Proteasome inhibition in Brassica napus roots increases amino acid synthesis to offset reduced proteolysis.

Cellular homeostasis is maintained by the proteasomal degradation of regulatory and misfolded proteins, which sustains the amino acid pool. Although proteasomes alleviate stress by removing damaged proteins, mounting evidence indicates that severe stress caused by salt, metal(oids), and some pathogens can impair the proteasome. However, the consequences of proteasome inhibition in plants is not well understood, and even less is known about how its malfunctioning alters metabolic activities. Lethality causes by proteasome inhibition in non-photosynthetic organisms stems from amino acid depletion, and we hypothesized that plants respond to proteasome inhibition by increasing amino acid biosynthesis. To address these questions, the short-term effects of proteasome inhibition were monitored for 3, 8, and 48 h in the roots of Brassica napus treated with the proteasome inhibitor MG132. Proteasome inhibition did not affect the pool of free amino acids after 48 hours, which was attributed to elevated de novo amino acid synthesis; these observations coincided with increased levels of sulfite reductase and nitrate reductase activity at earlier time points. However, elevated amino acid synthesis failed to fully restore protein synthesis. Additionally, transcriptome analysis point to perturbed abscisic acid signaling and decreased sugar metabolism after 8 h of proteasome inhibition. Proteasome inhibition increased levels of alternative oxidase, but decreased aconitase activity, most sugars, and TCA metabolites in root tissue after 48 h. These metabolic responses occurred before we observed an accumulation of reactive oxygen species. We discuss how the metabolic response to proteasome inhibition and abiotic stress partially overlap in plants.