesions (hypersensitive reaction), thereby localizing the infection. In this study, infected mesophyll leaf tissue of N. tabacum Samsun NN was treated with the non-permeating, non-metabolizable carbohydrate mannitol. The local lesions developed under iso-osmotic conditions (0.28 M mannitol), though with a slight delay and with a reduced rate of growth, as compared to those on attached leaves. At increasing plasmolysing concentrations of mannitol, necrotization was progressively inhibited, but not completely suppressed. The leaf tissue produced tiny translucent zones, with a delay that increased between the virus inoculation and application of the plasmolytica. Activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL, EC 4.3.1.5) and O-methyltransferase (OMT, EC 2.1.1.6) are strongly stimulated in hypersensitively reacting tobacco and were used as biochemical markers in the present study. This study was done to determine whether the inhibitory effect of plasmolysis on the elicitation of the hypersensitive response is due to a decrease in virus spread, resulting from the rupture of plasmodesmata or, at least in part, to metabolic alterations of the host cell exposed to osmotic stress. Since necrotization is normally preceded by intense virus multiplication, the inhibitory effects found for early applications (i.e., before local lesion appearance) of plasmolytica could easily be related to an inhibition of virus spread which also occurred in similarly treated leaf tissue of the systemically reacting variety Samsun. The most meaningful data were obtained from mannitol treatments performed on leaf tissue already carrying local lesions, i.e., in which the elicitor(s) and/or the factor(s) of necrotization were already operating. Under iso-osmotic conditions, we found the stimulated PAL and OMT activities characteristic of the hypersensitive response. At plasmolysing concentrations of mannitol, we observed the counteracting effects of two different mechanisms controlling the phenylpropanoid enzymes. Floating the leaf material on the liquid medium induced an ageing-like effect with a continuous increase in enzyme activities that was independent on osmotic pressure and sensitive to cycloheximide. At the same time, the stimulated enzyme activities related to hypersensitivity decreased at a rate related to osmotic pressure. Since PAL and OMT of tobacco leaves are long-lived enzymes, it is likely that the increased de novo synthesis of the enzymes was suppressed by plasmolysis while their degradation and/or inactivation was maintained or even increased. From these results it is concluded that the apparent inhibition of the hypersensitive response by plasmolysis is due to both a decrease in virus spead (artificially caused by the rupture of connections between cells) and to drastic metabolic alterations of the host cell exposed to high osmotic pressure.

Hormonal control of tobacco protoplast nucleic acid metabolism during in vitro culture

Tobacco mesophyll protoplasts cultivated in vitro do not synthesize a measurable quantity of chloroplastic ribosomal RNA, but actively synthesize cytoplasmic ribosomal RNA, polyadenylated RNA, and proteins. These syntheses are essentially independent of the presence of hormones in the culture medium and are thus related to the ageing phenomenon induced by isolation from the plant and in-vitro culture. At all stages of culture and in all culture media, protoplasts incorporate low levels of thymidine into their DNA. However, the incorporation of considerable quantities of thymidine, indicative of the S phase, only takes place after 25-30 h and requires the presence of auxin and cytokinin.

Changes in protein synthesis during the initial stage of life of tobacco protoplasts

The biosynthesis of Fraction I protein in isolated protoplasts is compared with that in the plant. Radioactive precursors were incorporated into isolated protoplasts ("in vitro" labeling) and into leaves, from which the protoplasts were isolated later ("in situ" labeling). The biosynthesis of Fraction I protein stopped almost completely as soon as the protoplasts were incubated in the culture medium.

Polyribosomes in protoplasts isolated from tobacco leaves

Polyribosomes (polysomes), active in an amino acid incorporation system in vitro, were isolated from tobacco leaf protoplasts. A comparison of polysome profiles indicated that the polysome/monosome ratio is greatly decreased in isolated protoplasts as compared to the intact leaf. In isolated protoplasts, a marked accumulation of ribosomal subunits was also found. The division of protoplasts, as investigated in the 8-cell and callus stages, was associated with a(n) (at least) partial regeneration of polysome profiles characteristic for leaves. Plasmolysis of leaves attached to the plant had no great effect on the polysome profile. However, leaf excision per se resulted in a dramatic loss of polysomes, even when the leaf tissue was floated on water. It is concluded that the isolation of the cell from its normal environment, and not the osmotic stress and associated increase in RNase activity, is the most important factor responsible for the loss of polysomes in isolated protoplasts.