Plant Triterpenoid Crosstalk: The Interaction of Brassinosteroids and Phytoecdysteroids in Lepidium sativum
Open accessAbstract
Plant steroid alcohols, plant sterols, are essential components of cell membranes that perform many functions. Their most prominent function is maintaining membrane semipermeability and regulating its fluidity through their specific interaction with phospholipids and membrane proteins. This work is focused on the study of the interaction of two groups of plant sterols, brassinosteroids (BRs) and phytoecdysteroids (PE). Steroid substances belonging to both groups are important signaling molecules essential for plant growth and development, but while the first group has all the known attributes of plant hormones, the second lacks hormonal function in plants. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine at what concentration level and to what extent substances of this type are able to interact with each other, and thus influence the early growth and development of a plant. It was found that exogenously applied PE 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) significantly reduced the level of endogenous BRs in four-day-old garden cress (Lepidium sativum) seedlings. On the other hand, exogenously applied BRs, 24-epibrassinolide (epiBL), caused the opposite effect. Endogenous 20E was further detected at the picogram level in garden cress seedlings. Thus, this is the first report indicating that this plant species is PE-positive. The level of endogenous 20E in garden cress seedlings can be decreased by exogenous epiBL, but only at a relatively high concentration of 1·10−6 M in a culture medium. The image analysis of garden cress seedlings revealed that the length of shoot is affected neither by exogenous BRs nor PE, whereas the root length varies depending on the type and concentration of steroid applied.
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Exogenous 20E suppresses the levels of several endogenous brassinosteroids, especially brassinolide, in Lepidium sativum seedlings.
“A recent study [102] examined the reciprocal effects of 24-epi-brassinolide and 20E on shoot/root growth and endogenous brassinosteroid and ecdysteroid levels in Lepidium sativum (garden cress) seedlings (which contains detectable, but exceedingly low, levels of endogenous phytoecdysteroids) and found that exogenous 20E suppresses the levels of several endogenous brassinosteroids, especially brass”
From Ecdysteroids (2021) · cites this paper as [102]
Allelochemicals can alter gene expression profiles in plants via DNA binding.
“Furthermore, these allelochemicals can alter gene expression profiles in plants via DNA binding [18,19].”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
PEs possess allelochemical activity that provides tolerance against insect attacks, facilitating hormonal disruptions and toxicity in insects and nematodes.
“They also possess allelochemical activity that provides tolerance against several insect attacks, such as taste receptors, which facilitate hormonal disruptions and toxicity in insects and nematodes.”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
In plants, PEs provide defense against insects, nematodes, and several environmental stresses.
“In plants, PEs effectively induce biological activities and provide defense against insects, nematodes, and several environmental stresses.”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
In spinach, lathosterol (C27-sterol) is the precursor of PEs, whereas in Drosophila melanogaster, cholesterol synthesizes ECs.
“In spinach, lathosterol (C27-sterol) is the precursor of PEs, whereas in Drosophila melanogaster, C27-sterol, i.e., cholesterol, synthesizes ECs [4,18,19,23,24,142].”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
PEs play a chief role in inducing photosynthesis.
“PEs play a chief role in inducing photosynthesis [19].”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
PEs exhibit structural and functional similarities with BRs.
“PEs exhibit structural and functional similarities with BRs [19,178].”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
Brassinosteroids (BRs) show structural resemblance with PEs; they show bioactivity in insects as weak and unstable EC antagonists.
“Brassinosteroids (BRs) show structural resemblance with PEs; they show bioactivity in insects as weak and unstable EC antagonists.”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
Because of structural variations, BR receptors cannot recognize ECs, and EC receptors cannot recognize BRs; this is the primary reason behind the specificity between plant BR and insect EC receptors.
“Because of such structural variations, BR receptors cannot recognize ECs, and EC receptors cannot recognize BRs; this is the primary reason behind the specificity between plant BR and insect EC receptors.”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
BRs and PEs both comprise triterpenoid families, i.e., polyhydroxylated steroids C27 and C29 with an oxygenated B-ring.
“BRs and PEs both comprise triterpenoid families, i.e., polyhydroxylated steroids C27 and C29 with an oxygenated B-ring.”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
PEs and BRs coexist in plants and do not interfere with signaling pathways.
“Due to this, PEs and BRs coexist in plants and do not interfere with signaling pathways [15,19,212,213].”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
Hydroxyl groups located at C-2, C-3, and C-22 are found in both BRs and PEs, but they differ in orientation and location of the hydroxyl group.
“Moreover, hydroxyl groups located at C-2, C-3, and C-22 are found in both BRs and PEs, but they differ in orientation and location of the hydroxyl group.”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
The B-ring of BRs and their analogs contains a carbonyl group at C-6, which is further expanded to form lactone, while ECs have a 14α-hydroxy-7-en-6-one group.
“Furthermore, the B-ring of BRs and their analogs contains a carbonyl group at C-6, which is further expanded to form lactone, while ECs have a 14α-hydroxy-7-en-6-one group.”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
In ECs, A- and B-ring junctions have cis-configuration, whereas in BRs they bear A/B trans orientation.
“In ECs, A- and B-ring junctions have cis-configuration, whereas in BRs they bear A/B trans orientation.”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
PEs and BRs participate in plant growth and developmental processes by modulating photosynthetic traits.
“PEs and BRs participate in plant growth and developmental processes by modulating photosynthetic traits.”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
Application of BRs mitigates stress by increasing photosynthetic membrane stability, reorganization of major photosynthetic pigment complexes, and slightly unstacking the thylakoid membrane; PEs show similar functions.
“The application of BRs mitigates stress by increasing photosynthetic membrane stability, reorganization of major photosynthetic pigment complexes, and slightly unstacking the thylakoid membrane [215,216]; PEs show similar functions [19,183].”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
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Cites
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“showed that BRs bind competitively to ecdysteroid (EC) receptors partially purified from larvae of the blowfly Calliphora vicina and inhibit biological responses to 20E [15].”
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Method24-Epibrassinolide and 20-hydroxyecdysone affect photosynthesis differently in maize and spinach
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Tarkowská, D., Krampolová, E., & Strnad, M.
- Affiliations
- Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ)
- Corresponding author
- Tarkowská, Danuše
- Venue
- Plants
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2020-10-07
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1325
- ISSN
- 2223-7747 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7600875
- OpenAlex
- W3091991811
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 0.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Plants (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- undefined <span style="color:gray;font-size:10px;">undefined</span> (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000738)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Molecular Biology Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Plant biochemistry and biosynthesis
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Phytochemical Studies and Bioactivities
- Keywords
- brassinosteroids, phytoecdysteroids, 20-hydroxyecdysone, 24-epibrassinolide, Lepidium sativum, root length, shoot length, plant growth and development
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