Background

Controlled transport processes across membranes of different compartments and between organs are essential for plant nutrient and ion distribution. Changing environmental conditions, like altered nutrient availability, water supply and temperature, require adequate responses by the plant in primary and secondary metabolism. The plant vacuole is a central compartment for this complex process of adaptation to altered environmental conditions. The transport of ions and solutes across the tonoplast is a rapid way to adjust and maintain the required concentrations in the cytoplasm and to avoid the accumulation of toxic substances or ion concentrations [1–3]. For such transport processes several substrate specific membrane proteins have been identified at the tonoplast. These are examples for transporters for water and organic solutes, like urea, sugars and sugar alcohols, as well as transporters for monovalent and divalent inorganic cations (summarized in [4]). But, compared to the high number and variation of primary and secondary metabolites found in the vacuole, the number of transporters identified at the tonoplast is relatively low.

The SLC22 family and plant OCTs

The human solute carrier family 22, (SLC 22), is a gene family that contains organic cation transporters (OCTs), zwitterions/cation transporters (OCTNs) and organic anion transporters (OATs,) with 11–12 transmembrane domains. They can function as uniporters (OCTs), cotransporters (OCTN2) or anion exchangers (for review see [5]). In most cases these transporters are polyspecific and shuttle various substrates e.g. monoamine neurotransmitters, choline, uric acid and prostaglandine, but also α-ketoglutarate and carnitine. In plants, the first protein related to the SLC22 family was identified in Phaseolus vulgaris, PvOCT1 [6]. While the substrate of PvOCT1 is unclear, it was assumed that it plays a role in stress adaption, as its expression is up-regulated after drought stress. However, the Arabidopsis homolog of PvOCT1, AtOCT1, has been characterized functionally as a carnitine transporter at the plasma membrane [7]. No information about the role, the subcellular localization or the gene regulation of the other five members in Arabidopsis is available up to now. In a recent proteomic approach of isolated vacuoles from cauliflower, a homolog to the Arabidopsis protein At1g16390 (AtOCT3) was found. The localization of the protein at the tonoplast was verified via transient expression of a GFP fusion in protoplasts [8]

Subcellular localization of the AtOCTs

In silico analysis of the AtOCT protein sequences predicted membrane proteins with 11–13 transmembrane domains. The protein structures of five AtOCTs are quite similar, whereas the structure of the plasmamembrane localized AtOCT1 differs in the N-terminal region (additional file 1: Consensus prediction of transmembrane domains of the AtOCTs). However, the subcellular distribution of the proteins is still unclear although several prediction programmes, like aramemnon [9] were used. To discover the subcellular distribution we fused the open reading frames of all the family members translationally to GFP and expressed the proteins transiently in protoplasts. As a control, AtOCT1 was used for localization to the plasma membrane as shown before [7]. As expected, AtOCT1 ended up in the plasmamembrane, whereas all the other five members (AtOCT2-6) localized to intracellular membranes, most likely the tonoplast (Figure 1, left part). For verification of the tonoplast localisation an osmotic shock was applied to release the vacuoles from the protoplasts. In the right part of figure 1, tonoplast pictures or tonoplasts escaping from the vacuoles are shown. For all five fusion proteins of AtOCT2-6-GFP the signal is associated with the tonoplast.

Organ and tissue specific expression of the AtOCTs

RNA-gel blot analysis showed an expression of the five vacuolar AtOCTs in a distinct organ-specific manner (additional file 2: Organ specific expression AtOCT2-AtOCT6). AtOCT2 is in genera lweakly expressed. AtOCT3 mRNA was only present in siliques, but here in a higher amount. Expression of AtOCT4 mRNA was strongest in roots and also showed a very faint background expression in the other organs. AtOCT5 expression is strongest in sink leaves and source leaves. Together with AtOCT4, AtOCT6 was the second gene expressed predominantly in roots and weakly in the stem.

To analyze the tissue specific expression of the AtOCTs, promoter GUS fusions for AtOCT2,3,4 and 6 were constructed and transformed in Arabidopsis. P_AtOCT2-GUS-expression in flowers was restricted to pollen grains and the stigma (additional file 3: GUS activitiy under control of the AtOCT2 Promoter). GUS activity was detected in the vascular tissue of older siliques and also in the envelope of young siliques (C, D). Staining of the whole rosette revealed a leaf age-dependent expression pattern (F). In young leaves the whole leaf blade except the vasculature was stained (H,I,J). Cross sections showed that the staining is located in the upper epidermis and the cell layer below (I). At the inner part of young leaves the staining is in the parenchyma cells below the vasculature (J). In mature leaves P_AtOCT2-GUS expression was only detectable in the phloem (G,K). In roots expression located to the two vascular strands, the initiation site of lateral roots and at the root tip (L,M,N).

In P_AtOCT3-GUS plants, expression in the siliques was mainly found in young seeds but not in the envelope or in older seeds (Figure 2B,C). Strong GUS activity was visible in the stem, and cross sections localized the staining to cortical cells and parenchyma cells below the cortex (Figure 2A,D). Furthermore, GUS activity was also high at the basis of secondary inflorescences (Figure 2E). In leaves, expression was found in the lower and upper epidermis and at the base of the trichomes (Figure 2F,G). Similarly to AtOCT2, expression of P_AtOCT4-GUS was detected in young siliques and the vascular tissue of the siliques, and not in the seeds (Figure 3A,B,C,D). A strong signal of P_AtOCT4-GUS was also detected in the stems of secondary inflorescences (Figure 3A,E), which (in cross-sections) appears to be in the phloem cells and xylem parenchyma cells (Figure 3F). Related to P_AtOCT4-GUS plants, for P_AtOCT6-GUS plants, a strong staining in plants was detected in the stem of secondary inflorescences (Figure 4A,D) which could be localized to the phloem (Figure 4E). In flowers, P_AtOCT6-GUS expression was found in the stamen, in the filaments and the connective (Figure 4B,C). In rosette leaves, expression is restricted to the major veins of mature leaves (Figure 4F).

Stress specific induced expression of AtOCTs

Since the vacuole is involved in many processes related to osmoregulation and homeostasis of solutes, we tested whether the expression of the AtOCTs responds to stress situations that are known to affect the homeostasis of the cytosol. Cold, drought and salt stress induce processes that involve the vacuole as an important buffering "tank". In the stress experiments we could show that the vacuolar AtOCTs respond differentially with enhanced expression in timing and strength to the treatments. Drought stress causes a rapid increase of AtOCT4, 5 and 6 transcripts within 20 minutes of the initiation of desiccation (Figure 5A). A maximum expression level was reached ~2 h after the start of treatment. AtOCT2 and 3 gene expression was not induced after drought. Cold treatment of the seedlings resulted in an increased expression level of AtOCT3 and 5 again within 20 minutes (Figure 5B). AtOCT2, 4 and 6 do not respond to cold stress treatment. In the salt stress experiment timing of the induction is slower but here AtOCT5 and AtOCT6 respond with increased expression levels six hours after exposure to salinity (Figure 5C). AtOCT2 and 3 do not respond and AtOCT4 expression is increased after 3 h and decreases with a second peak after 24 h. In all three experiments AtOCT5 expression responds with the strongest increase of transcript levels. AtOCT3 expression is only increased during cold stress treatment. The expression of AtOCT1, the plasmamembrane localized member of this family, is not induced after the stress treatments, but rather reduced upon drought and salt stress.

Plant Material

Arabidopsis thaliana L. ecotype Col-0 was either grown in axenic culture on MS medium [17] supplemented with 2% sucrose or cultured in soil in the greenhouse. Arabidopsis plants were transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens pGV3101 under vacuum infiltration as described [18]. Cold stress: Plants were grown for 3 weeks in sterile culture on MS plates (14 h light, 21°C) and then transferred to 4°C at the beginning of the light period. Samples were harvested and frozen in liquid nitrogen prior to RNA-extraction. Drought stress: Plants were grown as above and transferred from petridishes to filter paper (whatman 3 MM). For salt stress experiments plants were grown hydroponically as described before [19] and NaCl concentration was adjusted to 200 mM at the start of the experiments.

RNA-Work

Total RNA was isolated from seedlings, mature leaves, stems and other organs with phenol following LiCl precipitation, separation and transfer to nylon membranes as described [20]. Labeling with α³²P-dATP was performed with Hexalabel DNA labeling Kit (MBI, Fermentas). Hybridization was performed at 65°C in 0.25 M sodium phosphate pH 7.2, 7% SDS, 1 mM EDTA and 1% BSA for 16 h using the cDNAs of AtOCTs and actin as a probe. Filters were washed twice with 2 × SSC/0.1% SDS and 0.2 × SSC/0.1% SDS for 20 min at 65°C and exposed to X-ray films

DNA-Work

Protoplast-Work

Transient transformation of the protoplasts with polyethylene glycol was performed according to the protocol of Negrutiu et al [22]. Transient GFP expression was monitored 24 h after transformation. Vacuoles were released from protoplast by creating an osmotic shock by adding water (1:1 to the protoplast suspension) and escaping vacuoles were monitored immediately.

Histochemical localization of GUS activity

Histochemical assays for β-glucuronidase activity were performed as previously described. [23]. Briefly, for the fresh sections, tissues were embedded in 5% low melting agarose, and agar blocks were cut (75 – 150 μm) with razor blades using a vibratome (Leica, Germany).