Transcriptome, metabolome and suppressor analysis reveal an essential role for the ubiquitin-proteasome system in seedling chloroplast development.

BMC plant biology 2022 Apr 08

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Many regulatory circuits in plants contain steps of targeted proteolysis, with the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) as the mediator of these proteolytic events. In order to decrease ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis, we inducibly expressed a ubiquitin variant with Arg at position 48 instead of Lys (ubK48R). This variant acts as an inhibitor of proteolysis via the UPS, and allowed us to uncover processes that are particularly sensitive to UPS perturbation. Expression of ubK48R during germination leads to seedling death. We analyzed the seedling transcriptome, proteome and metabolome 24 h post ubK48R induction and confirmed defects in chloroplast development. We found that mutations in single genes can suppress seedling lethality, indicating that a single process in seedlings is critically sensitive to decreased performance of the UPS. Suppressor mutations in phototropin 2 (PHOT2) suggest that a contribution of PHOT2 to chloroplast protection is compromised by proteolysis inhibition. Overall, the results reveal protein turnover as an integral part of a signal transduction chain that protects chloroplasts during development. © 2022. The Author(s).

Citation

Prabhavathi Talloji, Lilian Nehlin, Bruno Hüttel, Nikola Winter, Martin Černý, Hana Dufková, Bulut Hamali, Katarzyna Hanczaryk, Jan Novák, Monika Hermanns, Nicole Drexler, Karolin Eifler, Nikolaus Schlaich, Břetislav Brzobohatý, Andreas Bachmair. Transcriptome, metabolome and suppressor analysis reveal an essential role for the ubiquitin-proteasome system in seedling chloroplast development. BMC plant biology. 2022 Apr 08;22(1):183