Recent News and Publications
Auxin regulates aquaporin function to facilitate lateral root emergence.
Péret B, Li G, Zhao J, Band LR, Voß U, Postaire O, Luu D-T, Da Ines O, Casimiro I, Lucas M, Wells DM, Lazzerini L, Nacry P, King JR, Jensen OE, Schäffner AR, Maurel C, Bennett MJ (2012)
Nature Cell Biology 14, 991–998.
Aquaporins are membrane channels that facilitate water movement across cell membranes. In plants, aquaporins contribute to water relations. Here, we establish a new link between aquaporin-dependent tissue hydraulics and auxin-regulated root development in Arabidopsis thaliana. We report that most aquaporin genes are repressed during lateral root formation and by exogenous auxin treatment. Auxin reduces root hydraulic conductivity both at the cell and whole-organ levels. The highly expressed aquaporin PIP2;1 is progressively excluded from the site of the auxin response maximum in lateral root primordia (LRP) whilst being maintained at their base and underlying vascular tissues. Modelling predicts that the positive and negative perturbations of PIP2;1 expression alter water flow into LRP, thereby slowing lateral root emergence (LRE). Consistent with this mechanism, pip2;1 mutants and PIP2;1-overexpressing lines exhibit delayed LRE. We conclude that auxin promotes LRE by regulating the spatial and temporal distribution of aquaporin-dependent root tissue water transport.
A novel sensor to map auxin response and distribution at high spatio-temporal resolution
Brunoud, G, Wells DM, Oliva M, Larrieu Mirabet V, Burrow AH, BeeckmanT, Kepinski S, Traas J, Bennett MJ, Vernoux T (2012)
Nature doi:10.1038/nature10791
Auxin is a key plant morphogenetic signal1 but tools to analyse dynamically its distribution and signalling during development are still limited. Auxin perception directly triggers the degradation of Aux/IAA repressor proteins. Here we describe a novel Aux/IAA-based auxin signalling sensor termed DII-VENUS that was engineered in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The VENUS fast maturing form of yellow fluorescent protein7 was fused in-frame to the Aux/IAA auxin-interaction domain (termed domain II; DII)5 and expressed under a constitutive promoter. We initially show that DII-VENUS abundance is dependent on auxin, its TIR1/AFBs co-receptors and proteasome activities. Next, we demonstrate that DII-VENUS provides a map of relative auxin distribution at cellular resolution in different tissues. DII-VENUS is also rapidly degraded in response to auxin and we used it to visualize dynamic changes in cellular auxin distribution successfully during two developmental responses, the root gravitropic response and lateral organ production at the shoot apex. Our results illustrate the value of developing response input sensors such as DII-VENUS to provide high-resolution spatio-temporal information about hormone distribution and response during plant growth and development.
Homeostatic response to hypoxia is regulated by the N-end rule pathway in plants
Daniel J. Gibbs, Seung Cho Lee, Nurulhikma Md Isa, Silvia Gramuglia, Takeshi Fukao, George W. Bassel, Cristina Sousa Correia, Françoise Corbineau, Frederica L. Theodoulou, Julia Bailey-Serres and Michael J. Holdsworth (2011)
Nature doi:10.1038/nature10534.
Plants and animals are obligate aerobes, requiring oxygen for mitochondrial respiration and energy production. In plants, an unanticipated decline in oxygen availability (hypoxia), as caused by roots becoming waterlogged or foliage submergence, triggers changes in gene transcription and messenger RNA translation that promote anaerobic metabolism and thus sustain substrate-level ATP production. In contrast to animals, oxygen sensing has not been ascribed to a mechanism of gene regulation in response to oxygen deprivation in plants. Here we show that the N-end rule pathway of targeted proteolysis acts as a homeostatic sensor of severe low oxygen levels in Arabidopsis, through its regulation of key hypoxia-response transcription factors. We found that plants lacking components of the N-end rule pathway constitutively express core hypoxia-response genes and are more tolerant of hypoxic stress. We identify the hypoxia-associated ethylene response factor group VII transcription factors of Arabidopsis as substrates of this pathway. Regulation of these proteins by the N-end rule pathway occurs through a characteristic conserved motif at the amino terminus initiating with Met-Cys. Enhanced stability of one of these proteins, HRE2, under low oxygen conditions improves hypoxia survival and reveals a molecular mechanism for oxygen sensing in plants via the evolutionarily conserved N-end rule pathway. SUB1A-1, a major determinant of submergence tolerance in rice, was shown not to be a substrate for the N-end rule pathway despite containing the N-terminal motif, indicating that it is uncoupled from N-end rule pathway regulation, and that enhanced stability may relate to the superior tolerance of Sub1 rice varieties to multiple abiotic stresses.
AUX/LAX genes encode a family of auxin influx transporters that perform distinct functions during Arabidopsis development
Péret CWB, Swarup K, Ferguson A, Seth M, Yang Y, Dhondt S, James N,Casimiro I, Perry P, Syed A, Yang H, Reemmer J, Venison E, Howells C, Perez-Amado MA, Yun J, Alonso J, Beemster GTS, Laplaze L, Murphy A, Bennett MJ, Nielsen E, Swarup R (2012)
The Plant Cell, 24: 2874–2885.
Auxin transport, which is mediated by specialized influx and efflux carriers, plays a major role in many aspects of plant growth and development. AUXIN1 (AUX1) has been demonstrated to encode a high-affinity auxin influx carrier. In Arabidopsis thaliana, AUX1 belongs to a small multigene family comprising four highly conserved genes (i.e., AUX1 and LIKE AUX1 [LAX] genes LAX1, LAX2, and LAX3). We report that all four members of this AUX/LAX family display auxin uptake functions. Despite the conservation of their biochemical function, AUX1, LAX1, and LAX3 have been described to regulate distinct auxin-dependent developmental processes. Here, we report that LAX2 regulates vascular patterning in cotyledons. We also describe how regulatory and coding sequences of AUX/LAX genes have undergone subfunctionalization based on their distinct patterns of spatial expression and the inability of LAX sequences to rescue aux1 mutant phenotypes, respectively. Despite their high sequence similarity at the protein level, transgenic studies reveal that LAX proteins are not correctly targeted in the AUX1 expression domain. Domain swapping studies suggest that the N-terminal half of AUX1 is essential for correct LAX localization. We conclude that Arabidopsis AUX/LAX genes encode a family of auxin influx transporters that perform distinct developmental functions and have evolved distinct regulatory mechanisms.
Recently Published books
Mike Davey and Paul Anthony (2010) Plant Cell Culture - Essential Methods.
Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-470-68648-5. See Publisher
Kevin Pyke (2009) Plastid Biology. Cambridge University Press ISBN-13: 9780521711975. See Publisher