A Rho-actin signaling pathway shapes cell wall boundaries in Arabidopsis xylem vessels

Nat Commun. 2019 Jan 28;10(1):468. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-08396-7.

Abstract

Patterned cell wall deposition is crucial for cell shapes and functions. In Arabidopsis xylem vessels, ROP11 GTPase locally inhibits cell wall deposition through microtubule disassembly, inducing pits in cell walls. Here, we show that an additional ROP signaling pathway promotes cell wall growth at pit boundaries. Two proteins, Boundary of ROP domain1 (BDR1) and Wallin (WAL), localize to pit boundaries and regulate cell wall growth. WAL interacts with F-actin and promotes actin assembly at pit boundaries while BDR1 is a ROP effector. BDR1 interacts with WAL, suggesting that WAL could be recruited to the plasma membrane by a ROP-dependent mechanism. These results demonstrate that BDR1 and WAL mediate a ROP-actin pathway that shapes pit boundaries. The study reveals a distinct machinery in which two closely associated ROP pathways oppositely regulate cell wall deposition patterns for the establishment of tiny but highly specialized cell wall domains.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Actins / metabolism*
  • Arabidopsis / cytology
  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism
  • Cell Shape
  • Cell Wall / genetics
  • Cell Wall / metabolism*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Luminescent Proteins / genetics
  • Luminescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Microscopy, Confocal
  • Microtubules / metabolism
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Signal Transduction*
  • Xylem / genetics
  • Xylem / metabolism
  • rho GTP-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • rho GTP-Binding Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Actins
  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Luminescent Proteins
  • ROP11 protein, Arabidopsis
  • rho GTP-Binding Proteins