Activation of the Promoters of Arabidopsis Genes for the Branched-Chain α-Keto Acid Dehydrogenase Complex in Transgenic Tobacco BY-2 Cells under Sugar Starvation

Sugar starvation exerted by sub-10 mM levels of sucrose on Arabidopsis T87 suspension-cultured cells triggered marked accumulation of the transcripts of genes for E1beta and E2 subunit of the branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complex. Similar levels of sugar starvation increased the luciferase activity in transgenic tobacco BY-2 lines expressing the Arabidopsis E1beta- or E2-promoter-luciferase fusion gene. These results indicate that sugar levels tightly regulate the E1beta and E2 promoter activity in the heterologous plant system. We further showed in the transgenic tobacco BY-2 lines that sugar-starvation-induced activation of the E1beta and E2 promoters was prevented by K-252a, an inhibitor of Ser/Thr protein kinase, and was enhanced by okadaic acid, an inhibitor of protein phosphatases. By contrast, the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter activity in sugar-starved BY-2 cells was not significantly affected by K-252a and only slightly enhanced by okadaic acid. Taken together, we propose that transcriptional activation of genes for the branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complex and its modulation by specific protein kinases/phosphatases are of critical importance in branched-chain amino acid catabolism in plant cells under sugar starvation.