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Rüdiger Hell

Bio: Rüdiger Hell is an academic researcher from Heidelberg University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cysteine & Arabidopsis. The author has an hindex of 53, co-authored 147 publications receiving 9327 citations. Previous affiliations of Rüdiger Hell include Ruhr University Bochum & University of California, Berkeley.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review provides up-to-date knowledge in functions and regulations of sulfur assimilation in plants and algae, focusing on sulfate transport systems and metabolic pathways for sulfate reduction and synthesis of downstream metabolites with diverse biological functions.
Abstract: Sulfur is required for growth of all organisms and is present in a wide variety of metabolites having distinctive biological functions. Sulfur is cycled in ecosystems in nature where conversion of sulfate to organic sulfur compounds is primarily dependent on sulfate uptake and reduction pathways in photosynthetic organisms and microorganisms. In vascular plant species, transport proteins and enzymes in this pathway are functionally diversified to have distinct biochemical properties in specific cellular and subcellular compartments. Recent findings indicate regulatory processes of sulfate transport and metabolism are tightly connected through several modes of transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms. This review provides up-to-date knowledge in functions and regulations of sulfur assimilation in plants and algae, focusing on sulfate transport systems and metabolic pathways for sulfate reduction and synthesis of downstream metabolites with diverse biological functions.

680 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Feb 2003-Planta
TL;DR: The improvement of crop plants with respect to iron efficiency on iron-limiting soils and to iron fortification for human nutrition has been initiated by breeding and biotechnology and has to consider molecular and physiological evidence to overcome the inherent barriers and problems of iron metabolism.
Abstract: Iron is an essential micronutrient with numerous cellular functions, and its deficiency represents one of the most serious problems in human nutrition worldwide. Plants have two major problems with iron as a free ion: its insolubility and its toxicity. To ensure iron acquisition from soil and to avoid iron excess in the cells, uptake and homeostasis are tightly controlled. Plants meet the extreme insolubility of oxidized iron at neutral pH values by deficiency-inducible chelation and reduction systems at the root surface that facilitate uptake. Inside the cells the generation of highly toxic hydroxyl radicals by iron redox changes is avoided by intricate chelation mechanisms. Organic acids, most notably nicotianamine, and specialized proteins bind iron before it can be inserted into target molecules for biological function. Uptake and trafficking of iron throughout the plant is therefore a highly integrated process of membrane transport and reduction, trafficking between chelator species, whole-plant allocation and genetic regulation. The improvement of crop plants with respect to iron efficiency on iron-limiting soils and to iron fortification for human nutrition has been initiated by breeding and biotechnology. These efforts have to consider molecular and physiological evidence to overcome the inherent barriers and problems of iron metabolism.

578 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results with roGFP2 as an artificial GRX target further suggest that redox-triggered changes of biologic processes might be linked directly to the glutathione redox potential via GRX as the mediator.
Abstract: The cellular glutathione redox buffer is assumed to be part of signal transduction pathways transmitting environmental signals during biotic and abiotic stress, and thus is essential for regulation of metabolism and development. Ratiometric redox-sensitive GFP (roGFP) expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana reversibly responds to redox changes induced by incubation with H(2)O(2) or DTT. Kinetic analysis of these redox changes, combined with detailed characterization of roGFP2 in vitro, shows that roGFP2 expressed in the cytosol senses the redox potential of the cellular glutathione buffer via glutaredoxin (GRX) as a mediator of reversible electron flow between glutathione and roGFP2. The sensitivity of roGFP2 toward the glutathione redox potential was tested in vivo through manipulating the glutathione (GSH) content of wild-type plants, through expression of roGFP2 in the cytosol of low-GSH mutants and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of wild-type plants, as well as through wounding as an example for stress-induced redox changes. Provided the GSH concentration is known, roGFP2 facilitates the determination of the degree of oxidation of the GSH solution. Assuming sufficient glutathione reductase activity and non-limiting NADPH supply, the observed almost full reduction of roGFP2 in vivo suggests that a 2.5 mm cytosolic glutathione buffer would contain only 25 nm oxidized glutathione disulfide (GSSG). The high sensitivity of roGFP2 toward GSSG via GRX enables the use of roGFP2 for monitoring stress-induced redox changes in vivo in real time. The results with roGFP2 as an artificial GRX target further suggest that redox-triggered changes of biologic processes might be linked directly to the glutathione redox potential via GRX as the mediator.

436 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Interestingly, dynamic reduction of GSSG formed during induced oxidative stress in gr1 mutants is still possible, although significantly delayed compared with wild-type plants, and it is inferred that there is functional redundancy in this critical pathway.
Abstract: Tight control of cellular redox homeostasis is essential for protection against oxidative damage and for maintenance of normal metabolism as well as redox signaling events. Under oxidative stress conditions, the tripeptide glutathione can switch from its reduced form (GSH) to oxidized glutathione disulfide (GSSG), and thus, forms an important cellular redox buffer. GSSG is normally reduced to GSH by 2 glutathione reductase (GR) isoforms encoded in the Arabidopsis genome, cytosolic GR1 and GR2 dual-targeted to chloroplasts and mitochondria. Measurements of total GR activity in leaf extracts of wild-type and 2 gr1 deletion mutants revealed that ≈65% of the total GR activity is attributed to GR1, whereas ≈35% is contributed by GR2. Despite the lack of a large share in total GR activity, gr1 mutants do not show any informative phenotype, even under stress conditions, and thus, the physiological impact of GR1 remains obscure. To elucidate its role in plants, glutathione-specific redox-sensitive GFP was used to dynamically measure the glutathione redox potential (EGSH) in the cytosol. Using this tool, it is shown that EGSH in gr1 mutants is significantly shifted toward more oxidizing conditions. Surprisingly, dynamic reduction of GSSG formed during induced oxidative stress in gr1 mutants is still possible, although significantly delayed compared with wild-type plants. We infer that there is functional redundancy in this critical pathway. Integrated biochemical and genetic assays identify the NADPH-dependent thioredoxin system as a backup system for GR1. Deletion of both, NADPH-dependent thioredoxin reductase A and GR1, prevents survival due to a pollen lethal phenotype.

349 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1997-Planta

322 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The discovery that there is a close relationship between ascorbate and glutathione dates from soon after the characterization of the chemical formulae of the two molecules.
Abstract: The discovery that there is a close relationship between ascorbate and glutathione dates from soon after the characterization of the chemical formulae of the two molecules ([Szent-Gyorgyi, 1931][1]; [Hopkins and Morgan, 1936][2]). Similarly, it has long been known that thylakoids can generate

1,929 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review will attempt to address several key questions related to the use of ROS as signaling molecules in cells, including the dynamics and specificity of ROS signaling, networking of ROS with other signaling pathways, ROS signaling within and across different cells, ROS waves and the evolution of the ROS gene network.

1,879 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Important new components of jasmonate signalling including its receptor were identified, providing deeper insight into the role ofJASMONATE signalling pathways in stress responses and development.

1,868 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review aspects of soil science, plant physiology and genetics underpinning crop bio-fortification strategies, as well as agronomic and genetic approaches currently taken to biofortify food crops with the mineral elements most commonly lacking in human diets: iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iodine (I) and selenium (Se).
Abstract: Summary The diets of over two-thirds of the world's population lack one or more essential mineral elements. This can be remedied through dietary diversification, mineral supplementation, food fortification, or increasing the concentrations and/or bioavailability of mineral elements in produce (biofortification). This article reviews aspects of soil science, plant physiology and genetics underpinning crop biofortification strategies, as well as agronomic and genetic approaches currently taken to biofortify food crops with the mineral elements most commonly lacking in human diets: iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iodine (I) and selenium (Se). Two complementary approaches have been successfully adopted to increase the concentrations of bioavailable mineral elements in food crops. First, agronomic approaches optimizing the application of mineral fertilizers and/or improving the solubilization and mobilization of mineral elements in the soil have been implemented. Secondly, crops have been developed with: increased abilities to acquire mineral elements and accumulate them in edible tissues; increased concentrations of ‘promoter’ substances, such as ascorbate, β-carotene and cysteine-rich polypeptides which stimulate the absorption of essential mineral elements by the gut; and reduced concentrations of ‘antinutrients’, such as oxalate, polyphenolics or phytate, which interfere with their absorption. These approaches are addressing mineral malnutrition in humans globally.

1,677 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review focuses on current knowledge of the pathways of redox regulation, with discussion of the somewhat juxtaposed hypotheses of "oxidative damage" versus "Oxidative signaling," within the wider context of physiological function, from plant cell biology to potential applications.
Abstract: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have multifaceted roles in the orchestration of plant gene expression and gene-product regulation. Cellular redox homeostasis is considered to be an “integrator” of information from metabolism and the environment controlling plant growth and acclimation responses, as well as cell suicide events. The different ROS forms influence gene expression in specific and sometimes antagonistic ways. Low molecular antioxidants (e.g., ascorbate, glutathione) serve not only to limit the lifetime of the ROS signals but also to participate in an extensive range of other redox signaling and regulatory functions. In contrast to the low molecular weight antioxidants, the “redox” states of components involved in photosynthesis such as plastoquinone show rapid and often transient shifts in response to changes in light and other environmental signals. Whereas both types of “redox regulation” are intimately linked through the thioredoxin, peroxiredoxin, and pyridine nucleotide pools, they ...

1,280 citations