Reducing Cytoplasmic Polyamine Oxidase Activity in Arabidopsis Increases Salt and Drought Tolerance by Reducing Reactive Oxygen Species Production and Increasing Defense Gene Expression.. Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana polyamine oxidase 5 gene (AtPAO5) functions as a thermospermine (T-Spm) oxidase. Aerial growth of its knock-out mutant (Atpao5-2) is significantly repressed by low dose(s) of T-Spm but not by other polyamines. Massive analysis of 3’-cDNA ends (MACE) was performed. Cell wall, lipid and secondary metabolisms were dramatically affected in low dose T-Spm-treated Atpao5-2. Intriguingly Fe-deficient responsive genes and drought stress-induced genes were up-regulated, suggesting that vascular system loses the function. Histological observation showed that vascular system of the joint part between stem and leaves was structurally destroyed. The results indicate that T-Spm homeostasis by a balance of synthesis and catabolism, catalysed by AtPAO5 in Arabidopsis, is important for maintaining vascular system. Phylogenetic analysis showed that PAOs from vascular plants are classified into four clades (I-IV) and AtPAO5 belongs to the clade III. Clade III members show high identity to metazoan PAOs and are not found in non-vascular plants. Furthermore, all the clade III genes are intron-less or contain a single intron whereas the other three clade genes usually contain 7 to 9 introns. The data suggest the occurrence of a horizontal gene transfer of ancestral clade III PAO gene(s) from primitive animals. Fine tuning of T-Spm metabolism is critical for vascular plants and its catabolic gene was acquired from a certain Metazoan to equip the vascular system. Overall design: 8 Samples analyzed by MACE (Massive Analysis of cDNA ends)