Amino acid metabolism that boosts plant body forming

September 9, 2020

A joint research group from Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems (ExCELLS), National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB), Rikkyo University, Toyohashi University of Technology, Yamagata University, RIKEN CSRS, Chiba University, Hokkaido University, and the University of Tokyo discovered that arginine metabolism has a special function to boost the plant body formation.

The research group found that disruption of ANGUSTIFOLIA3 (AN3) gene significantly compromise shoot growth in the moss Physcomitrium patense. When metabolic status was examined to investigate the reason for this growth failure, arginine, a type of amino acid, was accumulated to excess levels. When P. patens was grown with exogenous arginine supply, the shoot growth was suppressed as in the case for AN3 gene disruption. It was also found that the AN3 plays a role in activating genes involved in cell metabolism and growth.

Understanding of how arginine is further metabolized in the process of shoot growth in the tudies should lead to identification of the key metabolites in the successful evolution of land plants.

Original article
Cell Reports doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108127
K. Kawade, G. Horiguchi, Y. Hirose, A. Oikawa, M. Yokota Hirai, K. Saito, T. Fujita, H. Tsukaya,
"Metabolic control of gametophore shoot formation through arginine in the moss Physcomitrium patens".
Contact
Masami Hirai
Team Leader
Metabolic Systems Research Team