Effect of abiotic and biotic stresses on the mutant of PII signaling protein in Arabidopsis thaliana

N. AZNAR; V.F. CONSOLO; G.L. SALERNO; G. MARTÍNEZ-NOËL

Córdoba

Congreso; LII Reunión Anual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2016

Signal PII protein are central regulators of nitrogen (N) metabolism in bacteria and cyanobacteria. They also coordinate the N and carbon metabolism and sense cell energy status. In eukaryotes, PII has been found only in red algae and in plants. In plants, PII protein is targeted to plastids and is encoded by a nuclear gene (GLB1). The Arabidopsis pII mutant is viable and has not severe phenotype. Thus, since its identification in photosynthetic eukaryotes, many efforts have been made to discover its functional role. To gain insight in the PII protein role in plants, we performed different abiotic (salt and oxidative) and biotic (infection with the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum) stresses to the Arabidopsis pII mutant. Different phenotypic and biochemical analyses were performed. The data showed that even though the PII protein is not essential, the lack of the protein modifies the plant response to abiotic and biotic stresses. One of the most relevant result was the resistance of the pII mutant to Fusarium attack. We also analyze the PII transcripts levels under control and stress conditions in Arabidopsis wildtype by RT-PCR experiments. In conclusion, our data indicate that PII protein could have a role in the response to environmental stresses in Arabidopsis.