Involvement of the TMV-MP in the Control of Carbon Metabolism and Partitioning in Transgenic Plants

Abstract

The function of the 30-kilodalton movement protein (MP) of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is to facilitate cell-to-cell movement of viral progeny in infected plants. Our earlier findings have indicated that this protein has a direct effect on plasmodesmal function. In addition, these studies demonstrated that constitutive expression of the TMV MP gene (under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter) in transgenic tobacco plants significantly affects carbon metabolism in source leaves and alters the biomass distribution between the various plant organs. The long-term goal of the proposed research was to better understand the factors controlling carbon translocation in plants. The specific objectives were: A) To introduce into tobacco and potato plants a virally-encoded (TMV-MP) gene that affects plasmodesmal functioning and photosynthate partitioning under tissue-specific promoters. B) To introduce into tobacco and potato plants the TMV-MP gene under the control of promoters which are tightly repressed by the Tn10-encoded Tet repressor, to enable the expression of the protein by external application of tetracycline. C) To explore the mechanism by which the TMV-MP interacts with the endogenous control o~ carbon allocation. Data obtained in our previous project together with the results of this current study established that the TMV-MP has pleiotropic effects when expressed in transgenic tobacco plants. In addition to its ability to increase the plasmodesmal size exclusion limit, it alters carbohydrate metabolism in source leaves and dry matter partitioning between the various plant organs, Expression of the TMV-MP in various tissues of transgenic potato plants indicated that sugars and starch levels in source leaves are reduced below those of control plants when the TMV-MP is expressed in green tissue only. However, when the TMV-MP was expressed predominantly in PP and CC, sugar and starch levels were raised above those of control plants. Perhaps the most significant result obtained from experiments performed on transgenic potato plants was the discovery that the influence of the TMV-MP on carbohydrate allocation within source leaves was under developmental control and was exerted only during tuber development. The complexity of the mode by which the TMV-MP exerts its effect on the process of carbohydrate allocation was further demonstrated when transgenic tobacco plants were subjected to environmental stresses such as drought stress and nutrients deficiencies, Collectively, these studies indicated that the influence of the TMV-MP on carbon allocation L the result of protein-protein interaction within the source tissue. Based on these results, together with the findings that plasmodesmata potentiate the cell-to-cell trafficking of viral and endogenous proteins and nucleoproteins complexes, we developed the theme that at the whole plant level, the phloem serves as an information superhighway. Such a long-distance communication system may utilize a new class of signaling molecules (proteins and/or RNA) to co-ordinate photosynthesis and carbon/nitrogen metabolism in source leaves with the complex growth requirements of the plant under the prevailing environmental conditions. The discovery that expression of viral MP in plants can induce precise changes in carbon metabolism and photoassimilate allocation, now provide a conceptual foundation for future studies aimed at elucidating the communication network responsible for integrating photosynthetic productivity with resource allocation at the whole-plant level. Such information will surely provide an understanding of how plants coordinate the essential physiological functions performed by distantly-separated organs. Identification of the proteins involved in mediating and controlling cell-to-cell transport, especially at the companion cell-sieve element boundary, will provide an important first step towards achieving this goal.