56 research outputs found
Microtubule configurations and nuclear DNA synthesis during initiation of suspensor-bearing embryos from Brassica napus cv. Topas microspores
In the new Brassica napus microspore culture system, wherein embryos with suspensors are formed, ab initio mimics zygotic embryogenesis. The system provides a powerful in vitro tool for studying the diverse developmental processes that take place during early stages of plant embryogenesis. Here, we studied in this new culture system both the temporal and spatial distribution of nuclear DNA synthesis places and the organization of the microtubular (MT) cytoskeleton, which were visualized with a refined whole mount immunolocalization technology and 3D confocal laser scanning microscopy. A ‘mild’ heat stress induced microspores to elongate, to rearrange their MT cytoskeleton and to re-enter the cell cycle and perform a predictable sequence of divisions. These events led to the formation of a filamentous suspensor-like structure, of which the distal tip cell gave rise to the embryo proper. Cells of the developing pro-embryo characterized endoplasmic (EMTs) and cortical microtubules (CMTs) in various configurations in the successive stages of the cell cycle. However, the most prominent changes in MT configurations and nuclear DNA replication concerned the first sporophytic division occurring within microspores and the apical cell of the pro-embryo. Microspore embryogenesis was preceded by pre-prophase band formation and DNA synthesis. The apical cell of the pro-embryo exhibited a random organization of CMTs and, in relation to this, isotropic expansion occurred, mimicking the development of the apical cell of the zygotic situation. Moreover, the apical cell entered the S phase shortly before it divided transversally at the stage that the suspensor was 3–8 celled
Cell proliferation, cell shape, and microtubule and cellulose microfibril organization of tobacco BY-2 cells are not altered by exposure to near weightlessness in space
The Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase MIK2/LRR-KISS connects cell wall integrity sensing, root growth and response to abiotic and biotic stresses
Plants actively perceive and respond to perturbations in their cell walls which arise during growth, biotic and abiotic stresses. However, few components involved in plant cell wall integrity sensing have been described to date. Using a reverse-genetic approach, we identified the Arabidopsis thaliana leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase MIK2 as an important regulator of cell wall damage responses triggered upon cellulose biosynthesis inhibition. Indeed, loss-of-function mik2 alleles are strongly affected in immune marker gene expression, jasmonic acid production and lignin deposition. MIK2 has both overlapping and distinct functions with THE1, a malectin-like receptor kinase previously proposed as cell wall integrity sensor. In addition, mik2 mutant plants exhibit enhanced leftward root skewing when grown on vertical plates. Notably, natural variation in MIK2 (also named LRR-KISS) has been correlated recently to mild salt stress tolerance, which we could confirm using our insertional alleles. Strikingly, both the increased root skewing and salt stress sensitivity phenotypes observed in the mik2 mutant are dependent on THE1. Finally, we found that MIK2 is required for resistance to the fungal root pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. Together, our data identify MIK2 as a novel component in cell wall integrity sensing and suggest that MIK2 is a nexus linking cell wall integrity sensing to growth and environmental cues
The impact of alterations in lignin deposition on cellulose organization of the plant cell wall
Comparison of embryogenic and non-embryogenic suspension cells of maize by means of freeze-fracturing
Winding threads around plant cells Applications of the geometrical model for microfibril deposition
Till death do us part: Papaver pollen tubes undergo programmed cell death upon contact with a self-incompatible stigma
Till death do us part: Papaver pollen tubes undergo programmed cell death upon contact with a self-incompatible stigma
Cytomechanical properties of Papaver pollen tubes are altered after self-incompatibility challenge
Possible involvement of membrane fluidity in helicoidal microfibrillar orientation in the coenocytic green alga,Boergesenia forbesii
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