Soya bean Gα proteins with distinct biochemical properties exhibit differential ability to complement Saccharomyces cerevisiae gpa1 mutant.
Signalling pathways mediated by heterotrimeric G-proteins are common to all eukaryotes. Plants have a limited number of each of the G-protein subunits, with the most elaborate G-protein network discovered so far in soya bean (Glycine max, also known as soybean) which has four Gα, four Gβ and ten Gγ proteins. Biochemical characterization of Gα proteins from plants suggests significant variation in their properties compared with the well-characterized non-plant proteins. Furthermore, the four soya bean Gα (GmGα) proteins exhibit distinct biochemical activities among themselves, but the extent to which such biochemical differences contribute to their in vivo function is also not known. We used the yeast gpa1 mutant which displays constitutive signalling and growth arrest in the pheromone-response pathway as an in vivo model to evaluate the effect of distinct biochemical activities of GmGα proteins. We showed that specific GmGα proteins can be activated during pheromone-dependent receptor-mediated signalling in yeast and they display different strengths towards complementation of yeast gpa1 phenotypes. We also identified amino acids that are responsible for differential complementation abilities of specific Gα proteins. These data establish that specific plant Gα proteins are functional in the receptor-mediated pheromone-response pathway in yeast and that the subtle biochemical differences in their activity are physiologically relevant.
*Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132, U.S.A.
Swarup
S
Roy Choudhury
†Department of Biology, Saint Louis University, 3507 Laclede Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63103, U.S.A.
Yuqi
Y
Wang
*Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132, U.S.A.
Sona
S
Pandey
D044385:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D043802:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gq-G11 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D010675:Pheromones / Q000494:pharmacology; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D030262:Soybean Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013025:Glycine max / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D044385:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits; D010675:Pheromones; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D030262:Soybean Proteins; C084293:GPA1 protein, S cerevisiae; D043802:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gq-G11