An actinoporin plays a key role in water stress in the moss Physcomitrella patens.
* Modern land plants arose from a green algae-like ancestor c. 480 million years ago. While several novel morphological features were critical for survival in the aerial environment, physiological innovation undoubtedly played a key role in the colonization of terrestrial habitats. Recently, actinoporin genes, a small group of pore-forming toxins from sea anemones, have been found in the bryophyte and lycophyte lineages of land plants where they are upregulated in water-stressed tissues. * The bryoporin gene in the moss Physcomitrella patens (PpBP) was functionally characterized by RNA blot analyses and overexpression in P. patens. In order to examine functional homology between PpBP and sea anemone actinoporins, the recombinant PpBP was subjected to hemolytic analysis of pig blood cells, which is one of the specific activities of actinoporins. * PpBP was upregulated by various abiotic stresses, in particular most strongly by dehydration stress. Overexpression of the bryoporin gene heightens drought tolerance in P. patens significantly. In addition, PpBP shared the highest structural homology with actinoporins in a three-dimensional structural database and showed hemolytic activity. * These results suggest that this phylogenetic distribution may have resulted from an ancient horizontal gene transfer and actinoporins may have played an important role in early land plants.
Hoang
Quoc Truong
QT
School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea.
Cho
Sung Hyun
SH
School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea.|Biology Department, Washington University, St Louis, MO 63130, USA.
McDaniel
Stuart F
SF
Biology Department, Washington University, St Louis, MO 63130, USA.
Ok
Sung Han
SH
School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea.
Quatrano
Ralph S
RS
Biology Department, Washington University, St Louis, MO 63130, USA.
Shin
Jeong Sheop
JS
School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea.
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D019068:Bryopsida / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003681:Dehydration; D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006461:Hemolysis; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012615:Sea Anemones / Q000235:genetics; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D015854:Up-Regulation
D008565:Membrane Proteins
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