Demonstration in vivo of the role of Arabidopsis PLIM2 actin-binding proteins during pollination

Keisuke Sudo; Jong-In Park; Satomi Sakazono; Hiromi Masuko-Suzuki; Masaaki Osaka; Mizuho Kawagishi; Kotomi Fujita; Mayumi Maruoka; Hikaru Nanjo; Go Suzuki; Keita Suwabe; Masao Watanabe

doi:10.1266/ggs.88.279

Full papers

Demonstration in vivo of the role of Arabidopsis PLIM2 actin-binding proteins during pollination

Keisuke Sudo, Jong-In Park, Satomi Sakazono, Hiromi Masuko-Suzuki, Masaaki Osaka, Mizuho Kawagishi, Kotomi Fujita, Mayumi Maruoka, Hikaru Nanjo, Go Suzuki, Keita Suwabe, Masao Watanabe

Author information

Keisuke Sudo
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Jong-In Park
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Department of Horticulture, Sunchon National University
Satomi Sakazono
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Hiromi Masuko-Suzuki
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Masaaki Osaka
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Mizuho Kawagishi
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University
Kotomi Fujita
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University
Mayumi Maruoka
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University
Hikaru Nanjo
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University
Go Suzuki
Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Division of Natural Science, Osaka Kyoiku University
Keita Suwabe
Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Breeding, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University
Masao Watanabe Corresponding author
Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Genetics, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Faculty of Science, Tohoku University

Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana, in vivo function, pollen germination, pollen-specific LIM proteins, pollen tube growth

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Supplementary material

2013 Volume 88 Issue 5 Pages 279-287

DOI https://doi.org/10.1266/ggs.88.279

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Abstract

In plant reproduction, pollination is the initial key process in bringing together the male and female gametophytes. When a pollen grain lands on the surface of the stigma, information is exchanged between the pollen and stigmatic cell to determine whether the pollen grain will be accepted or rejected. If it is accepted, the stigmatic papilla cell supplies water and other resources to the pollen for germination and pollen tube elongation. Cellular processes involving actin are essential for pollen germination and tube growth, and actin-binding proteins regulate these processes by interacting with actin filaments to assemble cytoskeletal structures and actin networks. LIM proteins, which belong to a subfamily of cysteine-rich proteins, are a family of actin-binding proteins in plants, and are considered to be important for formation of the actin cytoskeleton and maintenance of its dynamics. Although the physiological and biochemical characteristics of LIMs have been elucidated in vitro in a variety of cell types, their exact role in pollen germination and pollen tube growth during pollination remained unclear. In this manuscript, we focus on the pollen-specific LIM proteins, AtPLIM2a and AtPLIM2c, and define their biological function during pollination in Arabidopsis thaliana. The atplim2a/atplim2c double knockdown RNAi plants showed a reduced pollen germination, approximately one-fifth of wild type, and slower pollen tube growth in the pistil, that is 80.4 μm/hr compared to 140.8 μm/hr in wild type. These defects led to an occasional unfertilized ovule at the bottom of the silique in RNAi plants. Our data provide direct evidence of the biological function of LIM proteins during pollination as actin-binding proteins, modulating cytoskeletal structures and actin networks, and their consequent importance in seed production.

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