Protein Phosphorylation Dynamics Under Carbon/Nitrogen-Nutrient Stress and Identification of a Cell Death-Related Receptor-Like Kinase in Arabidopsis

Abstract

Nutrient availability, in particular the availability of sugar [carbon (C)] and nitrogen (N), is important for the regulation of plant metabolism and development. In addition to independent utilization of C and N nutrients, plants sense and respond to the balance of C and N nutrients (C/N-nutrient) available to them. High C/low N-nutrient stress has been shown to arrest early post-germinative growth while promoting progression to senescence in Arabidopsis. Although several signaling components of the C/N-nutrient response have been identified, the inclusive molecular basis of plant C/N-nutrient response remains unclear. This proteome analysis evaluated phosphorylation dynamics in response to high C/low N-nutrient stress. Phosphoproteomics under conditions of C/N-nutrient stress showed a global change in the phosphorylation status of proteins, including plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase, carbon and nitrogen metabolic enzymes and signaling proteins such as protein kinases and transcription factors. Further analyses suggested that SNF1-related protein kinase 1 (SnRK1) is involved in primary C/N-nutrient signal mediation via the transcriptional regulation of C/N-regulatory kinases. We also identified a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase with extracellular malectin-like domain, named as LMK1, which was shown to possess cell death induction activity in plant leaves. These results provide important insight into the C/N-nutrient signaling pathways connecting nutrition stress to various cellular and physiological processes in plants.

Keywords: SnRK1; cell death; kinase; metabolism; nitrogen; phosphorylation; receptor-like kinase; sugar.