Ozone (O3), a major photochemical oxidant, induces leaf injury concomitant with salicylic acid (SA) synthesis. In pathogen-infected leaves, SA is synthesized via two pathways, involving phenylalanine or isochorismate. SA biosynthesis under O3 fumigation is not well understood. When we applied 14C-labeled benzoic acid (a precursor of SA in the pathway via phenylalanine) to O3-exposed tobacco leaves, it was effectively metabolized to SA. However, the activity and mRNA level of isochorismate synthase (ICS) were not increased. In contrast, ICS activity was increased in O3-exposed Arabidopsis thaliana L. These results suggest that SA is synthesized via benzoic acid from phenylalanine in O3-exposed tobacco leaves but via isochorismate in Arabidopsis. Ethylene is a plant hormone that promotes leaf damage in O3-exposed plants. During O3 exposure, transgenic plants with a phenotype of reduced O3-induced ethylene production accumulated less SA than did wild-type plants. O3 increased the activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and the transcript levels of the chorismate mutase (CM) and PAL genes in wild-type tobacco, but their induction was suppressed in the transgenic plants. These results indicate that ethylene promotes SA accumulation by regulating the expression of the CM and PAL genes in O3-exposed tobacco.

Two new protein phosphatase inhibitors, oscillamide B (1) and C (2), were isolated from the cyanobacteria Planktothrix (Oscillatoria) agardhii and P. rubescens. The structures of the inhibitors were elucidated by analysis of HRFABMS, 1D and 2D NMR spectra, and chemical degradation. These inhibitors are ureido-containing cyclic peptides and inhibited serine/threonine protein phosphatases PP1 and PP2A. The inhibitory activities were closely related to the Arg and N-Me-Hty residues in the peptides.

Microcystis aeruginosa is a bloom-forming cyanobacterium found in eutrophic water bodies worldwide. M. aeruginosa blooms usually occur in freshwater; however, they have also been reported to occur in brackish water. Because M. aeruginosa often produces the cyanotoxin microcystin, they are a major concern to public health and environment. Despite this, the ecology, genomic basis, and evolutionary process underlying the M. aeruginosa bloom invasion from fresh to brackish water have been poorly investigated. Hence, in the present study, we have sequenced and characterized genomes of two newly discovered salt-tolerant M. aeruginosa strains obtained from Japanese brackish water lakes (Lakes Shinji and Tofutsu). Both genomes contain a set of genes for the synthesis of osmolyte sucrose (sppA, spsA, and susA), hitherto identified in only one strain (PCC 7806) of M. aeruginosa. Chemical and gene expression analyses confirmed sucrose accumulation induced by salt. A comprehensive genetic survey of >200 strains indicated that sucrose genes are extremely rare in M. aeruginosa. Most surprisingly, comparative genome analyses of the three strains indicated extremely low genetic diversity in the sucrose genes compared with other core genome genes, suggesting very recent acquisitions via horizontal transfer. Invasion of M. aeruginosa blooms into brackish water may be a recent event triggered by anthropogenic eutrophication of brackish water.

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