Biology subjects

Podolec, R.

Publications and source records attributed to Podolec, R..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Conservation and divergence of UVR8-COP1/SPA-HY5 signaling in UV-B responses of Marchantia polymorpha

Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) poses a major challenge to all forms of plant life. The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha (Marchantia) serves as a key model organism to study signaling pathways and to infer their evolution throughout the green lineage. Marchantia expresses key components of UV-B signaling, including the photoreceptor UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (MpUVR8), the WD40-repeat protein REPRESSOR OF UV-B PHOTOMORPHOGENESIS (MpRUP), the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 / SUPPRESSOR OF phyA-105 (MpCOP1/MpSPA), and the transcriptional regulator ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (MpHY5). Here, we show that MpUVR8 exists as a homodimer in its ground-state in vivo, then monomerizes and accumulates in the nucleus upon UV-B activation. Activated MpUVR8 interacts with MpCOP1, triggering growth inhibition, genome-wide gene expression changes, biosynthesis of UV-absorbing metabolites, and photoprotection, which overall contributes to UV-B stress tolerance. MpRUP facilitates redimerization of MpUVR8 and Mprup null mutants show enhanced UV-B photomorphogenesis, demonstrating that MpRUP efficiently represses MpUVR8 signaling. Unlike the case in Arabidopsis and in contrast to the strong Mpcop1 mutant phenotype, Mpspa mutants develop only a very weak constitutive photomorphogenesis phenotype, indicating that COP1 function is much more independent of SPA in Marchantia than in Arabidopsis. Moreover, in contrast to Arabidopsis SPAs, Mpspa is linked with a hyper-responsive UV-B phenotype, suggesting that MpSPA is a negative regulator of MpUVR8 signaling. Similar to Arabidopsis HY5/HYH, MpHY5 functions antagonistically to MpCOP1, but its role in UV-B-mediated gene expression changes is more limited. Our findings demonstrate that although core components of UV-B signaling existed in the last common ancestor of extant land plants, regulatory interactions have diversified in different lineages since their divergence more than 400 million years ago.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Photoreceptor-induced sinapate synthesis contributes to photoprotection in Arabidopsis

Plants must balance light capture for photosynthesis with protection from potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV). Photoprotection is mediated by concerted action of photoreceptors, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we provide evidence that UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8) UV-B-, phytochrome red-, and cryptochrome blue-light photoreceptors converge on the induction of FERULIC ACID 5-HYDROXYLASE 1 (FAH1) that encodes a key enzyme in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway, leading to the accumulation of UV-absorbing sinapate esters. FAH1 induction depends on the bZIP transcription factors ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5) and HY5-HOMOLOG (HYH) that function downstream of all three photoreceptors. Noticeably, mutants with hyperactive UVR8 signalling rescue fah1 UV sensitivity. Targeted metabolite profiling suggests that this phenotypic rescue is due to the accumulation of UV-absorbing metabolites derived from precursors of sinapate synthesis, namely coumaroyl-glucose and feruloyl-glucose. Our genetic dissection of the phenylpropanoid pathway combined with metabolomic and physiological analyses show that both sinapate esters and flavonoids contribute to photoprotection with sinapates playing a major role for UV screening. Our findings indicate that photoreceptor-mediated regulation of FAH1 and subsequent accumulation of sinapate "sunscreen" compounds is a key protective mechanism to mitigate damage, preserving photosynthetic performance, and ensuring plant survival under UV.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2021

The UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8-Mediated UV-B Response Is Required Alongside CRYPTOCHROME1 For Plant Survival Under Sunlight In The Field

As sessile organisms, plants are subjected to fluctuating sunlight including potentially detrimental ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B). In Arabidopsis thaliana, experiments under controlled conditions have shown that UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8) controls photomorphogenic responses for acclimation and tolerance to UV-B; however, its long-term impacts on plant performance remain poorly understood in naturally fluctuating environments. Here we quantified the survival and reproduction of different Arabidopsis mutant genotypes in diverse field and laboratory conditions. We found that uvr8 mutants produced more fruits than wild type in growth chambers with artificial low UV-B conditions but not in natural field conditions. Importantly, independent double mutants of UVR8 and the blue-light photoreceptor gene CRYPTOCHROME 1 (CRY1) in two genetic backgrounds showed a drastic reduction in fitness in the field. UV-B attenuation experiments in field conditions and supplemental UV-B in growth chambers demonstrated that UV-B caused the conditional cry1 uvr8 lethality phenotype. RNA sequencing in different conditions revealed a large number of genes with statistical interaction of UVR8 and CRY1 mutations in the presence of UV-B in the field. Among them, Gene Ontology analysis identified enrichment of categories related to UV-B response, oxidative stress, photoprotection and DNA damage repair. Our study demonstrates the functional importance of the UVR8-mediated response across life stages in natura, which is partially redundant with CRY1, and provides an integral picture of gene expression associated with plant environmental responses under diverse environmental conditions.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2021

BBX proteins promote HY5-mediated UVR8 signaling in Arabidopsis

Plants undergo photomorphogenic development in the presence of light. Photomorphogenesis is repressed by the E3 ubiquitin ligase CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 (COP1), which binds substrates through their valine-proline (VP) motifs. The UV RESISTANCE LOCUS8 (UVR8) photoreceptor senses UV-B and inhibits COP1 through cooperative binding of its own VP motif mimicry and its photosensing core to COP1, thereby preventing COP1 binding to substrates, including the bZIP transcriptional regulator ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5). As a key promoter of visible light and UV-B photomorphogenesis, HY5 functions together with the B-box family transcription factors BBX20-22 that were recently described as HY5 rate-limiting coactivators under red light. Here we describe a hypermorphic bbx21-3D mutant with enhanced photomorphogenesis, which carries a proline-314 to leucine mutation in the VP motif that impairs interaction with and regulation through COP1. We show that BBX21 and BBX22 are UVR8-dependently stabilized after UV-B exposure, which is counteracted by a repressor induced by HY5/BBX activity. bbx20 bbx21 bbx22 mutants under UV-B are impaired in hypocotyl growth inhibition, photoprotective pigment accumulation, and expression of several HY5-dependent genes. We conclude that BBX20-22 importantly contribute to HY5 activity in a subset of UV-B responses, but that additional, presently unknown coactivators for HY5 are functional in early UVR8 signaling.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2020

A constitutively monomeric UVR8 photoreceptor allele confers enhanced UV-B photomorphogenesis

The plant UV-B photoreceptor UVR8 plays an important role in UV-B acclimation and survival. UV-B absorption by homodimeric UVR8 induces its monomerization and interaction with the E3 ubiquitin ligase COP1, leading ultimately to gene expression changes. UVR8 is inactivated through redimerization, facilitated by RUP1 and RUP2. Here, we describe a novel semi-dominant, hyperactive allele, namely uvr8-17D, that harbors a glycine-101 to serine mutation. UVR8G101S-overexpression led to weak constitutive photomorphogenesis and extreme UV-B responsiveness. UVR8G101S was observed to be predominantly monomeric in vivo and, once activated by UV-B, was not efficiently inactivated. Analysis of a UVR8G101S crystal structure revealed the distortion of a loop region normally involved in stabilization of the UVR8 homodimer. Plants expressing a UVR8 variant combining G101S with the previously described W285A mutation exhibited robust constitutive photomorphogenesis. This work provides further insight into UVR8 activation and inactivation mechanisms, and describes a genetic tool for the manipulation of photomorphogenic responses.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Plant photoreceptors and their signaling components compete for binding to the ubiquitin ligase COP1 using their VP-peptide motifs

Plants sense different parts of the suns light spectrum using specialized photoreceptors, many of which signal through the E3 ubiquitin ligase COP1. Photoreceptor binding modulates COP1s ubiquitin ligase activity towards transcription factors. Here we analyze why many COP1-interacting transcription factors and photoreceptors harbor sequence-divergent Val-Pro (VP) peptide motifs. We demonstrate that VP motifs enable different light signaling components to bind to the WD40 domain of COP1 with various binding affinities. Crystal structures of the VP motifs of the UV-B photoreceptor UVR8 and the transcription factor HY5 in complex with COP1, quantitative binding assays and reverse genetic experiments together suggest that UVR8 and HY5 compete for the COP1 WD40 domain. Photoactivation of UVR8 leads to high-affinity cooperative binding of its VP domain and its photosensing core to COP1, interfering with the binding of COP1 to its substrate HY5. Functional UVR8 - VP motif chimeras suggest that UV-B signaling specificity resides in the UVR8 photoreceptor core, not its VP motif. Crystal structures of different COP1 - VP peptide complexes highlight sequence fingerprints required for COP1 targeting. The functionally distinct blue light receptors CRY1 and CRY2 also compete with downstream transcription factors for COP1 binding using similar VP-peptide motifs. Together, our work reveals that photoreceptors and their components compete for COP1 using a conserved displacement mechanism to control different light signaling cascades in plants.

plant biology↗