title: β-amylase 1 (BAM1) degrades transitory starch to sustain proline biosynthesis during drought stress.
abstract: During photosynthesis of higher plants, absorbed light energy is converted into chemical energy that, in part, is accumulated in the form of transitory starch within chloroplasts. In the following night, transitory starch is mobilized to sustain the heterotrophic metabolism of the plant. β-amylases are glucan hydrolases that cleave α-1,4-glycosidic bonds of starch and release maltose units from the non-reducing end of the polysaccharide chain. In Arabidopsis, nocturnal degradation of transitory starch involves mainly β-amylase-3 (BAM3). A second β-amylase isoform, β-amylase-1 (BAM1), is involved in diurnal starch degradation in guard cells, a process that sustains stomata opening. However, BAM1 also contributes to diurnal starch turnover in mesophyll cells under osmotic stress. With the aim of dissecting the role of β-amylases in osmotic stress responses in Arabidopsis, mutant plants lacking either BAM1 or BAM3 were subject to a mild (150mM mannitol) and prolonged (up to one week) osmotic stress. We show here that leaves of osmotically-stressed bam1 plants accumulated more starch and fewer soluble sugars than both wild-type and bam3 plants during the day. Moreover, bam1 mutants were impaired in proline accumulation and suffered from stronger lipid peroxidation, compared with both wild-type and bam3 plants. Taken together, these data strongly suggest that carbon skeletons deriving from BAM1 diurnal degradation of transitory starch support the biosynthesis of proline required to face the osmotic stress. We propose the transitory-starch/proline interplay as an interesting trait to be tackled by breeding technologies aimingto improve drought tolerance in relevant crops.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology FaBiT, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, Italy Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zanella
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology FaBiT, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Gian Luca
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Borghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology FaBiT, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pirone
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thalmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pazmino
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Santelia
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology FaBiT, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6347-8701
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trost
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology FaBiT, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, Italy francesca.sparla@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2103-4870
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sparla
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D055864:Droughts; D008027:Light; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000528:radiation effects; D009997:Osmotic Pressure / Q000528:radiation effects; D018526:Plant Transpiration / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism; D011392:Proline / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012995:Solubility; D013213:Starch / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D011134:Polysaccharides; D013213:Starch; D011392:Proline; C519658:BAM1 protein, Arabidopsis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
keywords: Arabidopsis; drought; osmolytes; proline; transitory starch.; β-amylases