Function of Lipids in Plant Stress

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 34150

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Kansas Lipidomics Research Center, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
Interests: lipid analysis using mass spectrometry; plant lipid metabolism; plant stress responses
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The journal Plants will be publishing a special issue on the function of lipids in plant stress. Lipids store energy, form cell membranes and surface barriers, and signal and modulate abiotic and biotic plant stress responses. Extensive chemical modifications to lipids, which include hydrolysis, oxidation, glycosylation, acylation, and desaturation, occur in response to both biotic and abiotic stressors. Physical changes to lipids in membranes and related metabolism also occur. Lipids and lipid-derived metabolites interact with proteins to regulate enzyme activity and/or transcription. Any of these changes, and likely some yet to be described, have the potential to mediate and/or modulate plant responses to stress.

The special issue will explore the roles of lipids and lipid properties, both positive and negative, during plant abiotic and biotic stress responses.

Prof. Ruth Welti
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • plant lipids
  • plant stress responses
  • plant cell membranes
  • lipid-derived phytohormones
  • stress-induced metabolism

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 3427 KiB  
Article
Leaf Lipid Alterations in Response to Heat Stress of Arabidopsis thaliana
by Sunitha Shiva, Thilani Samarakoon, Kaleb A. Lowe, Charles Roach, Hieu Sy Vu, Madeline Colter, Hollie Porras, Caroline Hwang, Mary R. Roth, Pamela Tamura, Maoyin Li, Kathrin Schrick, Jyoti Shah, Xuemin Wang, Haiyan Wang and Ruth Welti
Plants 2020, 9(7), 845; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9070845 - 04 Jul 2020
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5472
Abstract
In response to elevated temperatures, plants alter the activities of enzymes that affect lipid composition. While it has long been known that plant leaf membrane lipids become less unsaturated in response to heat, other changes, including polygalactosylation of galactolipids, head group acylation of [...] Read more.
In response to elevated temperatures, plants alter the activities of enzymes that affect lipid composition. While it has long been known that plant leaf membrane lipids become less unsaturated in response to heat, other changes, including polygalactosylation of galactolipids, head group acylation of galactolipids, increases in phosphatidic acid and triacylglycerols, and formation of sterol glucosides and acyl sterol glucosides, have been observed more recently. In this work, by measuring lipid levels with mass spectrometry, we confirm the previously observed changes in Arabidopsis thaliana leaf lipids under three heat stress regimens. Additionally, in response to heat, increased oxidation of the fatty acyl chains of leaf galactolipids, sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerols, and phosphatidylglycerols, and incorporation of oxidized acyl chains into acylated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols are shown. We also observed increased levels of digalactosylmonoacylglycerols and monogalactosylmonoacylglycerols. The hypothesis that a defect in sterol glycosylation would adversely affect regrowth of plants after a severe heat stress regimen was tested, but differences between wild-type and sterol glycosylation-defective plants were not detected. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Function of Lipids in Plant Stress)
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13 pages, 2365 KiB  
Article
The Serine Carboxypeptidase-Like Gene SCPL41 Negatively Regulates Membrane Lipid Metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana
by Juan Chen, Wei-qi Li and Yan-xia Jia
Plants 2020, 9(6), 696; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9060696 - 29 May 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3237
Abstract
The Arabidopsis has 51 proteins annotated as serine carboxypeptidase-like (SCPL) enzymes. Although biochemical and cellular characterization indicates SCPLs involved in protein turnover or processing, little is known about their roles in plant metabolism. In this study, we identified an Arabidopsis mutant, bis4 ( [...] Read more.
The Arabidopsis has 51 proteins annotated as serine carboxypeptidase-like (SCPL) enzymes. Although biochemical and cellular characterization indicates SCPLs involved in protein turnover or processing, little is known about their roles in plant metabolism. In this study, we identified an Arabidopsis mutant, bis4 (1-butanol insensitive 4), that was insensitive to the inhibitory effect of 1-butanol on seed germination. We cloned the gene that was defective in bis4 and found that it encoded an SCPL41 protein. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants constitutively expressing SCPL41 were generated, oil body staining and lipidomic assays indicated that SCPL41-overexpressing plants showed a decrease in membrane lipid content, especially digalactosyl diglyceride (DGDG) and monogalactosyl diglyceride (MGDG) contents, while the loss of SCPL41 increased the membrane lipid levels compared with those in wild-type plants. These findings suggested that SCPL41 had acquired novel functions in membrane lipid metabolism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Function of Lipids in Plant Stress)
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15 pages, 2564 KiB  
Article
Quantitative Profiling of Arabidopsis Polar Glycerolipids under Two Types of Heat Stress
by Feng Qin, Liang Lin, Yanxia Jia, Weiqi Li and Buzhu Yu
Plants 2020, 9(6), 693; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9060693 - 29 May 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2334
Abstract
At the cellular level, the remodelling of membrane lipids and production of heat shock proteins are the two main strategies whereby plants survive heat stress. Although many studies related to glycerolipids and HSPs under heat stress have been reported separately, detailed alterations of [...] Read more.
At the cellular level, the remodelling of membrane lipids and production of heat shock proteins are the two main strategies whereby plants survive heat stress. Although many studies related to glycerolipids and HSPs under heat stress have been reported separately, detailed alterations of glycerolipids and the role of HSPs in the alterations of glycerolipids still need to be revealed. In this study, we profiled the glycerolipids of wild-type Arabidopsis and its HSP101-deficient mutant hot-1 under two types of heat stress. Our results demonstrated that the alterations of glycerolipids were very similar in wild-type Arabidopsis and hot-1 during heat stress. Although heat acclimation led to a slight decrease of glycerolipids, the decrease of glycerolipids in plants without heat acclimation is more severe under heat shock. The contents of 36:x monogalactosyl diacylglycerol (MGDG) were slightly increased, whereas that of 34:6 MGDG and 34:4 phosphatidylglycerol (PG) were severely decreased during moderate heat stress. Our findings suggested that heat acclimation could reduce the degradation of glycerolipids under heat shock. Synthesis of glycerolipids through the prokaryotic pathway was severely suppressed, whereas that through the eukaryotic pathway was slightly enhanced during moderate heat stress. In addition, HSP101 has a minor effect on the alterations of glycerolipids under heat stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Function of Lipids in Plant Stress)
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14 pages, 5423 KiB  
Article
Patatin-Related Phospholipase pPLAIIIγ Involved in Osmotic and Salt Tolerance in Arabidopsis
by Jianwu Li, Maoyin Li, Shuaibing Yao, Guangqin Cai and Xuemin Wang
Plants 2020, 9(5), 650; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9050650 - 20 May 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3001
Abstract
Patatin-related phospholipases (pPLAs) are acyl-hydrolyzing enzymes implicated in various processes, including lipid metabolism, signal transduction, plant growth and stress responses, but the function for many specific pPLAs in plants remains unknown. Here we determine the effect of patatin-related phospholipase A pPLAIIIγ on Arabidopsis [...] Read more.
Patatin-related phospholipases (pPLAs) are acyl-hydrolyzing enzymes implicated in various processes, including lipid metabolism, signal transduction, plant growth and stress responses, but the function for many specific pPLAs in plants remains unknown. Here we determine the effect of patatin-related phospholipase A pPLAIIIγ on Arabidopsis response to abiotic stress. Knockout of pPLAIIIγ rendered plants more sensitive whereas overexpression of pPLAIIIγ enhanced plant tolerance to NaCl and drought in seed germination and seedling growth. The pPLAIIIγ-knockout and overexpressing seedlings displayed a lower and higher level of lysolipids and free fatty acids than that of wild-type plants in response to NaCl stress, respectively. These results indicate that pPLAIIIγ acts a positive regulator of salt and osmatic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Function of Lipids in Plant Stress)
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17 pages, 1526 KiB  
Article
Comparative Lipidomic Analysis Reveals Heat Stress Responses of Two Soybean Genotypes Differing in Temperature Sensitivity
by Sruthi Narayanan, Zolian S. Zoong-Lwe, Nitant Gandhi, Ruth Welti, Benjamin Fallen, James R. Smith and Sachin Rustgi
Plants 2020, 9(4), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9040457 - 04 Apr 2020
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 4528
Abstract
Heat-induced changes in lipidome and their influence on stress adaptation are not well-defined in plants. We investigated if lipid metabolic changes contribute to differences in heat stress responses in a heat-tolerant soybean genotype DS25-1 and a heat-susceptible soybean genotype DT97-4290. Both genotypes were [...] Read more.
Heat-induced changes in lipidome and their influence on stress adaptation are not well-defined in plants. We investigated if lipid metabolic changes contribute to differences in heat stress responses in a heat-tolerant soybean genotype DS25-1 and a heat-susceptible soybean genotype DT97-4290. Both genotypes were grown at optimal temperatures (OT; 30/20 °C) for 15 days. Subsequently, half of the plants were exposed to heat stress (38/28 °C) for 11 days, and the rest were kept at OT. Leaf samples were collected for lipid and RNA extractions on the 9th and 11th days of stress, respectively. We observed a decline in the lipid unsaturation level due to a decrease in the polyunsaturated linolenic acid (18:3) content in DS25-1. When examined under OT conditions, DS25-1 and DT97-4290 showed no significant differences in the expression pattern of the Fatty Acid Desaturase (FAD) 2-1A, FAD2-2B, FAD2-2C, FAD3A genes. Under heat stress conditions, substantial reductions in the expression levels of the FAD3A and FAD3B genes, which convert 18:2 lipids to 18:3, were observed in DS25-1. Our results suggest that decrease in levels of lipids containing 18:3 acyl chains under heat stress in DS25-1 is a likely consequence of reduced FAD3A and FAD3B expression, and the decrease in 18:3 contributes to DS25-1′s maintenance of membrane functionality and heat tolerance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Function of Lipids in Plant Stress)
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13 pages, 2173 KiB  
Article
Long-Chain acyl-CoA Synthetase LACS2 Contributes to Submergence Tolerance by Modulating Cuticle Permeability in Arabidopsis
by Li-Juan Xie, Wei-Juan Tan, Yi-Cong Yang, Yi-Fang Tan, Ying Zhou, De-Mian Zhou, Shi Xiao and Qin-Fang Chen
Plants 2020, 9(2), 262; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9020262 - 18 Feb 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4054
Abstract
In Arabidopsis thaliana, LONG-CHAIN ACYL-COA SYNTHETASEs (LACSs) catalyze the synthesis of long-chain acyl-CoAs and function in diverse biological processes. We have recently revealed that LACS2 is primarily involved in the production of polyunsaturated linolenoyl-CoA, essential for the activation of ethylene response transcription [...] Read more.
In Arabidopsis thaliana, LONG-CHAIN ACYL-COA SYNTHETASEs (LACSs) catalyze the synthesis of long-chain acyl-CoAs and function in diverse biological processes. We have recently revealed that LACS2 is primarily involved in the production of polyunsaturated linolenoyl-CoA, essential for the activation of ethylene response transcription factors-mediated hypoxia signaling. Here, we further reported the dual role of LACS2 in the regulation of submergence tolerance by modulating cuticle permeability in Arabidopsis cells. LACS2-overexpressors (LACS2-OEs) showed improved tolerance to submergence, with higher accumulation of cuticular wax and cutin in their rosettes. In contrast, knockout of LACS2 in the lacs2-3 mutant resulted in hypersensitivity to submergence with reduced wax crystals and thinner cutin layer. By analyses of plant surface permeability, we observed that the hypoxic sensitivities in the LACS2-OEs and lacs2-3 mutant were physiologically correlated with chlorophyll leaching, water loss rates, ionic leakage, and gas exchange. Thus, our findings suggest the role of LACS2 in plant response to submergence by modulating cuticle permeability in plant cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Function of Lipids in Plant Stress)
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Review

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13 pages, 1467 KiB  
Review
The Role of Triacylglycerol in Plant Stress Response
by Junhao Lu, Yang Xu, Juli Wang, Stacy D. Singer and Guanqun Chen
Plants 2020, 9(4), 472; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9040472 - 08 Apr 2020
Cited by 65 | Viewed by 10121
Abstract
Vegetable oil is mainly composed of triacylglycerol (TAG), a storage lipid that serves as a major commodity for food and industrial purposes, as well as an alternative biofuel source. While TAG is typically not produced at significant levels in vegetative tissues, emerging evidence [...] Read more.
Vegetable oil is mainly composed of triacylglycerol (TAG), a storage lipid that serves as a major commodity for food and industrial purposes, as well as an alternative biofuel source. While TAG is typically not produced at significant levels in vegetative tissues, emerging evidence suggests that its accumulation in such tissues may provide one mechanism by which plants cope with abiotic stress. Different types of abiotic stress induce lipid remodeling through the action of specific lipases, which results in various alterations in membrane lipid composition. This response induces the formation of toxic lipid intermediates that cause membrane damage or cell death. However, increased levels of TAG under stress conditions are believed to function, at least in part, as a means of sequestering these toxic lipid intermediates. Moreover, the lipid droplets (LDs) in which TAG is enclosed also function as a subcellular factory to provide binding sites and substrates for the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds that protect against insects and fungi. Though our knowledge concerning the role of TAG in stress tolerance is expanding, many gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms driving these processes are still evident. In this review, we highlight progress that has been made to decipher the role of TAG in plant stress response, and we discuss possible ways in which this information could be utilized to improve crops in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Function of Lipids in Plant Stress)
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