植生生态所光合作用与环境生物学实验室滕胜研究组在拟南芥糖信号研究领域取得了重要进展：在拟南芥中首次发现了一个新的果糖特异信号途径，这一研究成果于2月7日在线发表在国际重要学术期刊《美国科学院院刊》PNAS 上。
在植物中，糖作为碳骨架和能量的提供者，是一切物质代谢和能量代谢的基础。目前，糖的信号分子功能已得到广泛认可，糖作为信号分子在植物生长发育和对环境响应的过程中具有极其重要的作用。植物中的可溶性糖主要有蔗糖、葡萄糖和果糖。以己糖激酶HXK1为受体的葡萄糖信号途径已有较多的研究，而蔗糖信号的存在也已得到证实。这些研究结果为阐明糖信号调控物质代谢、能量代谢、生长发育、以及响应外界环境的分子机理打下坚实的基础。然而，作为主要可溶性糖之一的果糖，其信号功能和相应的信号途径却未明确。
该研究利用Ler和Cvi生态型构建的Ler X Cvi重组自交系群体进行果糖敏感QTL的定位，通过与葡萄糖敏感QTL的比较，发现了4个果糖特异的QTL，其中的FSQ6 在近等基因系中得到证实。该研究还发现拟南芥的果糖敏感性独立于葡萄糖感受体HXK1，但仍依赖于脱落酸和乙烯信号途径。这些结果揭示了独立于HXK1的果糖信号新途径，该途径与脱落酸和乙烯信号途径的互作方式和HXK1介导的葡萄糖信号途径相似。通过图位克隆和转基因互补，证明了FSQ6基因是一个具有膜系留结构域的NAC转录因子——ANAC089。FSQ6/ANAC089 的Cvi等位基因是一个功能获得性等位基因，具有抑制果糖信号的功能，该等位基因的第三外显子中发生了1-bp缺失，导致蛋白质翻译提前终止，从而产生了膜系留结构域缺失的ANAC089蛋白质，该蛋白质能直接进入细胞核，且具有转录激活活性，通过激活下游基因的表达从而抑制果糖信号途径。而Ler ANAC089蛋白虽然具有转录激活活性，但因具有膜系留结构域，仍滞留在细胞质中，不能进入细胞核行使转录因子的功能。
该项工作得到了中科院知识创新工程、国家973计划、转基因重大专项、国家自然科学基金等项目的支持。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1018665108
Fructose sensitivity is suppressed in Arabidopsis by the transcription factor ANAC089 lacking the membrane-bound domain
Ping Lia,1, Julia J. Windb,1, Xiaoliang Shia, Honglei Zhanga, Johannes Hansonb,c,d, Sjef C. Smeekensb,c, and Sheng Tenga,b,c,2
Abstract
In living organisms sugars not only provide energy and carbon skeletons but also act as evolutionarily conserved signaling molecules. The three major soluble sugars in plants are sucrose, glucose, and fructose. Information on plant glucose and sucrose signaling is available, but to date no fructose-specific signaling pathway has been reported. In this study, sugar repression of seedling development was used to study fructose sensitivity in the Landsberg erecta (Ler)/Cape Verde Islands (Cvi) recombinant inbred line population, and eight fructose-sensing quantitative trait loci (QTLs) (FSQ1–8) were mapped. Among them, FSQ6 was confirmed to be a fructose-specific QTL by analyzing near-isogenic lines in which Cvi genomic fragments were introgressed in the Ler background. These results indicate the existence of a fructose-specific signaling pathway in Arabidopsis. Further analysis demonstrated that the FSQ6-associated fructose-signaling pathway functions independently of the hexokinase1 (HXK1) glucose sensor. Remarkably, fructose-specific FSQ6 downstream signaling interacts with abscisic acid (ABA)- and ethylene-signaling pathways, similar to HXK1-dependent glucose signaling. The Cvi allele of FSQ6 acts as a suppressor of fructose signaling. The FSQ6 gene was identified using map-based cloning approach, and FSQ6 was shown to encode the transcription factor gene Arabidopsis NAC (petunia No apical meristem and Arabidopsis transcription activation factor 1, 2 and Cup-shaped cotyledon 2) domain containing protein 89 (ANAC089). The Cvi allele of FSQ6/ANAC089 is a gain-of-function allele caused by a premature stop in the third exon of the gene. The truncated Cvi FSQ6/ANAC089 protein lacks a membrane association domain that is present in ANAC089 proteins from other Arabidopsis accessions. As a result, Cvi FSQ6/ANAC089 is constitutively active as a transcription factor in the nucleus.
