A natriuretic peptide from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtPNP-A) can modulate catalase 2 activity

Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 12;10(1):19632. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-76676-0.

Abstract

Analogues of vertebrate natriuretic peptides (NPs) present in plants, termed plant natriuretic peptides (PNPs), comprise a novel class of hormones that systemically affect salt and water balance and responses to plant pathogens. Several lines of evidence indicate that Arabidopsis thaliana PNP (AtPNP-A) affects cellular redox homeostasis, which is also typical for the signaling of its vertebrate analogues, but the molecular mechanism(s) of this effect remains elusive. Here we report identification of catalase 2 (CAT2), an antioxidant enzyme, as an interactor of AtPNP-A. The full-length AtPNP-A recombinant protein and the biologically active fragment of AtPNP-A bind specifically to CAT2 in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analyses, while a biologically inactive scrambled peptide does not. In vivo bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) showed that CAT2 interacts with AtPNP-A in chloroplasts. Furthermore, CAT2 activity is lower in homozygous atpnp-a knockdown compared with wild type plants, and atpnp-a knockdown plants phenocopy CAT2-deficient plants in their sensitivity to elevated H2O2, which is consistent with a direct modulatory effect of the PNP on the activity of CAT2 and hence H2O2 homeostasis. Our work underlines the critical role of AtPNP-A in modulating the activity of CAT2 and highlights a mechanism of fine-tuning plant responses to adverse conditions by PNPs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antioxidants / pharmacology*
  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / growth & development
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
  • Catalase / genetics
  • Catalase / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / drug effects*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / drug effects*
  • Homeostasis
  • Natriuretic Peptides / pharmacology*
  • Plant Leaves / genetics
  • Plant Leaves / growth & development
  • Plant Leaves / metabolism
  • Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • Antioxidants
  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Natriuretic Peptides
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Catalase