title: Transient expression and heat-stress-induced co-aggregation of endogenous and heterologous small heat-stress proteins in tobacco protoplasts.
abstract: Heat-stress granules (HSG) are highly ordered, cytoplasmic chaperone complexes found in all heat-stressed plant cells. We have developed an experimental system involving expression of cytosolic class I and class II small heat-stress proteins (Hsps) of pea, Arabidopsis and tomato in tobacco protoplasts to study the structural prerequisites for the assembly of HSG or HSG-like complexes. Class I and class II small Hsps formed class-specific dodecamers of 210-280 kDa, which, upon heat stress, were incorporated into HSG complexes. Interestingly, class II dodecamers alone could form HSG-like complexes (auto-aggregation), whereas class I dodecamers could do so only in the presence of class II proteins (recruitment). By analysing C-terminal deletion forms of Hsp17 class II, we obtained evidence that the intact C-terminus is critical for the oligomerization state, for the heat-stress-induced auto-aggregation and for recruitment of class I proteins. The class-specific formation of dimers as a prerequisite for oligomerization was analysed by the yeast two-hybrid system. In the presence of the endogenous (tobacco) set of heat-stress-induced proteins, all heterologous class I and class II proteins were incorporated into HSG complexes, whose ultrastructure was different from that of complexes formed by class I and class II proteins alone. Although other, more distantly related, members of the Hsp20 family, i.e. the plastidic pea Hsp21, the Drosophila Hsp23 and the mouse Hsp25, were well expressed in tobacco protoplasts and formed homo-oligomers of 200-700 kDa, none of them could be recruited to HSG complexes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Biocenter N200, 3OG, Goethe University Frankfurt, Marie Curie Str. 9, D-60439 Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kirschner
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Winkelhaus
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Thierfelder
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nover
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019281:Dimerization; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D051379:Mice; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000235:genetics; D018532:Pisum sativum / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D011523:Protoplasts / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
chemical_list: D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins