Membrane Particles, Proteins and ATPase Activity of Tonoplast Vesicles ofMesembryanthemum crystallinumin the C-3 and CAM State*

Membrane Profiling by Free Flow Electrophoresis and SWATH-MS to Characterize Subcellular Compartment Proteomes in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum

The study of subcellular membrane structure and function facilitates investigations into how biological processes are divided within the cell. However, work in this area has been hampered by the limited techniques available to fractionate the different membranes. Free Flow Electrophoresis (FFE) allows for the fractionation of membranes based on their different surface charges, a property made up primarily of their varied lipid and protein compositions. In this study, high-resolution plant membrane fractionation by FFE, combined with mass spectrometry-based proteomics, allowed the simultaneous profiling of multiple cellular membranes from the leaf tissue of the plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum. Comparisons of the fractionated membranes’ protein profile to that of known markers for specific cellular compartments sheds light on the functions of proteins, as well as provides new evidence for multiple subcellular localization of several proteins, including those involved in lipid metabolism.

Energization of vacuolar transport in plant cells and its significance under stress

The plant vacuole is of prime importance in buffering environmental perturbations and in coping with abiotic stress caused by, for example, drought, salinity, cold, or UV. The large volume, the efficient integration in anterograde and retrograde vesicular trafficking, and the dynamic equipment with tonoplast transporters enable the vacuole to fulfill indispensible functions in cell biology, for example, transient and permanent storage, detoxification, recycling, pH and redox homeostasis, cell expansion, biotic defence, and cell death. This review first focuses on endomembrane dynamics and then summarizes the functions, assembly, and regulation of secretory and vacuolar proton pumps: (i) the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase (V-ATPase) which represents a multimeric complex of approximately 800 kDa, (ii) the vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase, and (iii) the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase. These primary proton pumps regulate the cytosolic pH and provide the driving force for secondary active transport. Carriers and ion channels modulate the proton motif force and catalyze uptake and vacuolar compartmentation of solutes and deposition of xenobiotics or secondary compounds such as flavonoids. ABC-type transporters directly energized by MgATP complement the transport portfolio that realizes the multiple functions in stress tolerance of plants.

Intracellular transport and pathways of carbon flow in plants with crassulacean acid metabolism

The massive daily reciprocal transfer of carbon between acids and carbohydrates that is unique to crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) involves extensive and regulated transport of metabolites between chloroplasts, vacuoles, the cytosol and mitochondria. In this review of the CAM pathways of carbon flow and intracellular transport, we highlight what is known and what has been postulated. For three of the four CAM pathway variants currently known (malic enzyme- or PEP carboxykinase-type decarboxylase, and starch- or soluble sugar-type carbohydrate storage), the mechanisms of intracellular transport are still hypothetical and have yet to be demonstrated experimentally. Even in malic enzyme starch-storing species such as Kalanchoë daigremontiana Hamet et Perr. and Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L., the best-described variants of plants with the second-most common mode of photosynthetic carbon metabolism known, no tonoplast or mitochondrial transporter has been functionally described at a molecular level.

Two isoforms of the A subunit of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase in Lycopersicon esculentum: highly similar proteins but divergent patterns of tissue localization

The plant vacuolar H(+)-translocating ATPase (V-ATPase, EC 3.6.1.34) generates a H+ electro-chemical gradient across the tonoplast membrane. We isolated two full-length cDNA clones (VHA-A1 and VHA-A2) from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Large Cherry Red) coding for two isoforms of the V-ATPase catalytic subunit (V-ATPases A1 and A2). The cDNA clones encoding the two isoforms share 90% identity at the nucleotide level and 96% identity at the amino acid level. The 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions, however, are highly diverse. Both V-ATPase A1 and A2 isoforms encode polypeptides of 623 amino acids, with calculated molecular masses of 68,570 and 68,715, respectively. The expression of VHA-A1 and accumulation of V-ATPase A1 polypeptide were ubiquitous in all tissues examined. In response to salinity, the abundances of both transcript (VHA-A1) and protein (V-ATPase A1) of the A1 isoform in leaves were nearly doubled. In contrast to the A1 isoform, VHA-A2 transcript and V-ATPase A2 polypeptide were only detected in abundance in roots, and in minor quantities in mature fruit. In roots, accumulation of transcripts and polypeptides did not change in response to salinity for either isoform. Subcellular localization indicated that the highest levels of both V-ATPase A1 and A2 isoforms were in the tonoplast. However, significant quantities of both isoforms were detected in membranes associated with endoplasmic reticulum and/or Golgi. Immunoprecipitation of dissociated V1 domains using isoform-specific antibodies showed that V1 domains consist of either V-ATPase A1 or A2 catalytic subunit isoforms.

Structure, function and regulation of the plant vacuolar H(+)-translocating ATPase

The plant V-ATPase is a primary-active proton pump present at various components of the endomembrane system. It is assembled by different protein subunits which are located in two major domains, the membrane-integral V(o)-domain and the membrane peripheral V(1)-domain. At the plant vacuole the V-ATPase is responsible for energization of transport of ions and metabolites, and thus the V-ATPase is important as a 'house-keeping' and as a stress response enzyme. It has been shown that transcript and protein amount of the V-ATPase are regulated depending on metabolic conditions indicating that the expression of V-ATPase subunit is highly regulated. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that modulation of the holoenzyme structure might influence V-ATPase activity.

Differential immunological cross-reactions with antisera against the V-ATPase of Kalanchoë daigremontiana reveal structural differences of V-ATPase subunits of different plant species

Two antisera (ATP88 and ATP95) raised against the V-ATPase holoenzyme of Kalanchoë daigremontiana were tested for their cross-reactivity with subunits of V-ATPases from other plant species. V-ATPases from Kalanchoë blossfeldiana, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, Nicotiana tabacum, Lycopersicon esculentum, Citrus limon, Lemna gibba, Hordeum vulgare and Zea mays were immunoprecipitated with an antiserum against the catalytic V-ATPase subunit A of M. crystallinum. As shown by silver staining and Western blot analysis with ATP88, subunits A, B, C, D and c were present in all immunoprecipitated V-ATPases. In contrast, ATP95 recognized the whole set of subunits only in K. blossfeldiana, M. crystallinum, H. vulgare and Z. mays. This differential cross reactivity of ATP95 indicates the presence of structural differences of certain V-ATPase subunits. Based on the Bafilomycin A1-sensitive ATPase activity of tonoplast enriched vesicles, and on the amount of V-ATPase solubilized and immunoprecipitated, the specific ATP-hydrolysis activity of the V-ATPases under test was determined. The structural differences correlate with the ability of V-ATPases from different species to hydrolyze ATP at one given assay condition for ATP-hydrolysis measurements. Interestingly V-ATPases showing cross-reactivity of subunits A, B, C, D and c with ATP95 showed higher rates of specific ATP hydrolysis compared to V-ATPases containing subunits which were not labeled by ATP95. Thus, V-ATPases with high turnover rates in our assay conditions may show common structural characteristics which separate them from ATPases with low turnover rates.

The role of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in the adaptation of plants to salinity

Two case studies are presented illustrating how the behaviour of plants using crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) provides adaptation to salinity. Perennial cacti having constitutive CAM show adaptation at the whole-plant level, engaging regulation of stomata, internal CO₂ -recycling and root physiology with salt exclusion. They are stress avoiders. Annual plants such as Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, with inducible CAM, are salt includers. They are stress-tolerant and show reactions at an array of levels: (i) regulation of turgor and gas exchange at the whole-plant level; (ii) metabolic adjustments at the cellular level; (iii) adapptive transport proteins at the membrane level and also (iv) at the macromolecular level; and (v) inductive changes at the gene expression level of the enzyme complement for metabolism (in particular involving glycolysis and malic-acid synthesis with phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) as the key enzyme, and gluconeogenesis (with pyruvate-phosphate dikinase (PPDK) as a key enzyme) and membrane transport (in particular involving the tonoplast ATPase).

Phenotypic changes in the fluidity of the tonoplast membrane of crassulacean-acid-metabolism plants in response to temperature and salinity stress

Electron paramagnetic resonance-spectroscopic studies on spin-labeled purified tonoplast membranes showed that in the obligate crassulacean-acid-metabolism (CAM) plant Kalanchoë daigremontiana Hamet et Perr. the fluidity of the tonoplast decreased during acclimation to higher temperatures. This phenotypic change in tonoplast fluidity was paralleled by a decrease in the mobilization of malic acid from the vacuoles during CAM in the light. The shift from the C3 to the CAM mode of photosynthesis in the facultative CAM plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L. also led to a decrease in the fluidity of the tonoplast membrane. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the ability to store malic acid during CAM in the vacuoles depends largely on the actual fluidity of the tonoplast membrane.

Rapid purification and reconstitution of a plant vacuolar ATPase using Triton X-114 fractionation: subunit composition and substrate kinetics of the H(+)-ATPase from the tonoplast of Kalanchoë daigremontiana

A rapid procedure for the purification and reconstitution into proteoliposomes of the H(+)-translocating ATPase of plant vacuolar membranes is reported. It involves fractionation of the tonoplast with Triton X-114, resolubilization of the ATPase with octyl glucoside in the presence of a mixture of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine and cholesterol (27:53:20, by weight), and removal of the detergent by gel-filtration. Starting with partially purified vacuolar membranes, the procedure can be accomplished in about 2 hours. It has been applied to the H(+)-ATPase from the crassulacean plant Kalanchoë daigremontiana, from which it yields vesicles with a specific ATPase activity of about 3 mumol/min per mg protein. The purified enzyme contains polypeptides of apparent molecular mass 72, 57, 48, 42, 39, 33 and 16 kDa; these polypeptides also co-sediment on centrifugation of the solubilized ATPase through glycerol gradients. The 16-kDa subunit is labelled with [14C]dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. There is no evidence for a larger ATPase subunit in this preparation. The reconstituted ATPase proteoliposomes undergo ATP-dependent acidification, which can be measured by quenching of the fluorescence of 9-aminoacridine. The initial rate of fluorescence quenching is a measure of the rate of H+ translocation, and is directly proportional to the vesicle protein concentration, so the preparation is suitable for studying the kinetics of the tonoplast H(+)-ATPase. The dependence of the rate of fluorescence quenching on the concentration of MgATP is well fitted by the Michaelis equation, with a Km value about 30 microM. ATP can be replaced by dATP, ITP, GTP, UTP or CTP, and Mg2+ by Mn2+ or Ca2+; kinetic parameters for these substrates are reported. In contrast, hydrolysis of MgATP shows complex kinetics, suggestive either of negative cooperativity between nucleotide-binding sites, or of two non-interacting catalytic sites. Both the hydrolytic and the H(+)-translocating activities of the proteoliposomes are inhibited by nitrate, though not in parallel, the latter activity being the more sensitive. Both activities are inhibited in parallel by bafilomycin A1, which does not produce complete inhibition; the bafilomycin-insensitive component has complex ATPase kinetics similar to those of the uninhibited enzyme.