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Biomedical subjects

Fatma Kaplan

Publications and source records attributed to Fatma Kaplan.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Non-linear PCA: a missing data approach.

MOTIVATION: Visualizing and analysing the potential non-linear structure of a dataset is becoming an important task in molecular biology. This is even more challenging when the data have missing values. RESULTS: Here, we propose an inverse model that performs non-linear principal component analysis (NLPCA) from incomplete datasets. Missing values are ignored while optimizing the model, but can be estimated afterwards. Results are shown for both artificial and experimental datasets. In contrast to linear methods, non-linear methods were able to give better missing value estimations for non-linear structured data. APPLICATION: We applied this technique to a time course of metabolite data from a cold stress experiment on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and could approximate the mapping function from any time point to the metabolite responses. Thus, the inverse NLPCA provides greatly improved information for better understanding the complex response to cold stress. CONTACT: scholz@mpimp-golm.mpg.de.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

RNA interference of Arabidopsis beta-amylase8 prevents maltose accumulation upon cold shock and increases sensitivity of PSII photochemical efficiency to freezing stress.

It has been suggested that beta-amylase (BMY) induction during temperature stress in Arabidopsis could lead to starch-dependent maltose accumulation, and that maltose may contribute to protection of the electron transport chain and proteins in the chloroplast stroma during acute stress. A time-course transcript profiling analysis for cold shock at 4 degrees C revealed that BMY8 (At4g17090) was induced specifically in response to cold shock, while major induction was not observed for any of the other eight beta-amylases. A parallel metabolite-profiling analysis revealed a robust transient maltose accumulation during cold shock. BMY8 RNAi lines with lower BMY8 expression exhibited a starch-excess phenotype, and a dramatic decrease in maltose accumulation during a 6-h cold shock at 4 degrees C. The decreased maltose content was also accompanied by decreased glucose, fructose and sucrose content in the BMY8 RNAi plants, consistent with the roles of beta-amylase and maltose in transitory starch metabolism. BMY8 RNAi lines with reduced soluble sugar content exhibited diminished chlorophyll fluorescence as F(v)/F(m) ratio compared with wild type, suggesting that PSII photochemical efficiency was more sensitive to freezing stress. Together, carbohydrate analysis and freezing stress results of BMY8 RNAi lines indicate that increased maltose content, by itself or together through a maltose-dependent increase in other soluble sugars, contributes to the protection of the photosynthetic electron transport chain during freezing stress.

Arabidopsis↗

Exploring the temperature-stress metabolome of Arabidopsis.

Metabolic profiling analyses were performed to determine metabolite temporal dynamics associated with the induction of acquired thermotolerance in response to heat shock and acquired freezing tolerance in response to cold shock. Low-M(r) polar metabolite analyses were performed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Eighty-one identified metabolites and 416 unidentified mass spectral tags, characterized by retention time indices and specific mass fragments, were monitored. Cold shock influenced metabolism far more profoundly than heat shock. The steady-state pool sizes of 143 and 311 metabolites or mass spectral tags were altered in response to heat and cold shock, respectively. Comparison of heat- and cold-shock response patterns revealed that the majority of heat-shock responses were shared with cold-shock responses, a previously unknown relationship. Coordinate increases in the pool sizes of amino acids derived from pyruvate and oxaloacetate, polyamine precursors, and compatible solutes were observed during both heat and cold shock. In addition, many of the metabolites that showed increases in response to both heat and cold shock in this study were previously unlinked with temperature stress. This investigation provides new insight into the mechanisms of plant adaptation to thermal stress at the metabolite level, reveals relationships between heat- and cold-shock responses, and highlights the roles of known signaling molecules and protectants.

Acclimatization↗

beta-Amylase induction and the protective role of maltose during temperature shock.

A number of studies have demonstrated beta-amylase induction in response to abiotic stress. In the present work, a temperature response profile in 5 degrees C increments from 45 degrees C to 0 degrees C showed that induction at temperature extremes was specific for two members of the gene family (BMY7 and BMY8). Both members encode proteins that possess apparent transit peptides for chloroplast stromal localization. However, induction was not observed for other key starch degrading enzymes demonstrating a rather specific response to temperature stress for BMY7 and BMY8. Time course experiments for heat shock at 40 degrees C and cold shock at 5 degrees C showed that beta-amylase induction correlated with maltose accumulation. Maltose has the ability, as demonstrated by in vitro assays, to protect proteins, membranes, and the photosynthetic electron transport chain at physiologically relevant concentrations. Therefore, beta-amylase induction and the resultant maltose accumulation may function as a compatible-solute stabilizing factor in the chloroplast stroma in response to acute temperature stress.

Base Sequence↗

Acquired tolerance to temperature extremes.

Acquired tolerance to temperature stresses is a major protective mechanism. Recent advances have revealed key components of stress signal transduction pathways that trigger enhanced tolerance, and several determinants of acquired tolerance have been identified. Although high and low temperature stresses impose different metabolic and physical challenges, acquired tolerance appears to involve general as well as stress-specific components. Transcriptome studies and other genomic-scale approaches have accelerated the pace of gene discovery, and will be invaluable in efforts to integrate all the different protective and repair mechanisms that function in concert to confer acquired tolerance.

Acclimatization↗

Metabolic engineering in yeast demonstrates that S-adenosylmethionine controls flux through the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase reaction in vivo.

One-carbon flux into methionine and S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) is thought to be controlled at the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) step. Mammalian MTHFRs are inhibited by AdoMet in vitro, and it has been proposed that methyl group biogenesis is regulated in vivo by this feedback loop. In this work, we used metabolic engineering in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to test this hypothesis. Like mammalian MTHFRs, the yeast MTHFR encoded by the MET13 gene is NADPH-dependent and is inhibited by AdoMet in vitro. This contrasts with plant MTHFRs, which are NADH-dependent and AdoMet-insensitive. To manipulate flux through the MTHFR reaction in yeast, the chromosomal copy of MET13 was replaced by an Arabidopsis MTHFR cDNA (AtMTHFR-1) or by a chimeric sequence (Chimera-1) comprising the yeast N-terminal domain and the AtMTHFR-1 C-terminal domain. Chimera-1 used both NADH and NADPH and was insensitive to AdoMet, supporting the view that the C-terminal domain is responsible for AdoMet inhibition. Engineered yeast expressing Chimera-1 accumulated 140-fold more AdoMet and 7-fold more methionine than did the wild-type and grew normally. Yeast expressing AtMTHFR-1 accumulated 8-fold more AdoMet. This is the first in vivo evidence that the AdoMet sensitivity and pyridine nucleotide preference of MTHFR control methylneogenesis. (13)C labeling data indicated that glycine cleavage becomes a more prominent source of one-carbon units when Chimera-1 is expressed. Possibly related to this shift in one-carbon fluxes, total folate levels are doubled in yeast cells expressing Chimera-1.

Amino Acid Sequence↗