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CloningandcharacterizationofCBL-CIPK signalling
components fromalegume(Pisum sativum)
Shilpi Mahajan, Sudhir K. Sopory and Narendra Tuteja
Plant Molecular Biology, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India
In plants, calcium plays an important role in regula-
ting gene expression and many other processes inclu-
ding abiotic stress signalling. However, the molecular
mechanisms underlying the role of calcium in cellular
functions are not well established. Many external
stimuli including light and various stress factors can
bring out changes in cellular Ca
2+
level, which can
affect plant growth and development [1,2]. The Ca
2+
serves as second messenger and its concentration is
delicately balanced by the presence of ‘Ca
2+
stores’
such as vacuoles, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochon-
dria and cell wall. Ca
2+
signals exhibit a high degree
of specificity and are decoded by Ca
2+
sensing
proteins known as Ca
2+
sensors, which are small
proteins interacting with their target proteins to relay
the signal. In plant cells many Ca
2+
sensors have
been identified which include calmodulin (CaM) and
calmodulin-related proteins [3,4], Ca
2+
-dependent
protein kinases (CDPKs) [5,6], and calcineurin B-like
proteins (CBLs) [4]. The first plant CBL to be iden-
tified was from Arabidopsis thaliana, and is known
as both AtCBL and ScaBP (SOS3-like calcium-
binding protein) [7,8]. CBL proteins contain four
Ca
2+
-binding EF hand motifs [9] and functions by
interacting and regulating a group of Ser ⁄ Thr pro-
tein kinases called CBL-interacting protein kinases
Keywords
abscisic acid; abiotic stress; biotic stress;
calcium sensor CBL; CIPK
Correspondence
N. Tuteja, Plant Molecular Biology,
International Centre for Genetic Engineering
and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg,
New Delhi, 110067, India
Fax: +91 11 26162316
E-mail: narendra@icgeb.res.in
Note
The sequences reported in this paper have
been deposited in the General Bank
database (accession nos. AY134619 (pea
CBL cDNA); AY883569 (pea CBL genomic
clone); AY191840 (pea CIPK cDNA).
(Received 7 October 2005, revised 11
December 2005, accepted 19 December
2005)
doi:10.1111/j.1742-4658.2006.05111.x
The studies on calcium sensor calcineurin B-like protein (CBL) and CBL
interacting protein kinases (CIPK) are limited to Arabidopsis and rice and
their functional role is only beginning to emerge. Here, we present cloning
and characterizationofa protein kinase (PsCIPK) froma legume, pea,
with novel properties. The PsCIPK gene is intronless and encodes a protein
that showed partial homology to the members of CIPK family. The recom-
binant PsCIPK protein was autophosphorylated at Thr residue(s). Immu-
noprecipitation and yeast two-hybrid analysis showed direct interaction of
PsCIPK with PsCBL, whose cDNA and genomic DNA were also cloned in
this study. PsCBL showed homology to AtCBL3 and contained calcium-
binding activity. We demonstrate for the first time that PsCBL is phos-
phorylated at its Thr residue(s) by PsCIPK. Immunofluorescence ⁄ confocal
microscopy showed that PsCBL is exclusively localized in the cytosol,
whereas PsCIPK is localized in the cytosol and the outer membrane. The
exposure of plants to NaCl, cold and wounding co-ordinately upregulated
the expression of PsCBL and PsCIPK genes. The transcript levels of both
genes were also coordinately stimulated in response to calcium and salicylic
acid. However, drought and abscisic acid had no effect on the expression
of these genes. These studies show the ubiquitous presence of CBL ⁄ CIPK
in higher plants and enhance our understanding of their role in abiotic and
biotic stress signalling.
Abbreviations
3-AT, 3-aminotrizole; ABA, abscisic acid; CaM, calmodulin; CBL, calcineurin B-like protein; CDPK, Ca
2+
-dependent protein kinase; CIPK, CBL
interacting protein kinases; DAPI, diamidino-2phenylindole hydrochloride; DTT, dithiothreitol; IPTG, isopropyl thio-b-
D-galactoside; SA, salicylic
acid; SD, synthetic dextrose; UAS, upstream activating sequences; UTR, 5¢ untranslated region; YPD, yeast extract–peptone–dextrose.
FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS 907
(CIPKs) [4,10,11]. CIPKs most likely represent tar-
gets of Ca
2+
signals sensed and transduced by CBL
proteins.
CIPK consist ofa catalytic domain (at the N ter-
minus) anda regulatory domain (at the C terminus)
that interact with each other to keep the enzyme
inactive (autoinhibition), presumably by preventing
substrate access to the catalytic site [12]. CBL binds
to the FISL motif (or NAF domain) ) an autoinhib-
itory domain present in the regulatory domain of the
CIPK – and thereby makes the enzyme active by
disrupting the intramolecular domain interaction of
CIPK [12–14]. A database search revealed 10
AtCBLs and 25 CIPKs in the Arabidopsis genome
and 10 CBLs and 30 CIPKs in the rice genome
[4,12,15]. An analysis of genome evolution suggested
that a large number of gene family members resulted
from segmental duplications [15]. Furthermore, dif-
ferential affinities among different AtCBL–CIPK
members have been reported [11,12]. For example,
AtCBL1 is known to interact only with a subset of
six CIPKs (AtCIPK 1, 7, 8, 17, 18 and 24) [15]. The
multiple combinations of CBL–CIPK complexes
might provide a novel mechanism to integrate and
specifically decode signals in plants [12,13]. Recent
studies in Arabidopsis indicated that several such
genes function in stress [12,14–21]. Except in Arabid-
opsis and rice the CBL–CIPK pathways have not
been well studied in higher plants.
In this report, we describe the cloningand charac-
terization ofa novel CIPK and its interacting partner
CBL from Pisum sativum. PsCIPK showed auto-
phosphorylation and could phosphorylate pea CBL
and other substrates such as casein. The mRNA lev-
els of PsCIPK were coordinately upregulated along
with CBL, in response to various abiotic and biotic
stresses, and to calcium and salicylic acid, but not to
abscisic acid (ABA) or dehydration. PsCIPK showed
dual localization (in the cytosol and the plasma mem-
brane) while CBL was localized exclusively in the
cytosol.
Results
Isolation and sequence analysis of PsCIPK and
CBL cDNAs and genomic clones
For cDNA cloning, first partial fragments of 550 bp for
PsCIPK and 335 bp for PsCBL were amplified by PCR
using double-stranded cDNAs (prepared from mRNA
isolated from NaCl-stressed pea seedlings) as template
and the degenerate primers, designed from the conserved
areas of AtCIPK and AtCBL of Arabidopsis, respect-
ively (data not shown). The cDNA clones of CIPK
(pBS-PsCIPK) and CBL (pBS-PsCBL) were obtained
by screening the pea cDNA library with respective par-
tial DNA fragments as probes. Sequence analysis of
pBS-CIPK cDNA (Accession no. AY191840) shows that
it encodes a full length cDNA, 1842 bp in size with an
ORF of 1553 bp, a 5¢ untranslated region (UTR) of
47 bp anda 3¢ UTR of 242 bp including 39 bp of
poly(A) tail. The PsCIPK ORF encodes a protein of 516
amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of
57.9 kDa and pI 8.23. Sequence analysis of pBS-CBL
cDNA (Accession no. AY134619) shows that it encodes
a full length cDNA, 972 bp in size with an ORF of
678 bp, a 5¢ UTR of 131 bp anda 3¢ UTR of 163 bp
including 20 bp of poly(A) tail. The PsCBL ORF
encodes a protein of 225 amino acid residues with a
calculated molecular mass of 25.9 kDa and pI 4.67.
The amino acid sequence alignment of PsCIPK with
AtCIPK12, AtCBL19, Gossypium hirsutum (Gh) kin-
ase, and AtCIPK18 is shown in Fig. 1A. The N-ter-
minal domain of PsCIPK contains an activation
domain starting from the conserved DFG and ending
at APE; the C-terminal domain contains the NAF
(FISL) motif (Fig. 1A). Phylogenetic analysis indicated
67% sequence identity with AtCIPK12 (Accession
no. NP_193605), 66% with AtCIPK24 ⁄ SOS2-like
(AAK26847), and 66% with GhCIPK (AAT64036)
(data not shown). The identity of PsCIPK with other
AtCIPKs is: 64% with AtCIPK19 (NP199393), and
62% with AtCIPK18 (NP174217) (data not shown).
Fig. 1. Multiple amino acid sequence alignment. (A) Comparison of predicted amino acid sequences of PsCIPK with AtCIPK12 (Accession
no.NP_193605), AtCIPK19 (NP199393), GhCIPK (AAT64036) and AtCIPK18 (NP174217). The activation and NAF domains are shown in the
boxes. (B) The deduced amino acid sequence of PsCBL is aligned with rice CBL (OsCBL, Accession no. AAR01663) and AtCBL3
(AAM91280). The calcium binding domains (EF1–4) and calcineurin A binding domain are shown in the box. The dot in the EF1 box repre-
sents the modified amino acids alanine (A) as compared to the oxygen containing-calcium binding residue aspartate (D). The conserved dis-
tances between EF hands are marked. Multiple alignments were performed using
CLUSTAL W. The program recognizes a consensus residue
and based on that residue other amino acids that fall in that consensus position are marked. The most identical amino acids at each protein
are dark shaded and similar ones are light shaded whereas nonsimilar ones are left unshaded. The amino acids marked by red, blue, green
and pink lines indicates the putative casein kinase II, protein kinase C, the cAMP- and cGMP-dependent protein kinase and putative tyrosine
kinase phosphorylation sites, respectively.
Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL S. Mahajan et al.
908 FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS
A
B
S. Mahajan et al. Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL
FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS 909
The amino acid sequence alignment of PsCBL with
rice CBL (OsCBL) and Arabibopsis CBL (AtCBL3) is
shown in Fig. 1B. It lacks the myristoylation site in
the N-terminal sequence. PsCBL contains four EF
hand Ca
2+
-binding domains (Fig. 1B). The EF1 shows
variation from the canonical EF hand. The amino acid
D at position 1, of EF1 is replaced by amino acid A
(Fig. 1B). The EF1 and EF2 are 22 amino acids apart,
whereas EF2 and EF3, and EF3 and EF4 are 25 and
32 amino acids apart, respectively (Fig. 1B). The cal-
cineurin A binding domain is also present between
positions 155 and 172 (Fig. 1B). Phylogenetic analysis
indicated the identity of PsCBL with OsCBL (Acces-
sion no. AAR01663), AtCBL3 (AAM91280), AtCBL2
(AAM65177), AtCBL6 (AAG28400), AtCBL4 ⁄ SOS3-
like (BAD43952), and AtCBL1 (BAC43389) as 92, 90,
89, 71, 68, and 66%, respectively (data not shown).
Genomic organization of PsCIPK and PsCBL
For PsCIPK, a genomic fragment (1.84 Kb) was
amplified by PCR from the pea genomic DNA as a
template with the 5¢ UTR and 3¢ UTR specific primers
of PsCIPK gene. As a control the primers were used
to amplify a cDNA fragment of expected size 1.84 Kb
using cDNA as a template. To confirm the specificity
of the PCR products a nested PCR (2nd PCR) was
performed using PsCIPK gene-specific internal prim-
ers. These fragments were then cloned and sequenced
(data not shown). The same size and sequence of the
genomic fragment of PsCIPK and the cDNA show
that PsCIPK is an intron-less gene.
For the PsCBL gene, a genomic fragment (3.22 Kb)
was amplified by PCR using the pea genomic DNA as
a template with the 5¢ UTR and 3¢ UTR specific prim-
ers of the PsCBL gene. As a control, the same set of
primers was used to amplify a cDNA fragment of
expected size 0.97 Kb using cDNA as a template. To
confirm the specificity of the PCR products a nested
PCR (2nd PCR) was performed using gene-specific
internal primers. As a result 2.547 Kb genomic and
0.67 Kb (expected size) cDNA fragments were
obtained, which were cloned and sequenced (data not
shown). The higher size of the genomic fragment of
PsCBL as compared to the cDNA indicates that this
gene contains introns. Sequence analysis of the genomic
clone reveals that the PsCBL genomic clone spans
2.547 Kb (Accession no. AY883569) (from ATG to
TAA). Alignment of the genomic sequence with the
cDNA sequence identified eight exons (121, 82, 59, 108,
52, 80, 112, and 58 bp in size) and seven introns (331,
223, 682, 346, 80, 109, and 92 bp in size) (Fig. 2A).
Two introns of 401 and 81 bp were found localized in
the 5¢ UTR region (Fig. 2A). Most of the 3¢ and 5¢
splice junctions follow the typical canonical consensus
dinucleotide sequence GU-AG found in other plant in-
trons. Figure 2B shows the genomic organization of
AtCBL3 (Accession no. AT4G265702) containing seven
exons and six introns. The sizes of all the exons except
exon 5 were found to be mostly conserved between
PsCBL and AtCBL3 (Fig. 2A and B). The PsCBL gene
has an additional splice site at the fifth exon. Accord-
ingly; there was one intron fewer in AtCBL3 as com-
pared to PsCBL (Fig. 2A and B). The sizes of introns
are not conserved between the two species (Fig. 2A
and B).
Tissue distribution of PsCBL and CIPK and their
copy number in pea genome
The transcript levels of PsCIPK and PsCBL in
different tissues of pea were studied by northern
A
B
Fig. 2. Genomic organization of PsCBL. The schematic representation of the exon–intron organization of genomic PsCBL clone (A) and the
Arabidopsis homologue (AtCBL3) clone (B). Closed boxes represent exons, and lines between closed boxes represent introns. The dark
boxes represent the UTRs. The position of ATG and TAA are marked. The numbers below the lines and the above boxes indicate the sizes
(bp) of introns and exons, respectively.
Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL S. Mahajan et al.
910 FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS
hybridization. PsCIPK (1.8 Kb) and PsCBL (1.0 Kb)
were ubiquitously present in all the tissues examined
including root, shoot, tendril and flower, but at relat-
ively higher levels in leaves and roots as compared to
the other tissues (data not shown).
The pattern of Southern genomic hybridization
bands under low (data not shown) and high strin-
gency washing conditions suggests that both PsCIPK
and PsCBL exist as single-copy genes in the pea
genome (Fig. 3A and B, respectively). Restriction
enzymes which either had a specific site in the gene
or which had no restriction site were used. Some of
the enzymes such as SpeI and XbaI, which had no
recognition site in PsCIPK cDNA and genomic
DNA sequence gave a single band after hybridiza-
tion (Fig. 3A, lanes 1 and 2), whereas enzymes such
as BglII and NdeI, which had a single specific site in
the gene gave two bands after hybridization (lanes 3
and 4). However, with HindIII, which has a single
site in the gene towards the 3¢ end (that would
result in 3127 and 94 bp fragments) gave single band
around the 5 Kb region (Fig. 3B, lane 6). It is poss-
ible that the second fragment containing a very small
part of the gene did not hybridize under the condi-
tions used. Enzymes such as EcoRI, BglII and NdeI,
which had no recognition site in the PsCBL cDNA
and genomic DNA sequence gave a single band after
hybridization (Fig. 3B, lanes 3, 4 and 7), whereas
enzymes such as SpeI and SacI, which had a single
specific restriction site in the gene gave two bands
after hybridization (lanes 2 and 5).
Expression and purification of PsCIPK and PsCBL
The pea cDNA encoding CIPK and CBL were cloned
into the expression vector pET28a and the recombin-
ant proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli.
SDS ⁄ PAGE analysis showed a highly expressed a
58 kDa additional polypeptide for PsCIPK (Fig. 4A,
lane 2) anda 26 kDa additional polypeptide for
PsCBL (Fig. 4G, lane 2) in isopropyl thio-b-d-gal-
actoside (IPTG) induced fractions, respectively, as
compared to uninduced (lane 1). The recombinant
PsCIPK and PsCBL were present in the soluble frac-
tions and therefore purified in the soluble form
through a single Ni
2+
–NTA–agarose column chroma-
tography step. PsCIPK and PsCBL proteins, purified
to near homogeneity, showed a 58-kDa (Fig. 4A, lane
3) anda 26-kDa band (Fig. 4G, lane 3), respectively.
In western blotting, the anti-PsCIPK and PsCBL
antibodies detected PsCIPK as a single band of
58 kDa (Fig. 4B, lane 2 and 3, respectively) and a
single band 26 kDa of PsCBL (Fig. 4H, lane 2 and 3)
in the IPTG-induced fraction and in the purified
fraction. There was no signal in the uninduced frac-
tion of PsCIPK (Fig. 4B, lane 1) or PsCBL (Fig. 4H,
lane 1). The purified PsCIPK and PsCBL proteins
were also recognized by anti-His antibody (data not
shown).
PsCBL encodes a functional Ca
2+
-binding protein
The presence of conserved EF-hand motifs in the
predicted protein sequence of PsCBL suggests that it
may function as Ca
2+
-binding protein. To check the
Ca
2+
-binding activity of PsCBL, the purified protein
in two different concentrations (3 and 4 lg) along
with positive and negative controls were fractionated
by SDS ⁄ PAGE (Fig. 4I), electro-blotted onto mem-
brane and incubated with radioactive
45
CaCl
2
(Fig. 4J). The same sets of proteins were also spotted
on a membrane (dot blot) and treated as above
(Fig. 4K). The results show that PsCBL binds to
45
Ca
2+
(Fig. 4J, lanes 2 and 3). The positive control
Entamoeba histolytica calcium binding protein
(EhCaBP) [22], showed binding to
45
Ca
2+
(Fig. 4J,
lane 1), while negative controls (glutathione S-trans-
ferase and BSA) lack the binding (Fig. 4J, lanes 4
and 5). Similar results were obtained with dot blot
analysis (Fig. 4K). In Fig. 4K, spots 1 and 2 are
PsCBL protein (3 and 4 lg), lanes 3 and 4 are the
same negative controls and lane 5 is the positive
NU
1caS
1RocE
11lgB
1ed
N
111dn
i
H
A CIPK
1abX
12.0
0.5
1.0
1.6
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
7.0
1epS
B CBL
kbkb
12.0
0.5
1.0
1.6
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
7.0
NU
11lgB
1edN
1epS
Fig. 3. Southern blot analysis of PsCIPK and PsCBL to determine
copy number in the pea genome. (A, B) Genomic DNA gel blots
analysis. Pea genomic DNA (30 lg) was completely digested with
the enzyme indicated, separated by electrophoresis, blotted and
hybridized with the [a-
32
P]dCTP-labelled PsCIPK (1.2-Kb fragment
from the 3¢ end containing the 3¢ UTR) (A) and [a-
32
P]dCTP-labelled
PsCBL cDNA (0.97 Kb, full-length) (B), cDNAs as probes. Un, Uncut
DNA. The DNA size (Kb) is indicated at the left.
S. Mahajan et al. Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL
FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS 911
control. The CD spectrum of purified recombinant
PsCBL (1.2 mgÆmL
)1
) in the presence and absence of
Ca
2+
was markedly different (Fig. 4L). The spectrum
of PsCBL changed significantly when Ca
2+
was
either added or depleted by the addition of EGTA
(Fig. 4L). No significant change in the spectra of the
AB
CD
E
F
H
IJ
L
K
G
Fig. 4. Purification of PsCIPK and PsCBL proteins and their activities. (A) Induction and purification of overexpressed PsCIPK in E. coli is
shown on SDS ⁄ PAGE. Lane M, Molecular weight marker; lane 1, uninduced; lane 2, IPTG induced; lane 3, PsCIPK protein after Ni
2+
–NTA–
agarose column chromatography. The protein size markers are indicated at the left side of the gel. (B) Western blot analysis of the same
protein fractions of lanes 1–3 as shown in panel (A) using polyclonal anti-PsCIPK antiserum. (C, D) Autophosphorylation of PsCIPK and phos-
phorylation of PsCBL by PsCIPK. PsCIPK protein in the presence of Mn
2+
(lane 1), Mg
2+
(lane 2), PsCBL plus Mn
2+
(lane 3), PsCBL plus
Mg
2+
(lane 4) and casein plus Mg
2+
(lane 5) incubated with [c-
32
P]ATP in kinase buffer, electrophoresed on SDS ⁄ PAGE and stained with
Coomassie blue (C) followed by autoradiography (D). (E) Phosphoamino acid analysis of PsCIPK autophosphorylation (lane 2) and PsCBL
phosphorylation by PsCIPK (lane 1). Positions of phosphoserine (P-Ser), phosphothreonine (P-Thr), and phosphotyrosine (P-Tyr) are marked at
right side of autoradiogram. (F) Immunodepletion of kinase activity of PsCIPK. PsCIPK protein was immunodepleted using anti-PsCIPK anti-
bodies. Lane 1, Phosphorylation of PsCBL by PsCIPK (control without any IgG); lane 2, PsCIPK pretreated with preimmune IgG; lane 3,
PsCIPK pretreated with anti-PsCIPK IgG. (G) Induction and purification of overexpressed PsCBL in E. coli is shown on SDS ⁄ PAGE. Lane M,
Molecular weight marker; lane 1, uninduced; lane 2, IPTG induced; lane 3, PsCBL protein after Ni
2+
–NTA–agarose column chromatography.
The protein size markers are indicated at the left side of the gel. (H) Western blot analysis of the same protein fractions of lanes 1–3 as
shown in panel (G) using polyclonal anti-PsCBL antiserum. (I, J, K)
45
Ca
2+
overlay assay showing that PsCBL is a functional Ca
2+
binding pro-
tein. (I) PsCBL along with the controls were run on 12% SDS ⁄ PAGE and stained with Coomassie blue. Lane 1, EhCaBP protein (positive
control); lanes 2 and 3, PsCBL (3 and 4 lg); lanes 4 and 5, GST and BSA (negative controls). Lane M, Pre-stained marker. (J) The same sam-
ples (as in panel I) transferred to nitrocellulose membrane and assayed by
45
Ca
2+
binding. Only PsCBL (lane 2 and 3) and the positive control
(lane 1) showed Ca
2+
-binding capability. (K) Dot blot analysis of the same protein samples (as in panel I) followed by
45
Ca
2+
overlay assay to
confirm the
45
Ca
2+
binding data. Spots 1 and 2, PsCBL proteins (3 and 4 lg); lanes 3 and 4, negative controls; lane 5, positive control. (L)
CD spectra of PsCBL, calcium-bound PsCBL and the calcium-bound PsCBL treated with 1.25 m
M EGTA.
Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL S. Mahajan et al.
912 FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS
protein was observed by the addition or depletion of
Mg
2+
(data not shown). These results suggest that
PsCBL changes its conformation in a Ca
2+
-depend-
ent manner.
PsCIPK phosphorylates PsCBL at Thr residue(s)
To determine whether PsCIPK is a functional protein
kinase, the autophosphorylation and substrate phos-
phorylation activities of the enzyme were checked by
incubating the enzyme with [c-
32
P]ATP in the absence
or presence of the substrates. After incubation, the
phosphorylation of the proteins was examined by
SDS ⁄ PAGE (Fig. 4C) followed by autoradiography
(Fig. 4D). The result shows that PsCIPK autophos-
phorylated (58 kDa) in the presence of Mn
2+
(Fig. 4D, lane 1) as well as Mg
2+
(Fig. 4D, lane 2).
The sequence analysis of PsCBL revealed that it has
putative phosphorylation sites (Fig. 1B). We therefore
tested whether PsCBL is a substrate for the PsCIPK
enzyme. The result shows that PsCBL is phosphorylat-
ed strongly by PsCIPK in the presence of the divalent
cations Mn
2+
and Mg
2+
(Fig. 4D lanes 3 and 4,
respectively). We have shown that PsCIPK also phos-
phorylates casein in the presence of Mg
2+
(Fig. 4D,
lane 5). CBL has no effect on the autophosphorylation
of CIPK (Fig. 4D, lane 3 and 4). PsCIPK phosphoryl-
ated PsCBL even in the absence of exogenous Ca
2+
in
the reaction buffer (data not shown). This data is sim-
ilar to that reported earlier for AtCIPK1, where no
effect was noted on substrate phosphorylation (MBP
and casein) in the presence or absence of any exogen-
ously supplied Ca
2+
in the reaction buffer [10].
For phosphoamino acid analysis, the radioactive
autophosphorylated 58-kDa band of PsCIPK and the
26-kDa band of PsCBL from the above gel were
excised, acid hydrolysed and subjected to paper chro-
matography. The results show that PsCIPK phos-
phorylates PsCBL at Thr residue(s) (Fig. 4E, lane 1)
and also becomes autophosphorylated at its Thr resi-
due(s) (Fig. 4E, lane 2). PsCBL did not show any
autophosphorylation, as without any kinase there was
no phosphorylation of CBL (data not shown).
To confirm the phosphorylation activity of
PsCIPK, an immunodepletion experiment was per-
formed as follows. Purified PsCIPK was reacted sepa-
rately with IgG purified from the sera of preimmune
rabbit anda rabbit immunized with PsCIPK. The
antigen–antibody complex was removed by protein A-
Sepharose. The supernatant was analysed for PsCIPK
activity to phosphorylate PsCBL. Results revealed
that immunodepletion of PsCIPK in the extract
decreased the phosphorylation of PsCBL significantly
(Fig. 4F, lane 3),whereas there was no reduction of
PsCIPK activity to phosphorylate PsCBL in the sam-
ple treated with preimmune IgG (Fig. 4F, lane 2).
Lane 1 is the control reaction without the addition of
IgG.
Regulation of transcript levels of PsCIPK and
PsCBL in response to stress
To analyse PsCIPK and PsCBL expression under
various abiotic and biotic stresses, 7-day-old pea
seedlings were stressed for different times. The control
plants were grown without any stress treatment. Total
RNAs were extracted from control and treated shoot
tissues and hybridized with PsCIPK (1.2-Kb fragment
from the 3¢ end containing the 3¢ UTR) and PsCBL
(0.97 Kb, full-length) cDNA probes. As shown in
Fig. 5, the transcript levels of both PsCIPK (panels A,
C, E, G, I, K, and N) and PsCBL (panels B, D, F, H,
J, L, and O) are coordinately regulated following a
similar trend. Following low temperature treatment
the transcripts of both genes started increasing from
9 h, reaching a maximum at 12–24 h (Fig. 5A and B).
After NaCl treatment the levels increased after 12 h
and were maintained high at least until 24 h (Fig. 5C
and D). In response to wounding stress, both the
genes showed an early induction at 3 h; however, the
levels decreased by 6 h (Fig. 5E and F). The transcript
levels in salicylic acid (SA) stress were increased after
8 h of treatment and then decreased at 12 h (Fig. 5I
and J). Interestingly, the transcript levels of both the
genes did not alter in response to dehydration stress
(Fig. 5G and H) and after the exogenous application
of ABA hormone (Fig. 5K and L). As a positive con-
trol, an ABA responsive gene PDH45 (see Fig. 5 leg-
ends). was used. The transcript level of PDH45
strongly increased from 12 to 24 h under similar
experimental conditions (Fig. 5M).
Calcium upregulates PsCIPK and PsCBL in a
dose-dependent manner
As PsCIPK and PsCBL are strongly upregulated in
response to various abiotic and biotic stresses and as the
signalling pathway for these stresses are often mediated
by Ca
2+
, the effect of exogenous Ca
2+
was analysed on
the transcript levels of both the genes. As shown in
Fig. 5N the transcript level of PsCIPK was upregulated
in response to Ca
2+
, reaching a maximum at 10 mm
and declined at higher Ca
2+
concentrations (Fig. 5N).
The transcript level of PsCBL was strongly upregulated
by Ca
2+
. The level started increasing at 5 mm of exo-
genously supplied Ca
2+
and the maximum level was
S. Mahajan et al. Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL
FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS 913
observed at 50 mm and remained constant thereafter
(Fig. 5O). To exclude the possibility of this upregulation
being mediated via any divalent cation, the effect of
Mg
2+
was also tested. Plants treated with 50 mm Mg
2+
for 24 h did not show any upregulation of transcripts
of either of the genes (Fig. 5N and O, second lane).
PsCBL
B
D
F
H
J
L
O
18 S
1.0
kb
18 S
1.0
kb
18 S
1.0
kb
18 S
1.0
kb
18 S
1.0
kb
18 S
1.0
kb
18 S
1.0
kb
PsCIPK
A
C
E
G
I
K
N
18 S
1.8
kb
18 S
1.8
kb
18 S
1.8
kb
18 S
1.8
kb
18 S
1.8
kb
18 S
1.8
kb
18 S
1.8
kb
CaCl
2
SALICYLIC ACID
(150 µ
M)
COLD
(4
0
C)
SALINITY
(150 m
M
NaCl )
WOUNDING
DEHYDRATION
ABSICIC ACID
(100 µ
M)
M
M M
Fig. 5. Expression pattern of PsCIPK and PsCBL genes in response to various abiotic and biotic stresses. The total RNAs were extracted from
leaf tissue after the stress treatment. The various abiotic stresses used for treatment of pea seedlings were cold (A and B), salinity (C and D),
wounding (E and F), drought (G and H), SA (I and J), ABA (K and L) and calcium (N and O). Panel M is the control for ABA responsive gene,
PDH45 [35]. The RNAs (50 lg) samples were separated by electrophoresis, blotted and hybridized with the [a-
32
P]dCTP-labelled PsCIPK (1.2-Kb
fragment from 3¢ end containing the 3¢ UTR) (panels A, C, E, G, I, K and N), and [a-
32
P]dCTP-labelled PsCBL cDNA (0.97 Kb, full-length) probes
(panels B, D, F, H, J, L, and O). For each stress examined the upper panel shows the autoradiograph of transcript (1.8 Kb for PsCIPK and 1 Kb
for PsCBL), while the lower panel shows the hybridization of same blot with 18S rRNA gene (loading control). In each panel, lane 1 is the control
(C) without any treatment while other lanes are the RNAs samples collected after stress treatments at the indicated time points.
Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL S. Mahajan et al.
914 FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS
In vitro interaction of PsCBL with PsCIPK protein
by far-western blotting
As the two genes (PsCBL and PsCIPK) showed a sim-
ilar and synchronized transcript profile, we speculated
that these may interact with each other. We studied
the interaction of PsCBL with PsCIPK by the far-
western method (see Experimental procedures). Briefly,
the two proteins and controls were separated by
SDS ⁄ PAGE, transferred to nylon membrane and then
renatured on the membrane. Next they were incubated
with the second protein PsCBL in the presence or
absence of CaCl
2
(1 mm), followed by western blotting
with anti-CBL IgG. The results of far-western blotting
showed that PsCBL binds to PsCIPK, which was
recognized by anti-CBL IgG (Fig. 6B, lanes 1 and 2).
This binding is calcium dependent as no signal was
observed when the experiment was performed in the
absence of calcium (data not shown). As a negative
control, 47-kDa pea helicase (lane 3) and 80-kDa pea
MCM7 protein (lane 4) were used; these produced no
signal. Figure 6A, shows a Ponceau-S stained mem-
brane in which lane 1 contains prephosphorylated
CIPK which suggests that CBL can interact with both
phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated forms of
CIPK. To further confirm binding, the same experi-
(-Leu,- Trp).
(-Leu,-Trp,-His +
15 mM 3AT.)
YPD MEDIA
β galactosidase
assa
y
.
Pea CBL
in pGBKT7
1.6
Pea CIPK
in pGADT7
A
C
B
D
EFG
HI
JK
58
47
26
80
58
47
26
80
kDa
kDa
Ponseu-S Immuno blot
Ponseu-S Immuno blot
0.5
1.0
1
2
3
4
5
6
1.6
1.0
2.0
3.0
2.0
kb kb
Fig. 6. Direct interaction of PsCBL and PsCIPK proteins, in vitro,as
well as via a yeast two-hybrid system. (A, B) PsCBL interacts with
PsCIPK in vitro. PsCIPK prephosphorylated (2 lg, lane 1), PsCIPK
(2 lg, lane 2), pea helicase (PDH47) [36] (6 lg, lane 3, negative
control), pea MCM7 (3 lg, lane 4, negative control) and PsCBL
(5 lg, lane 5) were run on SDS ⁄ PAGE, transferred to PVDF mem-
branes, stained with Ponceau-S (A). The proteins on the same blot
were denatured ⁄ renatured, blocked with BSA, incubated with
1 lgÆmL
)1
CBL protein followed by standard western using anti-
PsCBL antibodies (B). (C, D) PsCIPK interacts with PsCBL in vitro.
The same set of proteins as (A) were stained with Ponceau-S (C)
treated as above until the BSA blocking step, and then incubated
with 1 lgÆmL
)1
of PsCIPK protein and detected with anti-PsCIPK
antibodies (D). (E–K) PsCIPK interacts with PsCBL in a yeast two-
hybrid system. (E) The ORF of PsCBL was cloned in pGBKT7 and
checked by restriction (NcoI and EcoRI) to show the insert size of
0.67 Kb (lane 2), lane 1 is the DNA marker. (F) The ORF of PsCIPK
was cloned in pGADT7 vector and checked by restriction (EcoRI
and XhoI) to give the insert size of 1.55 Kb (lane 2), lane 1 is DNA
marker. (G) Template for panels H–K. (H) Phenotype on YPD plate
showing uninhibited growth of all the above. (I) Phenotype on syn-
thetic dextrose lacking Leucine and Trytophan (SD –Leu–Trp) plate;
this is selection medium for double transformants. (J) Phenotype
on synthetic dextrose lacking Leucine, Trytophan, and Histidine
containing 15 m
M 3-AT (SD–Leu–Trp–His+3AT) plate; here growth
represent the interaction of PsCBL with PsCIPK. (K) b-galactosidase
filter assay further confirms the interaction. The blue colour repre-
sents interaction of both the proteins (PsCBL-CIPK) resulting in the
expression of b-galactosidase reporter gene.
S. Mahajan et al. Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL
FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS 915
ment was performed by incubating the same proteins
on the membrane with the PsCIPK followed by West-
ern blotting with anti-CIPK antibodies (Fig. 6C and
D). The results show that PsCIPK can also bind to
PsCBL (Fig. 6D, lane 5). PsCIPK did not bind to the
negative controls (Fig. 6D). Figure 6C is a Ponceau-S
stained membrane.
Interaction of PsCBL with PsCIPK via yeast
two-hybrid system
The complete ORF of PsCBL (678 bp) was cloned into
the NcoI and EcoRI sites of yeast two-hybrid binding
domain vector (pGBKT7). The resulting construct
(pGBKT7-PsCBL or BD-CBL) was verified by sequen-
cing and digestion with NcoI and EcoRI to give a band
of 678 bp (Fig. 6E, lane 2). On the other hand the com-
plete ORF of PsCIPK (1.5 Kb) was cloned into the
EcoRI and XhoI sites of yeast two-hybrid activating
domain vector (pGADT7). The resulting construct
(pGADT7-PsCIPK or AD-CIPK) was verified by
sequencing and digestion with EcoRI and XhoI to give
a band of 1.5 Kb on gel electrophoresis (Fig. 6F, lane
2). The Saccharomyces cervisiae AH109 cells were co-
transformed with both the constructs (BD-PsCBL plus
AD-PsCIPK) as well as with several combinations of
plasmids which served as controls for this experiment.
Interactions between PsCBL and PsCIPK were deter-
mined by growth of the cotransformants on the selec-
tion media of synthetic dextrose (SD) lacking Leu, Trp,
and His (SD-Leu
–
Trp
–
His
–
and containing 15 mm
3-aminotrizole, 3-AT). 3-AT is a competitive inhibitor
of histidine and checks any leaky expression of histi-
dine. Yeast cells could survive due to the activation of
the nutritional marker gene HIS3. Activation of the sec-
ond reporter gene (lacZ), was monitored by measuring
b-galactosidase activity.
The results are shown in Fig. 6G–K. Figure 6G is a
template for panels H to K showing the clones
streaked: clone 1, Yeast (AH109) cells containing co-
transformants of BD-PsCBL plus AD-PsCIPK; clone
2, cotransformants of BD-PsCBL and AD vector
alone; clone 3, AD-PsCIPK and BD vector alone;
clone 4, cotransformants of empty AD and BD vec-
tors; clone 5, cotransformants of Pea Gb and Gc
served as a positive control (unpublished data); clone
6, yeast AH109 cells alone. All these transformants
and AH109 cells grew on the yeast extract–peptone–
dextrose (YPD) plate (nonselective medium) (Fig. 6H).
Except AH109 cells, all of the cotransformants con-
taining AD and BD vectors showed growth on SD-
Leu
–
Trp
–
medium (Fig. 6I). In a selection medium
lacking Leu, Trp and His (SD-Leu
–
Trp
–
His
–
+15mm
3-AT) only selected clones of cotransformants (BD-
PsCBL plus AD-PsCIPK) and the positive control, in
which the HIS3 gene was transactivated grew (Fig. 6J).
This confirmed the interaction of PsCBL and PsCIPK
proteins. The results from b-galactosidase filter assay
of colonies of cotransformants (BD-PsCBL plus AD-
PsCIPK) further confirmed the interaction between
PsCBL and PsCIPK (Fig. 6K, blue colonies). Domain
swapping was also performed in which PsCBL was
cloned in pGADT7 and PsCIPK was cloned in
pGBKT7 and similar interaction results were obtained
(data not shown). The results show that PsCIPK inter-
acts with PsCBL in a yeast two-hybrid system. A
PsCIPK mutant with a deletion in the autoinhibitory
(NAF) motif failed to interact with PsCBL thus con-
firming the authenticity of these proteins and emphasi-
zing the importance NAF in the interaction between
them (data not shown).
Localization by immunofluorescence labelling
and confocal microscopy
Localization of PsCIPK and PsCBL was analysed by
immunofluorescence labelling of tobacco BY2 cells fol-
lowed by confocal microscopy. Cell cultures were
found to better for these studies than a whole-plant
system. Immunofluorescence labelling of tobacco BY2
cells with anti-PsCIPK (Fig. 7B) and anti-PsCBL
(Fig. 7J) antibodies showed the localization of both
proteins in the cytosol of all cells. In addition, PsCIPK
protein was also localized in the outer membrane
(Fig. 7B). A single enlarged cell showing PsCIPK
localization is shown in Fig. 7E, whereas Fig. 7M is
the single enlarged cell showing PsCBL localization.
Figure 7A, D, I and L are diamidino-2phenylindole
hydrochloride (DAPI) stained cells showing the nuc-
leus, and Fig. 7C, F, K and N are the merged images
of Aand B, D and E, I and J, and L and M, respect-
ively.
Discussion
Nature has developed many pathways for combating
and tolerating the the various stress signals that cross-
talk with each other. The CBL ⁄ CIPK pathway is one
of these; it emerged as a novel pathway for deciphering
calcium signatures and initiating a series of phosphory-
lation cascades. This ultimately results in the expres-
sion and regulation of stress genes mediating plant
adaptation in response to array of stresses. The exist-
ence ofa large family of CIPK and CBL genes has
been reported in Arabidopsis and rice [15]. However,
the details of the role of these proteins and the inter-
Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL S. Mahajan et al.
916 FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS
[...]... C )A( A ⁄ G) (A ⁄ G ⁄ T )A( C ⁄ T) (A ⁄ C ⁄ G)ACACCACAAGACC)3¢ 5¢-CTTAT(C ⁄ G)AACAAGGAA (A ⁄ C)AATTTC-3¢ 5¢-GTATCAGCTTC(C ⁄ T)TCAAATGTC-3¢ 5¢-CCATCACAAGAAACTAGAGAAAC-3 5¢-TTAAGTACTATAAAT-ACACAGCCTA-3¢ 5¢-CGAGCTCACTGCCTCTCAAC-3¢ 5¢-ACTCGTAGC-ACAGAGACAGAG-3¢ 5¢-ATGGCAGTAGTAGCAG-CTCC-3¢ 5¢-TCAGGTGTCT-AAGTTCAGAGATTC-3¢ 5¢-ATGTTGCAGTGCTTAGAGGGA-3¢ 5¢-TTAAGTATCATCTACTTGTGAATG-3¢ 5¢-CCTCCGGAATTCATGGCAGTAGTAGCAGCTCC-3¢... Chandok MR, Prasad J, Bhattacharya S, Sopory SK & Bhattacharya A (1997) Characterization FEBS Journal 273 (2006) 907–925 ª 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2006 FEBS S Mahajan et al of EhCaBP, a calcium binding protein of Entamoeba histolytica and its binding proteins Mol Biochem Parasitol 84, 69–82 33 Pham XH, Reddy MK, Ehtesham NZ, Matta B & Tuteja N (2000) A DNA helicase from Pisum sativum is homologous... its kinase activity and C-terminal regulatory domain for salt tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana Plant Cell 16, 435–449 Pandey GK, Cheonga YH, Kim K-N, Granta JJ, Li L, Hunga W, D’Angeloc C, Weinl S, Kudla J & Luana S (2004) The calcium sensor calcineurin B-like 9 modulates abscisic acid sensitivity and biosynthesis in Arabidopsis Plant Cell 16, 1912–1924 Nagae M, Nozawas A, Koizumi N, Sano H, Hashimoto... autoradiography PsCIPK was immunodepleted by addition of PsCIPK antibodies (IgG) in a standard phosphorylation reaction containing 1 mm CaCl2 and 5 mm MgCl2 as described [31] PsCBL phosphorylation by PsCIPK was also carried out in the kinase buffer containing 5 mm MgCl2 without addition of any exogenous Ca2+ 922 Phospho-amino acid analysis The phosphorylated 26-kDa band of PsCBL and the 58-kDa band of. .. SOS1, a plasma membrane Na+ ⁄ H+ exchanger in Arabidopsis thaliana, by SOS2 and SOS3 Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99, 8436–8441 Shah J & Klessig DF (1999) In Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plant Hormones (Hooykaas PPJ, Hall MA & Libbenga KR, eds), pp 513–541 Elsevier, Amstradam Dat JF, Lopez-Delgado H, Foyer CH & Scott IM (1998) Parallel changes in H2O2 and catalase during thermotolerance induced by salicylic... This kinase showed dual localization in the cytosol and in the plasma membrane Characterizationof PsCIPK and its interacting PsCBL Sequence analysis of PsCIPK showed that it has low similarity (67%) to AtCIPK12, which also has not been well characterized Regarding PsCBL, the amino acid sequence alignments revealed that PsCBL is more similar to rice CBL (92%) and AtCBL3 (90%) All 10 AtCBL genes are reported...S Mahajan et al Stress-induced CIPK from pea phosphorylate CBL A B C D Fig 7 Subcellular localization of PsCIPK and PsCBL in tobacco BY2 cells by immunofluorescence labelling and confocal microscopy The BY2 cells were fixed, permeabilized and treated with primary antibodies against PsCIPK (A F) and PsCBL (I–N) followed by Alexafluor488-labelled secondary antibodies and then counterstained with DAPI Multiple... salicylic acid or heat acclimation in mustard seedlings Plant Physiol 116, 1351– 1357 Borsani O, Valpuesta V & Botella MA (2001) Evidence for a role of salicylic acid in the oxidative damage generated by NaCl and osmotic stress in Arabidopsis seedlings Plant Physiol 126, 1024–1030 Pandey S, Tiwari SB, Tyagi W, Reddy MK, Upadhyaya C & Sopory SK (2002) A Ca2+ ⁄ CaM-dependent kinase from pea is stress regulated... controlling the major genes in the signalling pathway, much more effort should be invested in analysing the role of these genes in higher plants Here, we report the isolation andcharacterizationofa novel CIPK froma legume, Pisum sativum (pea) and show that it interacts and phosphorylates a CBL having homology to AtCBL3 Both PsCIPK and PsCBL genes showed delayed transcriptional upregulation in response... cells are shown in panel A C for PsCIPK and I–K for PsCBL Confocal image of single enlarged cell is also shown in panel D–F for PsCIPK and panel L–N for PsCBL (A, D, I and L) Images of cells stained with DAPI (blue) (B, E, J and M) Alexafluor488-labelled immunostained cells showing florescence (green) Anti-PsCIPK labelling is seen in the cytosol as well as plasma membrane (B and E), while Anti-PsCBL labelling . (degenerate reverse)
55¢-CCATCACAAGAAACTAGAGAAAC-3 PsCIPK (5¢UTR forward)
65¢-TTAAGTACTATAAAT-ACACAGCCTA-3¢ PsCIPK (3¢UTR reverse)
75¢-CGAGCTCACTGCCTCTCAAC-3¢. Cloning and characterization of CBL-CIPK signalling
components from a legume (Pisum sativum)
Shilpi Mahajan, Sudhir K. Sopory and Narendra Tuteja
Plant