Center for Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences and School of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Beijing 100084, China.
State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences and School of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Key Laboratory of Vegetable Research Center, Tropical Crops Genetic Resources Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China.
Cell. 2023 Oct 26;186(22):4788-4802.e15. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.09.014. Epub 2023 Sep 22.
Gravity controls directional growth of plants, and the classical starch-statolith hypothesis proposed more than a century ago postulates that amyloplast sedimentation in specialized cells initiates gravity sensing, but the molecular mechanism remains uncharacterized. The LAZY proteins are known as key regulators of gravitropism, and lazy mutants show striking gravitropic defects. Here, we report that gravistimulation by reorientation triggers mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling-mediated phosphorylation of Arabidopsis LAZY proteins basally polarized in root columella cells. Phosphorylation of LAZY increases its interaction with several translocons at the outer envelope membrane of chloroplasts (TOC) proteins on the surface of amyloplasts, facilitating enrichment of LAZY proteins on amyloplasts. Amyloplast sedimentation subsequently guides LAZY to relocate to the new lower side of the plasma membrane in columella cells, where LAZY induces asymmetrical auxin distribution and root differential growth. Together, this study provides a molecular interpretation for the starch-statolith hypothesis: the organelle-movement-triggered molecular polarity formation.
重力控制着植物的定向生长,一个多世纪前提出的经典淀粉-重力石假说认为,质体在专门化细胞中的沉降启动了重力感应,但分子机制尚不清楚。LAZY 蛋白被认为是向性的关键调节剂,lazy 突变体表现出明显的向性缺陷。在这里,我们报告说,重新定向的重刺激触发了拟南芥 LAZY 蛋白的丝裂原活化蛋白激酶(MAPK)信号转导介导的磷酸化,该磷酸化在根中柱细胞中基底极化。LAZY 的磷酸化增加了其与质体表面淀粉粒上几种位于叶绿体外被膜(TOC)蛋白的易位酶的相互作用,从而促进 LAZY 蛋白在淀粉粒上的富集。随后,淀粉粒的沉降引导 LAZY 重新定位到中柱细胞新的下侧质膜,在那里 LAZY 诱导不对称生长素分布和根的差异生长。总之,这项研究为淀粉-重力石假说提供了分子解释:细胞器运动触发的分子极性形成。