Heat shock response of til1-1 mutant plants

Several lipocalin genes from higher plants were shown to be responsive to both high and low temperature stresses and have been named as temperature-induced lipocalin (Til). In this study, a reverse genetic approach was taken to elucidate the role of Arabidopsis Til1 (At5g58070) in thermotolerance. We showed that Til1 proteins was constitutively expressed and increased significantly after heat shock treatment. A T-DNA knockout line of Til1, designated as til1-1, could not produce Til1 and showed severe defects in basal and acquired thermotolerance. Introducing a wild type copy of Til1 gene into til1-1 complemented the mutant phenotype. Over-expression of Til1 in the wild type plant did not enhance thermotolerance. Til1 is peripherally associated with plasma membrane, suggesting a regulatory or protective role of this protein in membrane function. Transcriptomic analysis showed that the heat shock response in til1-1 was not altered as compared to the wild type plants. The temperature threshold for heat shock protein induction was not affected by the level of Til1. Ion leakage analysis revealed no significant difference in membrane stability between the wild type and til1-1 seedlings. These results suggested that Til1 is not involved in regulating membrane fluidity or stability. Nevertheless, the level of malondialdehyde was significantly higher in til1-1 than in the wild type after severe heat treatment. The mutant plants were also more sensitive than the wild type to tert-butyl hydroperoxide, a reagent that induces lipid peroxidation. Taken together, our data indicate that Til1 is an essential component for thermotolerance probably by acting against lipid peroxidation induced by severe heat stress.

8

Chi WT, Fung RW, Liu HC, Hsu CC, Charng YY