Plants 2014, 3(1), 27-57; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants3010027
Increasing Phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-Bisphosphate Biosynthesis Affects Basal Signaling and Chloroplast Metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana
1
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
2
DOE-Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
†
Present address: Monsanto Company, 700 W Chesterfield Parkway, Chesterfield, MO 63017, USA.
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 4 November 2013 / Revised: 18 December 2013 / Accepted: 20 December 2013 / Published: 3 January 2014
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Light Signalling)
Abstract
One challenge in studying the second messenger inositol(1,4,5)-trisphosphate (InsP3) is that it is present in very low amounts and increases only transiently in response to stimuli. To identify events downstream of InsP3, we generated transgenic plants constitutively expressing the high specific activity, human phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase Iα (HsPIPKIα). PIP5K is the enzyme that synthesizes phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2); this reaction is flux limiting in InsP3 biosynthesis in plants. Plasma membranes from transgenic Arabidopsis expressing HsPIPKIα had 2–3 fold higher PIP5K specific activity, and basal InsP3 levels in seedlings and leaves were >2-fold higher than wild type. Although there was no significant difference in photosynthetic electron transport, HsPIPKIα plants had significantly higher starch (2–4 fold) and 20% higher anthocyanin compared to controls. Starch content was higher both during the day and at the end of dark period. In addition, transcripts of genes involved in starch metabolism such as SEX1 (glucan water dikinase) and SEX4 (phosphoglucan phosphatase), DBE (debranching enzyme), MEX1 (maltose transporter), APL3 (ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase) and glucose-6-phosphate transporter (Glc6PT) were up-regulated in the HsPIPKIα plants. Our results reveal that increasing the phosphoinositide (PI) pathway affects chloroplast carbon metabolism and suggest that InsP3 is one component of an inter-organelle signaling network regulating chloroplast metabolism. View Full-TextKeywords:
phosphoinositide; inositol trisphosphate; phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase; chloroplast; starch; carbon metabolism; photosynthesis; calcium; Arabidopsis
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MDPI and ACS Style
Im, Y.J.; Smith, C.M.; Phillippy, B.Q.; Strand, D.; Kramer, D.M.; Grunden, A.M.; Boss, W.F. Increasing Phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-Bisphosphate Biosynthesis Affects Basal Signaling and Chloroplast Metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plants 2014, 3, 27-57.