Spermine is not essential for survival of Arabidopsis

FEBS Lett. 2004 Jan 2;556(1-3):148-52. doi: 10.1016/s0014-5793(03)01395-4.

Abstract

Spermine is the final product of the polyamine biosynthetic pathway and is ubiquitously present in most organisms. The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana has two genes encoding spermine synthase: ACAULIS5 (ACL5), whose loss-of-function mutants show a severe defect in stem elongation, and SPMS. In order to elucidate the function of spermine in plants, we isolated a T-DNA insertion mutant of the SPMS gene. Free and conjugated spermine levels in the mutant, designated spms-1, were significantly decreased compared with those in the wild-type, but no obvious morphological phenotype was observed in spms-1 plants. We further confirmed that acl5-1 spms-1 double mutants contained no spermine. Surprisingly, acl5-1 spms-1 was fully as viable as the wild-type and showed no phenotype except for the reduced stem growth due to acl5-1. These results indicate that spermine is not essential for survival of Arabidopsis, at least under normal growth conditions.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / enzymology
  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / growth & development*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism
  • DNA, Plant / analysis
  • DNA, Plant / genetics
  • Genes, Plant
  • Genome, Plant
  • Mutagenesis, Insertional
  • Phenotype
  • Polyamines / analysis
  • RNA / analysis
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Seedlings / chemistry
  • Spermine / physiology*
  • Spermine Synthase / genetics*
  • Spermine Synthase / metabolism

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • DNA, Plant
  • Polyamines
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Spermine
  • RNA
  • Spermine Synthase