Expression levels of inositol phosphorylceramide synthase modulate plant responses to biotic and abiotic stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

PLoS One. 2019 May 23;14(5):e0217087. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217087. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

This research was undertaken to investigate the global role of the plant inositol phosphorylceramide synthase (IPCS), a non-mammalian enzyme previously shown to be associated with the pathogen response. RNA-Seq analyses demonstrated that over-expression of inositol phosphorylceramide synthase isoforms AtIPCS1, 2 or 3 in Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in the down-regulation of genes involved in plant response to pathogens. In addition, genes associated with the abiotic stress response to salinity, cold and drought were found to be similarly down-regulated. Detailed analyses of transgenic lines over-expressing AtIPCS1-3 at various levels revealed that the degree of down-regulation is specifically correlated with the level of IPCS expression. Singular enrichment analysis of these down-regulated genes showed that AtIPCS1-3 expression affects biological signaling pathways involved in plant response to biotic and abiotic stress. The up-regulation of genes involved in photosynthesis and lipid localization was also observed in the over-expressing lines.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / physiology*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
  • Erwinia amylovora
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant*
  • Hexosyltransferases / genetics
  • Hexosyltransferases / metabolism*
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology*
  • Stress, Physiological*

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Hexosyltransferases
  • phosphatidylinositol-ceramide phosphoinositol transferase