A genomic fragment encoding one (HMGR1) of the three 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductases (HMGRs) from Hevea brasiliensis (H.B.K.) Mull. Arg. (M.-L. Chye, C.-T. Tan, N.-H. Chua [1992] Plant Mol Biol 19: 473–484) was introduced into Nicotiana tabacum L. cv xanthi via Agrobacterium transformation to study the influence of the hmg1 gene product on plant isoprenoid biosynthesis. Transgenic plants were morphologically indistinguishable from control wild-type plants and displayed the same developmental pattern. Transgenic lines showed an increase in the level of total sterols up to 6-fold, probably because of an increased expression level of hmg1 mRNA and a corresponding increased enzymatic activity for HMGR, when compared with the level of total sterols from control lines not expressing the hmg1 transgene. In addition to the pathway end products, campesterol, sitosterol, and stigmasterol, some biosynthetic intermediates such as cycloartenol also accumulated in transgenic tissues. Most of the overproduced sterols were detected as steryl-esters and were likely to be stored in cytoplasmic lipid bodies. These data strongly support the conclusion that plant HMGR is a key limiting enzyme in phytosterol biosynthesis.

In Arabidopsis thaliana, a family of six genes (ACBP1 to ACBP6) encodes acyl-CoA binding proteins (ACBPs). Investigations on ACBP3 reported here show its upregulation upon dark treatment and in senescing rosettes. Transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing ACBP3 (ACBP3-OEs) displayed accelerated leaf senescence, whereas an acbp3 T-DNA insertional mutant and ACBP3 RNA interference transgenic Arabidopsis lines were delayed in dark-induced leaf senescence. Acyl-CoA and lipid profiling revealed that the overexpression of ACBP3 led to an increase in acyl-CoA and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) levels, whereas ACBP3 downregulation reduced PE content. Moreover, significant losses in phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylinositol, and gains in phosphatidic acid (PA), lysophospholipids, and oxylipin-containing galactolipids (arabidopsides) were evident in 3-week-old dark-treated and 6-week-old premature senescing ACBP3-OEs. Such accumulation of PA and arabidopsides (A, B, D, E, and G) resulting from lipid peroxidation in ACBP3-OEs likely promoted leaf senescence. The N-terminal signal sequence/transmembrane domain in ACBP3 was shown to be essential in ACBP3-green fluorescent protein targeting and in promoting senescence. Observations that recombinant ACBP3 binds PC, PE, and unsaturated acyl-CoAs in vitro and that ACBP3 overexpression enhances degradation of the autophagy (ATG)-related protein ATG8 and disrupts autophagosome formation suggest a role for ACBP3 as a phospholipid binding protein involved in the regulation of leaf senescence by modulating membrane phospholipid metabolism and ATG8 stability in Arabidopsis. Accelerated senescence in ACBP3-OEs is dependent on salicylic acid but not jasmonic acid signaling.

• Arabidopsis thaliana acyl-CoA-binding protein 2 (ACBP2) was observed to interact with farnesylated protein 6 (AtFP6), which has a metal-binding motif (M/LXCXXC). Their interaction and expression in response to heavy metals were investigated. • Yeast two-hybrid analysis and in vitro assays showed that an ACBP2 derivative lacking ankyrin repeats did not interact with AtFP6, indicating that the ankyrin repeats mediate protein–protein interaction. Autofluorescence-tagged ACBP2 and AtFP6 transiently co-expressed in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) were both targeted to the plasma membrane. • Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and northern blot analyses revealed that AtFP6 mRNA was induced by cadmium (Cd(II)) in A. thaliana roots. Assays using metal-chelate affinity chromatography demonstrated that in vitro translated ACBP2 and AtFP6 bound lead (Pb(II)), Cd(II) and copper (Cu(II)). Consistently, assays using fluorescence analysis confirmed that (His)₆-AtFP6 bound Pb(II), like (His)₆-ACBP2. • Arabidopsis thaliana plants overexpressing ACBP2 or AtFP6 were more tolerant to Cd(II) than wild-type plants. Plasma membrane-localized ACBP2 and AtFP6 probably mediate Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) transport in A. thaliana roots. Also, (His)₆-ACBP2 binds [¹⁴C]linoleoyl-CoA and [¹⁴C]linolenoyl-CoA, the precursors for phospholipid repair following lipid peroxidation under heavy metal stress at the plasma membrane. ACBP2-overexpressing plants were more tolerant to hydrogen peroxide than wild-type plants, further supporting a role for ACBP2 in post-stress membrane repair.