Cell polarity linked to gravity sensing is generated by LZY translocation from statoliths to the plasma membrane

Science. 2023 Sep;381(6661):1006-1010. doi: 10.1126/science.adh9978. Epub 2023 Aug 10.

Abstract

Organisms have evolved under gravitational force, and many sense the direction of gravity by means of statoliths in specialized cells. In flowering plants, starch-accumulating plastids, known as amyloplasts, act as statoliths to facilitate downstream gravitropism. The gravity-sensing mechanism has long been considered a mechanosensing process by which amyloplasts transmit forces to intracellular structures, but the molecular mechanism underlying this has not been elucidated. We show here that LAZY1-LIKE (LZY) family proteins involved in statocyte gravity signaling associate with amyloplasts and the proximal plasma membrane. This results in polar localization according to the direction of gravity. We propose a gravity-sensing mechanism by which LZY translocation to the plasma membrane signals the direction of gravity by transmitting information on the position of amyloplasts.

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis Proteins* / metabolism
  • Arabidopsis* / physiology
  • Cell Membrane* / metabolism
  • Cell Polarity*
  • Gravitation
  • Gravitropism*
  • Gravity Sensing*
  • Humans
  • Plastids* / physiology
  • Protein Transport

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins