Browsing by Author "Saxena, Saurabh C."

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Cloning, expression and functional validation of drought inducible ascorbate peroxidase (Ec-apx1) from Eleusine coracana
(Springer, 2013) Bhatt, Deepesh; Saxena, Saurabh C.; Jain, Sourabh; Dobriyal, Anoop K.; Majee, Manoj; Arora, Sandeep
Eleusine coracana (finger millet) is a stress-hardy but under-utilized cereal crop that possesses an efficient antioxidant defense system. The plant is capable of enduring long durations of water deficit stress. Experiments were conducted to clone a potent stress responsive isoform of ascorbate peroxidase and validate its role under drought stress. Reverse transcriptase PCR was used to obtain the partial cDNA of apx1 gene, from a meticulously screened drought tolerant genotype of E. coracana (PR202). Using RACE strategy, the full length apx1 cDNA was cloned and sequenced. The cDNA length of the E. coracana apx1 (Ec-apx1) gene is 1,047 bp with a 750 bp ORF, encoding a 250 amino acid protein having a molecular weight of 28.5 kDa. The identity of the amino acid sequence, deduced from the cDNA, with the APX family homologs was about 74-97 %. The full-length apx1 ORF was sub-cloned in a prokaryotic expression vector pET23b. The recombinant fusion protein, Ec-apx1, had high expression level in BL21 strain of E. coli and exhibited APX enzyme activity. The structure-function relationship of the protein was deduced by modelling a three-dimensional structure of Ec-apx1, on the basis of comparative homology using SWISS-MODEL. Real time PCR analysis of Ec-apx1 expression at mRNA level showed that the transcript increased under drought stress, with maximum levels attained 5-days after imposition of stress. Our results suggest that Ec-apx1 has a distinct pattern of expression and plays a pivotal role in drought stress tolerance. Therefore, the cloned isoform of ascorbate peroxidase can be used for developing stress tolerant genotypes of important crops, through transgenic approach.
Deciphering the structural basis of the broad substrate specificity of myo-inositol monophosphatase (IMP) from Cicer arietinum
(Elsevier B.V., 2020) Yadav, Prakarsh K.; Salvi, Prafull; Kamble, Nitin Uttam; Petla, Bhanu Prakash; Majee, Manoj; Saxena, Saurabh C.
Myo-inositol monophosphatase (IMP) is a crucial enzyme in the inositol biosynthetic pathway that dephosphorylates myo-inositol 1-phosphate and other inositol phosphate derivative compounds to maintain the homeostasis of cellular inositol pool. In our previous research, we have biochemically and functionally characterized IMP enzyme from chickpea (CaIMP), which was able to catalyze diverse substrates. We cloned, overexpressed recombinant CaIMP protein and purified it and further characterized the CaIMP with its three main substrates viz. galactose 1-P, inositol 6-P and fructose 1,6-bisP. Homology model of CaIMP was generated to elucidate the factors contributing to the broad substrate specificity of the protein. The active site of the CaIMP protein was analysed with respect to its interactions with the proposed substrates. Structural features such as, high B-factor and flexible loop regions in the active site, inspired further investigation into the static and dynamic behaviour of the active site of CaIMP protein. The electrostatic biding of each of the key substrates was assessed through molecular docking. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations showed that these interactions indeed were stable for extended periods of time under physiological conditions. These experiments conclusively allowed us to establish the primary factors contributing to the promiscuity in substrate binding by CaIMP protein.
Differentially expressed myo-inositol monophosphatase gene (CaIMP) in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) encodes a lithium-sensitive phosphatase enzyme with broad substrate specificity and improves seed germination and seedling growth under abiotic stresses
(Oxford University Press, 2013) Saxena, Saurabh C.; Salvi, Prafull; Kaur, Harmeet; Verma, Pooja; Petla, Bhanu Prakash; Rao, Venkateswara; Kamble, Nitin; Majee, Manoj
myo-Inositol monophosphatase (IMP) is an essential enzyme in the myo-inositol metabolic pathway where it primarily dephosphorylates myo-inositol 1-phosphate to maintain the cellular inositol pool which is important for many metabolic and signalling pathways in plants. The stress-induced increased accumulation of inositol has been reported in a few plants including chickpea; however, the role and regulation of IMP is not well defined in response to stress. In this work, it has been shown that IMP activity is distributed in all organs in chickpea and was noticeably enhanced during environmental stresses. Subsequently, using degenerate oligonucleotides and RACE strategy, a full-length IMP cDNA (CaIMP) was cloned and sequenced. Biochemical study revealed that CaIMP encodes a lithium-sensitive phosphatase enzyme with broad substrate specificity, although maximum activity was observed with the myo-inositol 1-phosphate and l-galactose 1-phosphate substrates. Transcript analysis revealed that CaIMP is differentially expressed and regulated in different organs, stresses and phytohormones. Complementation analysis in Arabidopsis further confirmed the role of CaIMP in l-galactose 1-phosphate and myo-inositol 1-phosphate hydrolysis and its participation in myo-inositol and ascorbate biosynthesis. Moreover, Arabidopsis transgenic plants over-expressing CaIMP exhibited improved tolerance to stress during seed germination and seedling growth, while the VTC4/IMP loss-of-function mutants exhibited sensitivity to stress. Collectively, CaIMP links various metabolic pathways and plays an important role in improving seed germination and seedling growth, particularly under stressful environments.
Ectopic expression of the ABA-inducible dehydration-responsive chickpea L-myo-inositol 1-phosphate synthase 2 (CaMIPS2) in Arabidopsis enhances tolerance to salinity and dehydration stress
(Springer, 2013) Kaur, Harmeet; Verma, Pooja; Petla, Bhanu Prakash; Rao, Venkateswara; Saxena, Saurabh C.; Majee, Manoj
Myo-inositol participates in many different aspects of plant physiology and myo-inositol 1-phosphate synthase (MIPS; EC 5.5.1.4) catalyzes the rate limiting step of inositol biosynthetic pathway. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum), a drought-tolerant leguminous crop plant, is known to accumulate increased inositol during dehydration stress. Previously, we reported two differentially expressed divergent genes (CaMIPS1 and CaMIPS2) encoding two MIPS isoforms in chickpea. In this communication, we demonstrated that CaMIPS2 is an early dehydration-responsive gene and is also rapidly induced by exogenous ABA application, while CaMIPS1 expression is not much influenced by dehydration or ABA. The regulation of expression of these two genes has been studied by examining their promoter activity through GUS reporter gene and differential promoter activity has been observed. Moreover, unlike CaMIPS1 promoter, CaMIPS2 promoter contains CRT/DRE cis-regulatory element which seems to play a key role in dehydration-induced expression of CaMIPS2. Furthermore, CaMIPS1 and CaMIPS2 have been successfully complemented and shown to repair the defect of seedling growth and altered seed phenotype of Atmips1 mutant. Moreover, Arabidopsis transgenic plants overexpressing CaMIPS1 or CaMIPS2 exhibit improved tolerance to salinity and dehydration stresses and such tolerance of transgenic plants is correlated with their elevated level of inositol. Remarkably, CaMIPS2 transgenic lines perform better in all attributes than CaMIPS1 transformants under such stress conditions, due to comparatively unabated production of inositol by CaMIPS2 enzyme, as this enzyme retains significant activity under stress conditions.
Ectopic overexpression of cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase gene (Apx1) improves salinity stress tolerance in Brassica juncea by strengthening antioxidative defense mechanism
(Springer Nature, 2020) Saxena, Saurabh C.; Salvi, Prafull; Kamble, Nitin Uttam; Joshi, Pankaj K.; Majee, Manoj; Arora, Sandeep
Salinity stress is considered to be a key constrain that reduces the crop productivity by impairing plant growth and development. During salt stress condition, an underlying mechanism for reduction in crop yield is increase in ROS level that can potentially harm cellular macromolecules, leading to disruption of essential physiological and biochemical processes. Plants possess a complex antioxidative defense machinery for scavenging these ROS. Ascorbate peroxidase (APX, E.C. 1.11.1.11), is a crucial antioxidant enzyme involved in Ascorbate–Glutathione pathway that primarily detoxifies the negative impact of H2O2 in cell. The efficient scavenging of H2O2 is a prerequisite for enhanced tolerance to salinity stress. Here, we have inspected whether over-expression of APX could provide protection against salinity stress. Cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase (Apx1) gene, isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana, was chosen as the candidate gene for strengthening the antioxidative defense system of Brassica juncea. Physiological parameters were employed to analyze the growth status of transgenic plants. Leaf disc assay was done to evaluate the salinity stress tolerance potential of transgenic plants, using several physiological and biochemical parameters. Under salinity stress, the transgenic plants performed well as compared to their non-transgenic counterparts; as revealed through greater proline accumulation, increased chlorophyll stability index, lower chlorophyll a/b ratio, and higher antioxidative enzyme activities. Further, the lower H2O2 levels were well correlated with lesser membrane damage as measured through MDA content. Collectively, our results clearly depicted that ectopic overexpression of AtApx1 gene was able to confer salinity stress tolerance by strengthening the antioxidative defense system in B. juncea.
Osmoprotectants: potential for crop improvement under adverse conditions
(Springer, 2013) Saxena, Saurabh C.; Kaur, Harmeet; Verma, Pooja; Petla, Bhanu P.; Andugula, Venkateswara R.; Majee, Manoj
Abiotic stresses such as drought, cold, heat, and salinity are major factors that limit plant growth and development and account for a major loss in crop productivity worldwide. Thus, engineering plants for tolerance towards such environmental menaces is the prime concern for crop improvement programs. Engineering osmoprotectants biosynthetic pathway is considered as one among many successful approaches taken for crop improvement under adverse conditions. Osmoprotectants or compatible solutes are thought to act by stabilizing membranes and proteins and maintaining osmotic potential in the cell during stresses. Although not all crop plants are able to synthesize these special molecules, many stress tolerant plants are shown to accumulate them under stress conditions. This group primarily includes proline, glycine betaines, ectoine, trehalose, and polyols. However, many attempts have been made at engineering plant system with genes from biosynthetic pathways of osmoprotectants; these transgenic plants have shown different tolerance levels, because of many metabolic limitations. Thus, a more elaborate and wholesome approach may be required to look past the current scenario. This chapter will encompass the potential role of osmoprotectants in plant stress adaptation and the possibilities for crop improvement.
PROTEIN L- ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE2 gene is differentially expressed in chickpea and enhances seed vigor and longevity by reducing abnormal isoaspartyl accumulation predominantly in seed nuclear proteins
(American Society of Plant Biologists, 2013) Verma, Pooja; Kaur, Harmeet; Petla, Bhanu Prakash; Rao, Venkateswara; Saxena, Saurabh C.; Majee, Manoj
PROTEIN l-ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE (PIMT) is a widely distributed protein-repairing enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of abnormal l-isoaspartyl residues in spontaneously damaged proteins to normal aspartyl residues. This enzyme is encoded by two divergent genes (PIMT1 and PIMT2) in plants, unlike many other organisms. While the biological role of PIMT1 has been elucidated, the role and significance of the PIMT2 gene in plants is not well defined. Here, we isolated the PIMT2 gene (CaPIMT2) from chickpea (Cicer arietinum), which exhibits a significant increase in isoaspartyl residues in seed proteins coupled with reduced germination vigor under artificial aging conditions. The CaPIMT2 gene is found to be highly divergent and encodes two possible isoforms (CaPIMT2 and CaPIMT2') differing by two amino acids in the region I catalytic domain through alternative splicing. Unlike CaPIMT1, both isoforms possess a unique 56-amino acid amino terminus and exhibit similar yet distinct enzymatic properties. Expression analysis revealed that CaPIMT2 is differentially regulated by stresses and abscisic acid. Confocal visualization of stably expressed green fluorescent protein-fused PIMT proteins and cell fractionation-immunoblot analysis revealed that apart from the plasma membrane, both CaPIMT2 isoforms localize predominantly in the nucleus, while CaPIMT1 localizes in the cytosol. Remarkably, CaPIMT2 enhances seed vigor and longevity by repairing abnormal isoaspartyl residues predominantly in nuclear proteins upon seed-specific expression in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), while CaPIMT1 enhances seed vigor and longevity by repairing such abnormal proteins mainly in the cytosolic fraction. Together, our data suggest that CaPIMT2 has most likely evolved through gene duplication, followed by subfunctionalization to specialize in repairing the nuclear proteome.