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PCaP2 regulates nuclear positioning in growing Arabidopsis thaliana root hairs by modulating filamentous actin organization

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Abstract

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PCaP2 plays a key role in maintaining the nucleus at a relatively fixed distance from the apex during root hair growth by modulating actin filaments.

Abstract

During root hair growth, the nucleus localizes at a relatively fixed distance from the apex. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the position of the nucleus is mainly dependent on the configuration of microfilaments (filamentous actin). However, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of actin dynamics and organization for nuclear positioning are largely unknown. In the present study, we demonstrated that plasma membrane-associated Ca2+ binding protein 2 (PCaP2) influences the position of the nucleus during root hair growth. Abnormal expression of PCaP2 in pcap2 and PCaP2 over-expression plants led to the disorganization of actin filaments, rather than microtubules, in the apex and sub-apical regions of root hairs, which resulted in aberrant root hair growth patterns and misplaced nuclei. Analyses using a PCaP2 mutant protein revealed that actin-severing activity is essential for the function of PCaP2 in root hairs. We demonstrated that PCaP2 plays a key role in maintaining nuclear position in growing root hairs by modulating actin filaments.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Geoffrey O. Wasteneys (University of British Columbia, Canada) for providing the seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana expressing UBQ::GFP-MBD, and Prof. Xuechen Wang (China Agricultural University, China) for providing the seeds of A. thaliana expressing 35S::GFP-fABD2-GFP. This work was supported by Grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (31371352 to LZ) and Beijing Higher Education Young Elite Teacher Project (YETP0303 to LZ).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

      Yan Zhang, Erfang Kang, Ming Yuan, Ying Fu & Lei Zhu

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    1. Yan Zhang
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    2. Erfang Kang
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    3. Ming Yuan
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    4. Ying Fu
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    5. Lei Zhu
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    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to Lei Zhu.

    Additional information

    Communicated by Q. Zhao.

    Y. Zhang and E. Kang contributed equally to this work.

    Electronic supplementary material

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    299_2015_1789_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

    Fig. S1 The position of the nucleus in wild type growing root hairs and fully grown root hairs. The cell profile and nucleus of wild type root hairs were visualized by staining with propidium iodide. Representative images are presented in (a) and (b) to demonstrate that the distance between the nucleus and the apex in growing root hairs is relatively fixed. In fully grown root hairs, the nuclei are located at scattered positions. Bar = 100 μm for (a) and (b). a The nucleus localizes at a relatively fixed distance from the apex in growing root hairs. The white arrowheads indicate the nuclei in the shanks of the root hairs and blue arrowheads indicate the root hair tips. b The nucleus localizes to a scattered position in fully grown root hairs. The white arrowheads indicate the nuclei in the shanks of the root hairs and blue arrowheads indicate the root hair tips. c DIC images of a time-lapse recording taken from Movie S1, showing the nuclear anterograde migration in the shank of a growing root hair. The nuclear region is indicated by the yellow dashed lines in the DIC images. The sequential images demonstrate that the distance between the apex and the nucleus in growing root hairs is relatively fixed. The beginning of our observation was defined as time 0 s. Images were collected every 30 s. Bar = 10 μm. d Frequency distribution of distances between the apex and the nucleus in growing root hairs (n > 100). e Frequency distribution of distances between the apex and the nucleus in fully grown root hairs (n > 50). (PDF 446 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

    Fig. S2 Actin organization in PCaP2 over-expression and pcap2 fully grown root hairs. a to c Actin filaments were organized as bundles along the hairs, protruded into the apical domain in wild type, pcap2, and PCaP2 over-expression (OE) fully grown root hairs. d Quantification of actin organization in wild-type, PCaP2 over-expression, and pcap2 fully grown root hairs. There is no significant difference in average actin filament densities (indicated by the percent occupancy) between pcap2, PCaP2 over-expression, and wild type fully grown root hairs. Data represent mean ± SD from at least ten fully grown root hairs for each line. P > 0.5 by Student’s t test. e There is no significant difference in actin bundling (indicated by the average skewness value) between pcap2, PCaP2 over-expression, and wild type fully grown root hairs. Data represent mean ± SD from at least ten fully grown root hairs for each line. P > 0.5 by Student’s t test. Images were captured every 30 s for 10 min and were compressed into an MPG movie for Movies S1 to S5. (PDF 222 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM3_ESM.mpg

    Movie S1. Time-lapse DIC microscopic images of a growing wild type root hair. This movie corresponds to the image in Fig. S1c (MPG 1230 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM4_ESM.mpg

    Movie S2. Actin filament dynamics and nuclear migration in a growing wild type root hair. This movie corresponds to the image in Fig. 6a (MPG 2460 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM5_ESM.mpg

    Movie S2. Actin filament dynamics and nuclear migration in a growing wild type root hair. This movie corresponds to the image in Fig. 6a (MPG 2460 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM6_ESM.mpg

    Movie S3. Actin filament dynamics and nuclear migration in a wild type root hair after treatment with LatB. This movie corresponds to the image in Fig. 6b (MPG 2460 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM7_ESM.mpg

    Movie S3. Actin filament dynamics and nuclear migration in a wild type root hair after treatment with LatB. This movie corresponds to the image in Fig. 6b (MPG 2460 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM8_ESM.mpg

    Movie S4. Actin filament dynamics and nuclear migration in a growing pcap2 root hair. This movie corresponds to the image in Fig. 6c (MPG 2460 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM9_ESM.mpg

    Movie S4. Actin filament dynamics and nuclear migration in a growing pcap2 root hair. This movie corresponds to the image in Fig. 6c (MPG 2460 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM10_ESM.mpg

    Movie S5. Actin filament dynamics and nuclear migration in a growing PCaP2 over-expression root hair. This movie corresponds to the image in Fig. 6d (MPG 2473 kb)

    299_2015_1789_MOESM11_ESM.mpg

    Movie S5. Actin filament dynamics and nuclear migration in a growing PCaP2 over-expression root hair. This movie corresponds to the image in Fig. 6d (MPG 2473 kb)

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    Zhang, Y., Kang, E., Yuan, M. et al. PCaP2 regulates nuclear positioning in growing Arabidopsis thaliana root hairs by modulating filamentous actin organization. Plant Cell Rep 34, 1317–1330 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-015-1789-6

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