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Altered growth and improved resistance of A rabidopsis against P seudomonas syringae by overexpression of the basic amino acid transporter AtCAT1
Author(s) -
YANG HUAIYU,
POSTEL SANDRA,
KEMMERLING BIRGIT,
LUDEWIG UWE
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/pce.12244
Subject(s) - pseudomonas syringae , salicylic acid , amino acid , amino acid transporter , transporter , arabidopsis , biochemistry , mutant , biology , lysine , arabidopsis thaliana , chemistry , gene
Amino acid transporters in plants are crucial for distributing amino acids between plant organs and cellular compartments. The H + ‐coupled plasma membrane transporter CAT1 (cationic amino acid transporter 1) facilitates the high‐affinity uptake of basic amino acids. The uptake of lysine ( L ys) via the roots was not altered in loss‐of‐function mutants, in accordance with the minor expression of CAT1 in roots, but plants ectopically overexpressing CAT1 incorporated L ys at higher rates. Exogenous L ys inhibited the primary root of A rabidopsis , whereas lateral roots were stimulated. These effects were augmented by the presence or absence of CAT1 . Furthermore, the total biomass of soil‐grown plants ectopically overexpressing CAT1 was reduced and the time to flowering was accelerated. These effects were accompanied by only minor changes in the overall amino acid profile. Interestingly, CAT1 belongs to a specific small cluster of nitrogen‐containing metabolite transporter genes that are rapidly up‐regulated upon infection with P seudomonas syringae and that may participate in the systemic response of plants to pathogen attack. The overexpression of CAT1 indeed enhanced the resistance to the hemibiotrophic bacterial pathogen P . syringae via a constitutively activated salicylic acid ( SA ) pathway, which is consistent with the developmental defects and the resistance phenotype.