Spiegelhalder, R. P. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2025

The developing leaf of the wild grass Brachypodium distachyon at single-cell resolution

Leaves are the plants main photosynthetic organs and drive Earths primary production. Grasses form longitudinal leaves with parallel venation and graminoid stomata. Yet, how distinct leaf tissues coordinatively develop to build functional grass leaf anatomy is not well understood. Here, we decoded the developing grass leaf from vegetative meristems to mature tissues using single-cell RNA-sequencing in the wild grass Brachypodium distachyon. In-depth analysis of epidermal clusters and multiplexed whole-mount RNA-fluorescence in situ hybridization resolved most epidermal lineages and confirmed them in planta. Gene regulatory network analysis distinguished the targetome of the two co-expressed, yet functionally divergent stomatal transcription factors BdMUTE and BdFAMA. Finally, we used our dataset to identify and functionally describe BdGRAS32s role in cell division inhibition and a stomata-specific function for a cell wall modifying enzyme. Together, our single-cell grass leaf atlas enables the dissection of developmental processes that shape the leaf sustaining global food production.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Dual role of BdMUTE during stomatal development in the model grass Brachypodium distachyon

Grasses form morphologically derived, four-celled stomata, where two dumbbell-shaped guard cells (GCs) are flanked by two lateral subsidiary cells (SCs). This innovative form enables rapid opening and closing kinetics and efficient plant-atmosphere gas exchange. The mobile bHLH transcription factor MUTE is required for SC formation in grasses. Yet, if and how MUTE also regulates GC development and if MUTE mobility is required for SC recruitment is unclear. Here, we transgenically impaired BdMUTE mobility from GC to SC precursors in the emerging model grass Brachypodium distachyon. Our data indicates that reduced BdMUTE mobility severely affected the spatiotemporal coordination of GC and SC development. Furthermore, while BdMUTE has a cell-autonomous role in GC division orientation, complete dumbbell morphogenesis of GCs required SC recruitment. Finally, leaf-level gas exchange measurements showed that dosage-dependent complementation of the four-celled grass morphology was mirrored in a gradual physiological complementation of stomatal kinetics. Together, our work revealed a dual role of grass MUTE in regulating GC division orientation and SC recruitment, which in turn was required for GC morphogenesis and the rapid kinetics of grass stomata.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Differential prolyl hydroxylation by six Physcomitrella prolyl-4 hydroxylases

The hydroxylation of proline residues to 4-trans-hydroxyproline (Hyp) is a common post-translational protein modification in plants, mediated by prolyl 4-hydroxylases (P4Hs). Hyps predominantly occur in a group of cell wall proteins, the Hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins (HRGPs), where they are frequently O-glycosylated. While prolyl-hydroxylation and O-glycosylation are important, e.g. for cell wall stability, they are undesired on plant-made pharmaceuticals. Sequence motifs recognized for prolyl-hydroxylation derived from vascular plants were proposed but did not include data from mosses, such as Physcomitrella. Here, a phylogenetic reconstruction of plant P4Hs identified six P4Hs in four subfamilies in mosses. We analysed the amino acid sequences and structural environments around Hyps in Physcomitrella utilizing 73 Hyp sites in 24 secretory proteins from multiple MS/MS datasets, and found that prolines in close proximity to other prolines, alanine, serine, threonine and valine were preferentially hydroxylated. About 95% of the Hyp sites were predictable with a combination of previously defined motifs and methods. In our data, AOV (Ala-Hyp-Val) was the most frequent prolyl-hydroxylation pattern. Additionally, short arabinose chains were attached to Hyps in two cell-wall pectinesterases. A combination of 443 AlphaFold structure models and our MS data of peptides with nearly 3000 proline sites found Hyps predominantly on protein surfaces in disordered regions. Moss-produced human erythropoietin (EPO) exhibited plant-specific O-glycosylation with arabinose chains on two Hyps. This modification was significantly reduced in a P4H1 single knock-out (KO) Physcomitrella mutant. Quantitative proteomics after isotope labelling with different P4H-KO moss mutants revealed specific changes in the amount of proteins, including HRGPs, and modified prolyl-hydroxylation pattern from the mutants, suggesting a differential function of the six Physcomitrella P4Hs. Quantitative RT-PCR proved a differential effect of single P4H KOs on the expression of the other five p4h genes, suggesting a partial compensation of the mutation. AlphaFold-Multimer models for Physcomitrella P4H1 and its target EPO peptide superposed with the crystal structure of Chlamydomonas P4H1 and a peptide substrate suggested significant amino acids in the active centre of the enzyme that form H-bonds with the peptide substrate, and revealed differences between P4H1 and the other five Physcomitrella P4Hs. HighlightsMosses, such as Physcomitrella, encode six prolyl 4-hydroxylases in four subfamilies Computational analysis reveals specific environment for proline hydroxylation AlphaFold structure models and mass spectrometry reveal features of modification Quantitative proteomics and mutant analysis identify relevant modifying enzyme Modelling suggests relevant amino acids in active centre of the modifying enzyme

plant biology↗