Stanislav Kopriva

• PhD
• Professor at University of Cologne

Significance To address mechanisms by which plants control their associated microorganisms, we designed a screen using a bacterial activity in soil. A detailed analysis of a candidate gene from the screen, CYP71A27 , identified an additional root-specific component of synthesis of camalexin, a natural product involved in plant defense against patho...

Sulfur is present in the amino acids cysteine and methionine and in a large range of essential coenzymes and cofactors and therefore essential for all organisms. It is also a constituent of sulfate esters in proteins, carbohydrates and numerous cellular metabolites. The sulfation and desulfation reactions modifying a variety of different substrates...

Most agronomic traits of importance, whether physiological (such as nutrient use efficiency) or developmental (such as flowering time), are controlled simultaneously by multiple genes and their interactions with the environment. Here, we show that variation in sulfate content between wild Arabidopsis thaliana accessions Bay-0 and Shahdara is contro...

Plants can metabolize sulfate by two pathways, which branch at the level of adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (APS). APS can be reduced to sulfide and incorporated into Cys in the primary sulfate assimilation pathway or phosphorylated by APS kinase to 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate, which is the activated sulfate form for sulfation reactions. To a...

The evolution of C4 photosynthesis led to an increase in carbon assimilation rates and plant growth compared to C3 photosynthetic plants. This enhanced plant growth, in turn, affected the requirement for soil-derived mineral nutrients. However, mineral plant nutrition has scarcely been considered in connection with C4 photosynthesis. Sulfur is cruc...

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as infochemicals are important means of communication between bacteria and plants. Bacterial VOCs can promote plant growth and protect plants against biotic or abiotic stresses. To date, most studies have focused on VOCs from single bacterial strains, therefore, very little is known about community-emitted VOCs and...

Sulfate deprivation (-S) results in numerous metabolic and phenotypic alterations in plants. Kinases are often key players in transducing nutrient status signals to molecular components involved in metabolic and developmental program regulation, but despite the physiological importance of sulfur, to date, no signaling kinases have been identified i...

Understanding how plants distinguish between commensal and pathogenic microorganisms is one of the major challenges in the plant microbe interaction research. We previously identified a gene encoding CYP71A27 connected to camalexin, which is necessary for a plant growth promoting (PGP) activity of a number of bacterial strains. To dissect its funct...

Establishment of the apoplastic root barrier known as the Casparian strip occurs early in root development. In legumes, this area overlaps with nitrogen-fixing nodule formation, which raises the possibility that nodulation and barrier formation are connected. Nodules also contain Casparian strips, yet, in this case, their role is unknown. We establ...

The amino acid cysteine is the precursor for a wide range of sulfur containing functional molecules in plants including enzyme cofactors and defense compounds. Due to its redox active thiol group cysteine is highly reactive. Synthesis and degradation pathways are present in several subcellular compartments to adjust the intracellular cysteine conce...

Iron is an essential nutrient for plant photosynthesis and development, but excess iron leads to stress. After absorption from the soil, plants store iron in roots and distribute it to shoots via long-distance transport. The vacuole is involved in iron storage and the maintenance of cellular iron homeostasis, and vacuolar iron transporter (VIT) fam...

Owing to its biochemical flexibility, sulfur (S) is uniquely poised to fulfill versatile roles in plant–microbe interactions – impacting their metabolism with significant consequences for plant health and the global S cycle. We present evidence that the diversity of S-metabolic genes in plant-associated microbiomes (phytobiomes) is underappreciated...

The response of oilseed rape to sulfur (S) restriction usually consists of increasing the components of S utilization efficiency (absorption, assimilation and remobilization) to provide S to seeds. However, source-sink relationships and S management in developing seeds under sulfate restriction are poorly understood. To address this, impacts of sul...

Because plants are immobile, they have developed intricate mechanisms to sense and absorb nutrients, adjusting their growth and development accordingly. Sulfur is an essential macroelement, but our understanding of its metabolism and homeostasis is limited. LSU (RESPONSE TO LOW SULFUR) proteins are plant‐specific proteins with unknown molecular fun...

Endophytic microorganisms represent promising solutions to environmental challenges inherent in conventional agricultural practices. This study concentrates on the identification of endophytic bacteria isolated from the root, stem, and leaf tissues of four Artemisia plant species. Sixty-one strains were isolated and sequenced by 16S rDNA. Sequencin...

Sulfur (S) is an essential element for life on Earth. Plants are able to take up and utilize sulfate (SO42-), the most oxidized inorganic form of S compounds on Earth, through the reductive S assimilatory pathway that couples with the photosynthetic energy conversion. Organic S compounds are subsequently synthesized in plants and made accessible to...

While endophytic fungi offer promising avenues for bolstering plant resilience against abiotic stressors, the molecular mechanisms behind this biofortification remain largely unknown. This study employed a multifaceted approach, combining plant physiology, proteomic, metabolomic, and targeted hormonal analyses to illuminate the early response of Br...

The Casparian strip is a barrier in the endodermal cell walls of plants that allows the selective uptake of nutrients and water. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana , its development and establishment are under the control of a receptor-ligand mechanism termed the Schengen pathway. This pathway facilitates barrier formation and activates downst...

Background Sulfur (S) is a mineral nutrient essential for plant growth and development, which is incorporated into diverse molecules fundamental for primary and secondary metabolism, plant defense, signaling, and maintaining cellular homeostasis. Although, S starvation response is well documented in the dicot model Arabidopsis thaliana, it is not c...

Societal Impact Statement In the context of multiple crises, policymakers and practitioners prioritize the solving of certain challenges above others. In this context, supposedly purely environmental challenges like biodiversity loss have often been deprioritized and solutions to tackle them are publicly or quietly postponed (again and again). An e...

Redox status of protein cysteinyl residues is mediated via glutathione (GSH)/glutaredoxin (GRX) and thioredoxin (TRX)-dependent redox cascades. An oxidative challenge can induce post-translational protein modifications on thiols, such as protein S-glutathionylation. Class I GRX are small thiol-disulfide oxidoreductases that reversibly catalyse S-gl...

Redox status of protein cysteinyl residues is mediated via glutathione (GSH) /glutaredoxin (GRX) and thioredoxin (TRX)-dependent redox cascades. An oxidative challenge can induce post-translational protein modifications on thiols, such as protein S-glutathionylation. Class I GRX are small thiol-disulfide oxidoreductases that reversibly catalyse S-g...

Sulfur (S) is an essential mineral nutrient for plant growth and development, important for primary and specialized plant metabolites that are crucial for biotic and abiotic interactions. Foliar S content varies up to six-fold under controlled environment, suggesting an adaptive value under certain natural environmental conditions. However, a major...

In roots, formation of the Casparian strip in the endodermal cell walls provides a means for selective solute movement by blocking apoplastic flow. This is under spatial surveillance by a receptor-ligand system termed the Schengen pathway. However, the physiological purpose of this is not clear, particularly under natural conditions. To address thi...

Iron is an essential nutrient for plant photosynthesis and development, but excess iron leads to stress. After absorption from the soil, plants store iron in roots and distribute it to shoots via long-distance transport. Vacuole serves as the iron storage organ in root cells, maintaining cellular iron homeostasis, and vacuolar iron transporter (VIT...

Hydroponic experiments were performed to examine the effect of prolonged sulfate limitation combined with cadmium (Cd) exposure in Arabidopsis thaliana and a potential Cd hyperaccumulator, Nicotiana tabacum. Low sulfate treatments (20 and 40 µM MgSO4) and Cd stress (4 µM CdCl2) showed adverse effects on morphology, photosynthetic and biochemical pa...

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have created a global climate crisis which requires immediate interventions to mitigate the negative effects on all aspects of life on this planet. As current agriculture and land use contributes up to 25% of total GHG emissions, plant scientists take center stage in finding possible solutions for a transition to sust...

Plants exude secondary metabolites from the roots to shape the composition and function of their microbiome. Many of these compounds are known for their anti-microbial activity and are part of the plant immunity, such as the indole-derived phytoalexin camalexin. Here we studied the dynamics of camalexin synthesis and exudation upon induction of Ara...

Sulfur plays a vital role in the primary and secondary metabolism of plants, and carries an important function in a large number of different compounds. Despite this importance, compared to other mineral nutrients, relatively little is known about sulfur sensing and signalling, as well as about the mechanisms controlling sulfur metabolism and homeo...

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are two essential plant macronutrients that can limit plant growth by different mechanisms. We aimed to shed light on how soybean respond to low nitrogen (LN), low phosphorus (LP) and their combined deficiency (LNP). Generally, these conditions triggered changes in gene expression of the same processes, including cel...

F1000 Faculty Reviews are written by members of the prestigious. They are F1000 Faculty commissioned and are peer reviewed before publication to ensure that the final, published version is comprehensive and accessible. The reviewers who approved the final version are listed with their names and affiliations. Abstract The last decade brought great p...

The phytohormone cytokinin is implicated in a range of growth, developmental and defense processes. A growing body of evidence supports a crosstalk between cytokinin and nutrient signaling pathways, such as nitrate availability. Cytokinin signaling regulates sulfur-responsive gene expression but the underlying molecular mechanisms and their impact...

Sulfate assimilation is an essential pathway of plant primary metabolism, regulated by the demand for reduced sulfur. The sulfur-containing tripeptide glutathione (GSH) is the key signal for such regulation in Arabidopsis, but little is known about the conservation of these regulatory mechanisms beyond the model species. Using two model monocot spe...

Sulfur metabolism provides a number of compounds that are essential for plant survival and fitness and that affect the yield and quality of crops. Sulfur metabolism is a dynamic process, responding to a number of external cues. Because of this dynamics and rapid turnover, steady-state levels of sulfur-containing compounds do not always fully reflec...

Plants share their natural environment with numerous microorganisms, commensal as well as harmful. Plant fitness and performance are thus dependent on an efficient communication with such microbiota. The primary means of communication are metabolites exuded from roots, primarily diverse secondary metabolites. The exuded metabolites trigger changes...

Plant roots are surrounded by fluctuating biotic and abiotic factors. The living component – the microbiota – is actively shaped by the plant and plays an important role in overall plant health. While it has been shown that specialized metabolites exuded from the plant are involved in shaping host interactions with the microbiota, it is unclear how...

Five molybdenum‐dependent enzymes are known in eukaryotes. While four of them are under investigation since decades, the most recently discovered, (mitochondrial) amidoxime reducing component ((m)ARC), has only been characterized in mammals and the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. While mammalian mARCs have been shown to be involved in variou...

As sessile organisms’ plants have developed sophisticated mechanism to sense and utilize nutrients from the environment, and modulate their growth and development according to the nutrient availability. Research in the past two decades revealed that nutrient assimilation is not occurring spontaneously, but nutrient signaling networks are complexly...

Cyst nematodes (CNs) are an important group of root‐infecting sedentary endoparasites that severely damage many crop plants worldwide. An infective CN juvenile enters the host's roots and migrates towards the vascular cylinder, where it induces the formation of syncytial feeding cells, which nourish the CN throughout its parasitic stages. Here, we...

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are two essential plant macronutrients that can limit plant growth by different mechanisms. We aimed to shed light on how soybean respond to low nitrogen (LN), low phosphorus (LP) and their combined deficiency (LNP). Generally, these conditions triggered changes in gene expression of the same processes, including cel...

Plants possess the most highly compartmentalized eukaryotic cells. To coordinate their intracellular functions, plastids and the mitochondria are dependent on the flow of information to and from the nuclei, known as retrograde and anterograde signals. One mobile retrograde signaling molecule is the monophosphate 3′-phosphoadenosine 5′-phosphate (PA...

Sulfur is an indispensable nutrient for all organisms as a constituent of amino acids cysteine and methionine and a range of vital cofactors and coenzymes. Because animals and humans cannot assimilate the most common sulfur source, sulfate, they are dependent on a supply of reduced sulfur, mainly in the form of the essential amino acid methionine....

Background SPX-containing proteins have been known as key players in phosphate signaling and homeostasis. In Arabidopsis and rice, functions of some SPXs have been characterized, but little is known about their function in other plants, especially in the legumes. Results We analyzed SPX gene family evolution in legumes and in a number of key speci...

Nutrient deficiency is known to constrain plant growth in numerous ways, but how it impacts floral displays and pollination success remains unclear. Here we investigate how insufficient availability of sulphur-a vital plant nutrient that is a limiting factor in natural and agricultural regions throughout the world-influences the production of flora...

Cyst nematodes (CNs) are an important group of root-infecting sedentary endoparasites that severely damage many crop plants worldwide. An infective CN juvenile enters the roots and migrates towards the vascular cylinder, where it induces the formation of syncytial feeding cells, which nourish the CN throughout its parasitic stages. Here, we examine...

Plant glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are glutathione-dependent enzymes with versatile functions, mainly related to detoxification of electrophilic xenobiotics and peroxides. The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genome codes for 53 GSTs, divided into seven subclasses, however, understanding of their precise functions is limited. A recent study...

Background SPX-containing proteins have been known as key players in phosphate signaling and homeostasis. In Arabidopsis and rice, functions of some SPXs have been characterized, but little is known about their function in other plants, especially in the legumes. Results We analyzed SPX gene family evolution in legumes and in a number of key speci...

Root-associated commensal bacteria that belong to the order Rhizobiales, which also contains symbiotic and pathogenic bacteria, promote primary root growth of Arabidopsis thaliana . Yet, its underlying molecular mechanism and physiological impact remained unclear. Here, we conducted a transcriptomic analysis of A. thaliana roots inoculated with roo...

The transcriptional regulators of arsenic-induced gene expression remain largely unknown. Sulfur assimilation is tightly linked with arsenic detoxification. Here, we report that mutant alleles in the SLIM1 transcription factor are substantially more sensitive to arsenic than cadmium. Arsenic treatment caused high levels of oxidative stress in the s...

Leaves comprise multiple cell types but our knowledge of the patterns of gene expression that underpin their functional specialization is fragmentary. Our understanding and ability to undertake rational redesign of these cells is therefore limited. We aimed to identify genes associated with the incompletely understood bundle sheath of C 3 plants, w...

Leaves comprise multiple cell types but our knowledge of the patterns of gene expression that underpin their functional specialization is fragmentary. Our understanding and ability to undertake the rational redesign of these cells is therefore limited. We aimed to identify genes associated with the incompletely understood bundle sheath of C3 plants...

The coordinated utilization of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) is vital for plants to maintain nutrient balance and achieve optimal growth. Previously, we revealed a mechanism by which nitrate induces genes for phosphate utilization; this mechanism depends on NRT1.1B-facilitated degradation of cytoplasmic SPX4, which in turn promotes cytoplasmic-nu...

Glucosinolates are an important group of plant secondary metabolites found in Brassicaceae. They are part of plant defense responses against insects, fungal and bacterial pathogens, are responsible for taste and flavor of cruciferous vegetables, and have beneficial health properties. Because of their importance, ABR Volume 80 was dedicated to these...

Because it is the precursor for various essential cellular components, the amino acid serine is indispensable for every living organism. In plants, serine is synthesized by two major pathways: photorespiration and the phosphorylated pathway of serine biosynthesis (PPSB). However, the importance of these pathways in providing serine for plant develo...

The composition of the functional ionome was studied in Brassica napus and Triticum aestivum with respect to the response of 20 elements under macronutrient deprivation. Analysis of relative root contents showed that some nutrients, such as Fe, Ni, Cu, Na, V, and Co, were largely sequestered in roots. After 10 days of deprivation of each one of the...

The composition of the functional ionome was studied in Brassica napus and Triticum aestivum with respect to the response of 20 elements under macronutrient deprivation. Analysis of relative root contents showed that some nutrients, such as Fe, Ni, Cu, Na, V, and Co, were largely sequestered in roots. After 10 days of deprivation of each one of the...

Plants provide food for humans, directly or through their use as feed for animals. However, arable land is becoming scarce and resources, including water and fertilizers, are becoming depleted under the effects of global climate change and the growing human population. To ensure food security for future generations, new approaches to improve crop p...

The transcriptional regulators of arsenic-induced gene expression remain largely unknown; however, arsenic exposure rapidly depletes cellular glutathione levels increasing demand for thiol compounds from the sulfur assimilation pathway. Thus, sulfur assimilation is tightly linked with arsenic detoxification. To explore the hypothesis that the key t...

The transcriptional regulators of arsenic-induced gene expression remain largely unknown; however, arsenic exposure rapidly depletes cellular glutathione levels increasing demand for thiol compounds from the sulfur assimilation pathway. Thus, sulfur assimilation is tightly linked with arsenic detoxification. To explore the hypothesis that the key t...

Plants exude secondary metabolites from the roots to shape the composition and function of their microbiome. Many of these compounds are known for their anti-microbial activity and are part of the plant immunity, such as the indole-derived phytoalexin camalexin. Here we studied the dynamics of camalexin synthesis and exudation upon induction of Ara...

In the last decade the importance of microbiota for plant performance has been overwhelmingly demonstrated. Plant microbiomes, both in roots and shoots, fulfill a plethora of functions that can strongly influence various plant traits. Metabolites are the main tools that plants use to actively shape their microbiome. Mechanistically, plants exude a...

Sulfur, an indispensable constituent of many cellular components, is a growth-limiting macronutrient for plants. Thus, to successfully adapt to changing sulfur availability and environmental stress, a sulfur-deficiency response helps plants to cope with the limited supply. On the transcriptional level, this response is controlled by SULFUR LIMITATI...

One of the major questions in contemporary plant science involves determining the functional mechanisms that plants use to shape their microbiome. Plants produce a plethora of chemically diverse secondary metabolites, many of which exert bioactive functions on microorganisms. Several recent publications have unequivocally shown that plant secondary...

Plants benefit from associations with a diverse community of root-colonizing microbes. Deciphering the mechanisms underpinning these beneficial services are of interest for improving plant productivity. We report a plant-beneficial interaction between Arabidopsis thaliana and the root microbiota under iron deprivation that is dependent on the secre...

Global climate change is a challenge for efforts to ensure food security for future generations. It will affect crop yields through changes in temperature and precipitation, as well as the nutritional quality of crops. Increased atmospheric CO2 leads to a penalty in the content of proteins and micronutrients in most staple crops, with the possible...

Thiol‐based redox‐regulation is vital for coordinating chloroplast functions depending on illumination and has been throroughly investigated for thioredoxin‐dependent processes. In parallel, glutathione reductase (GR) maintains a highly reduced glutathione pool, enabling glutathione‐mediated redox buffering. Yet, how the redox cascades of the thior...

Nitrogen metabolism in the rhizosphere microbiome plays an important role in mediating plant nutrition, particularly under low inputs of mineral fertilizers. However, there is relatively little mechanistic information about which genes and metabolic pathways are induced by rhizosphere bacterial strains to utilize diverse nitrogen substrates. Here w...

We used microbial sulfatase activity in soil as a measure of microbiota function. We grew Arabidopsis accessions in natural soil and determined the sulfatase in soil. The data were used for a GWAS to find plant genes affecting function of the microbiota.

The last decade brought great progress in describing the repertoire of microbes associated with plants and identifying principles of their interactions. Metabolites exuded by plant roots have been considered candidates for the mechanisms by which plants shape their root microbiome. Here, we review the evidence for several plant metabolites affectin...

Sulfatase activity is often used as a measure of the activity of soil microorganisms. It is thus a suitable tool to investigate the response of microbes to plants. Here we present a method to determine the influence of various Arabidopsis genotypes on the function of soil microbiota using the sulfatase as a quantitative measure. We grew the plants...

Phosphate represents a major limiting factor for plant productivity. Plants have evolved different solutions to adapt to phosphate limitation ranging from a profound tuning of their root system architecture and metabolic profile to the evolution of widespread mutualistic interactions. Here we elucidated plant responses and their genetic basis to di...

Glucosinolates are a fascinating class of specialised metabolites found in the plants of Brassicacea family. The variation in glucosinolate composition across different Arabidopsis ecotypes could be a result of allelic compositions at different biosynthetic loci. The contribution of methylthioalkylmalate synthase (MAM) genes to diversity of glucosi...

Glutathione is considered a key metabolite for stress defense and elevated levels have frequently been proposed to positively influence stress tolerance. To investigate whether glutathione affects plant performance and the drought tolerance of plants, wild-type Arabidopsis plants and an allelic series of five mutants (rax1, pad2, cad2, nrc1, and zi...

Sulfur is an essential element found in plants in a variety of compounds with many different functions. The sulfur‐containing amino acids cysteine and methionine are essential components of proteins. Sulfur is the active component of many coenzymes, such as iron–sulfur centres, lipoic acid or coenzyme A, and metabolites important for plant defence...

Sulfur is an essential element for all organisms and has a wide variety of functions. Plant sulfur nutrition is particularly important as plants are our primary source of the essential amino acid methionine. Sulfur deficiency affects the growth, development, disease resistance, and performance of plants and has a great impact on the nutritional qua...

Glutathione is considered a key metabolite for stress defense and elevated levels have frequently been proposed to positively influence stress tolerance. To investigate whether glutathione affects plant performance and the drought tolerance of plants, wild-type Arabidopsis plants and an allelic series of five mutants (rax1, pad2, cad2, nrc1, and zi...

In her 1929 essay A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Wolf famously wrote, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” While this popular quote is perhaps not the most inspiring, it is an elegant reminder that food and the cultural practices surrounding food are paramount for our wellbeing. However, in our quest to feed a g...

Sulfur is present in plants in a large range of essential primary metabolites, as well as in numerous natural products. Many of these secondary metabolites contain sulfur in the oxidized form of organic sulfate. However, except of glucosinolates, very little is known about other classes of such sulfated metabolites, mainly because of lack of specif...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The first product of sulfate assimilation in plants, cysteine, is a proteinogenic amino acid and a source of reduced sulfur for plant metabolism. Cysteine synthesis is the converging point of the three major pathways of primary metabolism: carbon, nitrate, and sulfate assimilation. Despite the importance of metabolic and genetic coordination of the...

Nitrogen metabolism in the rhizosphere microbiome plays an important role in mediating plant nutrition, particularly under low inputs of mineral fertilisers. However, there is relatively little mechanistic information about which genes and metabolic pathways are induced by rhizosphere bacterial strains to utilise diverse nitrogen substrates. Here w...

Phosphate is a key nutrient for plants and as it is needed in high quantities. It is highly immobile in the soil and represents a major limiting factor for plant productivity. Plants have evolved different solutions to forage the soil for phosphate and to adapt to phosphate limitation ranging from a profound tuning of their root system architecture...

To ensure high crop yields in a sustainable manner, a comprehensive understanding of the control of nutrient acquisition is required. In particular, the signalling networks controlling the coordinated utilization of the two most highly demanded mineral nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, are of utmost importance. Here, we reveal a mechanism by whic...

Thiol-based redox-regulation is vital to coordinate chloroplast functions depending on illumination. Yet, how the redox-cascades of the thioredoxin and glutathione redox machineries integrate metabolic regulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification remains largely unresolved. We investigate if maintaining a highly reducing stromal glut...

1) Thiol-based redox-regulation is vital to coordinate chloroplast functions depending on illumination. Yet, how the redox-cascades of the thioredoxin and glutathione redox machineries integrate metabolic regulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification remains largely unresolved. We investigate if maintaining a highly reducing stromal g...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01830.].