Establishment of genetically encoded biosensors for cytosolic boric acid in plant cells.

Boron (B) is an essential micronutrient for plants. To maintain B concentration in tissues at appropriate levels, plants use boric acid channels belonging to the NIP subfamily of aquaporins and BOR borate exporters. To regulate B transport, these transporters exhibit different cell-type specific expression, polar localization, and B-dependent post-transcriptional regulation.

Tolerance to Excess-Boron Conditions Acquired by Stabilization of a BOR1 Variant with Weak Polarity in Arabidopsis.

Boron (B) is a metalloid that is essential for plant growth but is toxic when present in excess. Arabidopsis BOR1 is a borate exporter, facilitating B translocation from root to shoot under limited-B conditions. BOR1 shows stele side polar localization in the plasma membrane of various root cells, presumably to support B translocation toward the stele.

Evolutionary Divergence of Plant Borate Exporters and Critical Amino Acid Residues for the Polar Localization and Boron-Dependent Vacuolar Sorting of AtBOR1.

Boron (B) is an essential micronutrient for plants but is toxic when accumulated in excess. The plant BOR family encodes plasma membrane-localized borate exporters (BORs) that control translocation and homeostasis of B under a wide range of conditions. In this study, we examined the evolutionary divergence of BORs among terrestrial plants and showed that the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii and angiosperms have evolved two types of BOR (clades I and II).

Difference in cesium accumulation among rice cultivars grown in the paddy field in Fukushima Prefecture in 2011 and 2012.

After the accident of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011, radioactive cesium was released and paddy fields in a wide area including Fukushima Prefecture were contaminated. To estimate the levels of radioactive Cs accumulation in rice produced in Fukushima, it is crucial to obtain the actual data of Cs accumulation levels in rice plants grown in the actual paddy field in Fukushima City. We herein conducted a two-year survey in 2011 and 2012 of radioactive and non-radioactive Cs accumulation in rice using a number of rice cultivars grown in the paddy field in Fukushima City.

Roles of BOR2, a boron exporter, in cross linking of rhamnogalacturonan II and root elongation under boron limitation in Arabidopsis.

Boron (B) is required for cross linking of the pectic polysaccharide rhamnogalacturonan II (RG-II) and is consequently essential for the maintenance of cell wall structure. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) BOR1 is an efflux B transporter for xylem loading of B. Here, we describe the roles of BOR2, the most similar paralog of BOR1.

Modulation of allosteric regulation by E38K and G101N mutations in the potato tuber ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase.

The higher plant ADP-glucose (ADPG) pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), composed of two small subunits and two large subunits (LSs), produces ADPG, the sole substrate for starch biosynthesis from α-D-glucose 1-phosphate and ATP. This enzyme controls a key step in starch synthesis as its catalytic activity is activated by 3-phosphoglycerate (3-PGA) and inhibited by orthophosphate (Pi). Previously, two mutations in the LS of potato AGPase (PLS), PLS-E38K and PLS-G101N, were found to increase sensitivity to 3-PGA activation and tolerance to Pi inhibition.

Enzymatic and structural characterization of hydrolysis of gibberellin A4 glucosyl ester by a rice β-D-glucosidase.

In order to identify a rice gibberellin ester β-D-glucosidase, gibberellin A4 β-D-glucosyl ester (GA4-GE) was synthesized and used to screen rice β-glucosidases. Os3BGlu6 was found to have the highest hydrolysis activity to GA4-GE among five recombinantly expressed rice glycoside hydrolase family GH1 enzymes from different phylogenic clusters. The kinetic parameters of Os3BGlu6 and its mutants E178Q, E178A, E394D, E394Q and M251N for hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl β-D-glucopyranoside (pNPGlc) and GA4-GE confirmed the roles of the catalytic acid/base and nucleophile for hydrolysis of both substrates and suggested M251 contributes to binding hydrophobic aglycones.

Identification of rice β-glucosidase with high hydrolytic activity towards salicylic acid β-D-glucoside.

β-Glucosidases (EC 3.2.1.

Physiological and biochemical characterization of three nucleoside diphosphate kinase isozymes from rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) is a ubiquitous enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of the γ-phosphoryl group from a nucleoside triphosphate to a nucleoside diphosphate. In this study, we examined the subcellular localization, tissue-specific gene expression, and enzymatic characteristics of three rice NDPK isozymes (OsNDPK1-OsNDPK3). Sequence comparison of the three OsNDPKs suggested differential subcellular localization.

Arabidopsis CYP94B3 encodes jasmonyl-L-isoleucine 12-hydroxylase, a key enzyme in the oxidative catabolism of jasmonate.

The hormonal action of jasmonate in plants is controlled by the precise balance between its biosynthesis and catabolism. It has been shown that jasmonyl-L-isoleucine (JA-Ile) is the bioactive form involved in the jasmonate-mediated signaling pathway. However, the catabolism of JA-Ile is poorly understood.

OsJAR1 and OsJAR2 are jasmonyl-L-isoleucine synthases involved in wound- and pathogen-induced jasmonic acid signalling.

The synthesis of JA-Ile was catalysed by JA-Ile synthase, which is a member of the group I GH3 family of proteins. Here, we showed evidence that OsGH3.5 (OsJAR1) and OsGH3.

Identification of a beta-glucosidase hydrolyzing tuberonic acid glucoside in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Tuberonic acid (TA) and its glucoside (TAG) have been isolated from potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) leaflets and shown to exhibit tuber-inducing properties. These compounds were reported to be biosynthesized from jasmonic acid (JA) by hydroxylation and subsequent glycosylation, and to be contained in various plant species.