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Ethylene is involved in the actin cytoskeleton rearrangement during the root gravitropic response of Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

Gravitropism, the directed plant growth with respect to the gravity vector, is regulated by auxin and its polar transport system, several secondary messengers, and by the cytoskeleton. Recently we have shown that the actin cytoskeleton in the root transition zone of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh was rearranged after gravistimulation (rotation by 90°): the fraction of axially aligned microfilaments decreased and the fraction of oblique and transversally-oriented microfilaments increased. In the present research we have studied the effect of ethylene and inhibitors of its synthesis on actin cytoskeleton rearrangement during the gravitropic response. Application of the ethylene releasing substance ethephon to A. thaliana seedlings led to the disassembly of actin microfilaments as well as their broad angle distribution in cells of the root transition zone. This actin rearrangement was escaped by treatment with the ethylene synthesis inhibitor aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG). Another negative regulator of ethylene, salicylic acid, was shown to disturb actin microfilament rearrangement as well. We conclude that ethylene is essential for the process of actin cytoskeleton rearrangement in root cortex cells during the gravitropic bending response.

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Abbreviations

AVG:

L-a-(2-Aminoethoxyvinyl)glycine

ACC:

1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid

fABD2:

second actinbinding domain of fimbrin 1

GFP:

green fluorescent protein

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7-9, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia

    G. A. Pozhvanov, A. E. Gobova, M. P. Bankin & S. S. Medvedev

  2. Biology Deptartment, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, Antwerp, 2000, Belgium

    K. Vissenberg

  3. Department of Agriculture, School of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition, Technological and Educational Institute of Crete, Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology Laboratory (PBBL), Heraklion, PC 71410, Greece

    K. Vissenberg

Authors
  1. G. A. Pozhvanov
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  2. A. E. Gobova
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  3. M. P. Bankin
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  4. K. Vissenberg
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  5. S. S. Medvedev
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. A. Pozhvanov.

Additional information

Published in Russian in Fiziologiya Rastenii, 2016, Vol. 63, No. 5, pp. 624–635.

The article was translated by the authors.

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Pozhvanov, G.A., Gobova, A.E., Bankin, M.P. et al. Ethylene is involved in the actin cytoskeleton rearrangement during the root gravitropic response of Arabidopsis thaliana . Russ J Plant Physiol 63, 587–596 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1021443716050095

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1021443716050095

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