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T-protein is present in large excess over the other proteins of the glycine cleavage system in leaves of Arabidopsis

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Abstract

Main conclusion

T-protein is present in large excess over the other proteins of the glycine cleavage system in leaves of Arabidopsis and therefore, exerts little control over the photorespiratory pathway.

T-protein is the aminomethyltransferase of the glycine cleavage multienzyme system (GCS), also known as the glycine decarboxylase complex, and essential for photorespiration and one-carbon metabolism. Here, we studied what effects varying levels of the GCS T-protein would have on GCS activity, the operation of the photorespiratory pathway, photosynthesis, and plant growth. To this end, we examined Arabidopsis thaliana T-protein overexpression lines with up to threefold higher amounts of leaf T-protein as well as one knockdown mutant with about 5% residual leaf T-protein and one knockout mutant. Overexpression did not alter photosynthetic CO2 uptake and plant growth, and the knockout mutation was lethal even in the non-photorespiratory environment of air enriched to 1% CO2. Unexpectedly in light of this very low T-protein content, however, the knockdown mutant was able to grow and propagate in normal air and displayed only some minor changes, such as a moderate glycine accumulation in combination with somewhat delayed growth. Neither overexpression nor the knockdown of T-protein altered the amounts of the other three GCS proteins, suggesting that the biosynthesis of the GCS proteins is not synchronized at this level. We also observed that the knockdown causes less T-protein mostly in leaf mesophyll cells, but not so much in the vasculature, and discuss this phenomenon in light of the dual involvement of the GCS and hence T-protein in plant metabolism. Collectively, this work shows that T-protein is present in large excess over the other proteins of the glycine cleavage system in leaves of Arabidopsis and therefore exerts little control over the photorespiratory pathway.

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Abbreviations

GCS:

Glycine cleavage system

HC:

High-CO2 conditions

LC:

Low-CO2 conditions

SHMT:

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase

THF:

Tetrahydrofolate

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Piotr Bociag and Kathrin Jahnke (both Rostock) for technical assistance and the Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Centre for the T-DNA insertional lines. This work was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Research Unit FOR 1186 Promics, BA 1177/12-2 and FE 552/10-2).

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Author notes

  1. Jonas Giese

    Present address: Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Plant Physiology, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Schlossplatz 7, 48149, Münster, Germany

  2. Nadja Engel

    Present address: Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Marburg, Baldingerstraße, 35043, Marburg, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Physiology Department, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Straße 3, 18059, Rostock, Germany

    Stefan Timm, Jonas Giese, Nadja Engel, Maria Wittmiß & Hermann Bauwe

  2. Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476, Golm, Germany

    Alexandra Florian & Alisdair R. Fernie

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  1. Stefan Timm
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Correspondence to Hermann Bauwe.

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Timm, S., Giese, J., Engel, N. et al. T-protein is present in large excess over the other proteins of the glycine cleavage system in leaves of Arabidopsis. Planta 247, 41–51 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-017-2767-8

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