AtAGP30, an arabinogalactan-protein in the cell walls of the primary root, plays a role in root regeneration and seed germination

Arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) are extracellular proteoglycans that are implicated in many plant growth and developmental processes, but in no case has a biological function been assigned to a particular AGP. AtAGP30 is a non-classical AGP core protein from Arabidopsis that is expressed only in roots. Analysis of the corresponding mutant, agp30, has revealed that the wild-type gene product is required in vitro for root regeneration and in planta for the timing of seed germination. The mutant shows a suppression of the abscisic acid (ABA)-induced delay in germination and altered expression of some ABA-regulated genes. This suggests that AtAGP30 functions in the ABA response. By analogy to proteoglycan-mediated regulation of growth-factor-signalling pathways in animals, our data indicate that phytohormone activity in plants can be modulated by AGPs.