Rhinanthus serotinus (Schönheit) Oborny (Scrophulariaceae): immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies of endosperm chalazal haustorium development

Chalazal endosperm haustorium in Rhinanthus serotinus consists of a single large binucleate cell. It originates from the primary endosperm cell dividing transversely into two unequal cells: a smaller micropylar cell and a larger chalazal cell. The chalazal cell undergoes a single mitotic division, then lengthens significantly during development and functions as a chalazal endosperm haustorium. In this paper, immunofluorescent techniques, rhodamine phalloidin assay, and electron microscopy were used to examine the actin and tubulin cytoskeleton during the development of the chalazal haustorium. During the differentiation stage, numerous longitudinally oriented bundles of microfilaments ran along the axis of transvacuolar strands in haustorium. Microtubules formed intensely fluorescent areas near the nuclear envelope and also formed radial perinuclear microtubule arrays. In the fully differentiated haustorium cell, the actin cytoskeleton formed dense clusters of microfilaments on the chalazal and micropylar poles of the haustorium. Numerous microfilament bundles occurred near wall ingrowths on the chalazal wall. There were numerous clusters of microfilaments and microtubules around the huge lobed polytenic haustorial nuclei. The microfilaments were oriented longitudinally to the long axis of the haustorium cell and surrounded both nuclei. The microtubules formed radial perinuclear systems which were appeared to radiate from the surface of the nuclear envelope. The early stage of degeneration of the chalazal haustorium was accompanied by the degradation of microtubules and disruption of the parallel orientation of microtubules in the chalazal area of the cell. The degree of vacuolization increased, autophagous vacuoles appeared and the number of vesicles decreased.     

Role of cytoskeleton in cell shaping of developing mesophyll of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

The effects of oryzalin and cytochalasin B (CB) on microtubule and actin microfilament arrays and on cell shaping were investigated in developing wheat mesophyll. Excised immature leaf sections capable of differentiating were incubated with the drugs. The behavior of the cytoskeleton was monitored by fluorescence microscopy after labeling with fluorescent dyes. Brief incubation with oryzalin (40 min, 10 microM) caused disassembly of microtubules. Recovery of microtubule arrays was comparatively slow after removal of the drug. Cells failed to establish transverse cortical bands of microtubules and transverse hoops of wall reinforcement. They expanded isodiametrically rather than longitudinally without forming lobes typical of wheat mesophyll cells. Brief treatment with CB (60 min, 20 micrograms ml-1) appeared to disrupt the microfilament arrays. Filaments recovered rapidly after removal of CB, and cells were able to shape in an apparently normal fashion. Continuous incubation at comparatively low concentration of CB (4 micrograms ml-1) appeared to cause selective loss of the fine transverse cortical microfilament arrays. Cortical transverse microtubule arrays persisted, but failed to form distinct bands in the majority of the cells. Cells were able to elongate in an almost normal fashion, but no lobes were formed.     

Cell shaping and microtubules in developing mesophyll of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Summary Differentiated mesophyll cells ofTriticum aestivum (cv. Star) exhibit a lobed outline resembling tube-shaped balloons with almost regularly spaced constrictions. It was shown that these constrictions are probably the result of hoops of wall reinforcements laid down during early stages of cell expansion. It appears that these hoops prevent expansion in the corresponding regions and thus give rise to the peculiar cell shape. The comparatively thin cell walls of the bulges are uniformly reinforced after the lobed shape is established.By using immunofluorescence techniques a change in the pattern of cortical microtubule arrangement was observed which corresponded to the pattern of cell wall deposition. Discrete bands of microtubules were found beneath the sites of hoop reinforcement. These bands disintegrated during late stages of cell expansion with microtubules fanning out into the almost empty regions of the bulges.Abbreviations DMSO dimethyl sulfoxid - EGTA ethylene glycol bis-(-aminoethyl ether) N,N,N,N-tetraacetic acid - FITC fluorescein isothiocyanat - MSB microtubule stabilizing buffer - PBS phosphate buffered saline - PIPES 1,4-piperazine diethanesulfonic acid - PMSF phenylmethyl sulfonylfluoride     

Tip growth in xylogenic suspension cultures ofZinnia elegans L.: Implications for the relationship between cell shape and secondary-cell-wall pattern in tracheary elements

Summary The relationship between cell expansion, cortical microtubule orientation, and patterned secondary-cell-wall deposition was investigated in xylogenic cell suspension cultures ofZinnia elegans L. The direction of cell expansion in these cultures is pH dependent; cells elongate at pH 5.5–6.0, but expand isodiametrically at pH 6.5–7.0. Contrary to our expectations, indirect immunofluorescence revealed that cortical microtubules are oriented parallel to the long axis in elongating cells. Pulse labeling of the walls of isolated cells with the fluorochrome Tinopal LPW demonstrated that xylogenic Zinnia mesophyll cells elongate by tip growth in culture. These results confirm that cortical microtubules in developing tracheary elements reorient before bundling to form transverse cortical microtubule bands. This rearrangement may allow the secondary cell wall pattern to conform to cell shape, independent of the direction in which the cell was expanding prior to reorientation.Abbreviations CMT cortical microtubules - Mes 2-[N-morpholino]ethanesulfonic acid - TE tracheary element     

Changes in tubulin protein expression accompany reorganization of microtubular arrays during cell shaping in barley leaves

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) leaves grow from the base and thus exhibit a smooth developmental gradient. Developing mesophyll cells acquire their typical lobed shape synchronously along this gradient. Successive changes in the patterns of cortical microtubules are involved in the shaping process. The changes include formation and dispersal of band-like structures, the establishment of a random network and a dramatic loss of microtubules after completion of cell shaping. When the relative tubulin contents were determined in consecutive segments taken along the leaf, two tubulin maxima were found. They coincided with the establishment of the microtubular bands and the random network, respectively. Concomitantly, tubulin populations differing in the abundance of individual isotypes were found. The data indicate that the changes in the patterns of the cortical microtubules were not simply effected by shifting whole, stable microtubules, as may be inferred from immunofluorescence microscopy. Rather it appears that the formation of these patterns were accompanied by, or perhaps a result of, not only microtubule assembly and diassembly cycles, but also tubulin turnover. Received: 15 March 1997 / Accepted: 1 July 1997     

Interrelation between the spatial disposition of actin filaments and microtubules during the differentiation of tracheary elements in culturedZinnia cells

Summary Changes in the spatial relationship between actin filaments and microtubules during the differentiation of tracheary elements (TEs) was investigated by a double staining technique in isolatedZinnia mesophyll cells. Before thickening of the secondary wall began to occur, the actin filaments and microtubules were oriented parallel to the long axis of the cell. Reticulate bundles of microtubules and aggregates of actin filaments emerged beneath the plasma membrane almost simultaneously, immediately before the start of the deposition of the secondary wall. The aggregates of actin filaments were observed exclusively between the microtubule bundles. Subsequently, the aggregates of actin filaments extended preferentially in the direction transverse to the long axis of the cell, and the arrays of bundles of microtubules which were still present between the aggregates of actin filaments became transversely aligned. The deposition of the secondary walls then took place along the transversely aligned bundles of microtubules.Disruption of actin filaments by cytochalasin B produced TEs with longitudinal bands of secondary wall, along which bundles of microtubules were seen, while TEs produced in the absence of cytochalasin B had transverse bands of secondary wall. These results indicate that actin filaments play an important role in the change in the orientation of arrays of microtubules from longitudinal to transverse. Disruption of microtubules by colchicine resulted in dispersal of the regularly arranged aggregates of actin filaments, but did not inhibit the formation of the aggregates itself, suggesting that microtubules are involved in maintaining the arrangement of actin filaments but are not involved in inducing the formation of the regularly arranged aggregates of actin filaments.These findings demonstrate that actin filaments cooperate with microtubules in controlling the site of deposition of the secondary wall in developing TEs.Abbreviations DMSO dimethylsulfoxide - EGTA ethyleneglycolbis(-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N,N-tetraacetic acid - FITC fluorescein isothiocyanate - MSB microtubule-stabilizing buffer - PBS phosphate buffered saline - PIPES piperazine-N,N-bis(2-ethanesulfonic acid) - TE tracheary element     

The Type II Arabidopsis Formin14 Interacts with Microtubules and Microfilaments to Regulate Cell Division

Formins have long been known to regulate microfilaments but have also recently been shown to associate with microtubules. In this study, Arabidopsis thaliana FORMIN14 (AFH14), a type II formin, was found to regulate both microtubule and microfilament arrays. AFH14 expressed in BY-2 cells was shown to decorate preprophase bands, spindles, and phragmoplasts and to induce coalignment of microtubules with microfilaments. These effects perturbed the process of cell division. Localization of AFH14 to microtubule-based structures was confirmed in Arabidopsis suspension cells. Knockdown of AFH14 in mitotic cells altered interactions between microtubules and microfilaments, resulting in the formation of an abnormal mitotic apparatus. In Arabidopsis afh14 T-DNA insertion mutants, microtubule arrays displayed abnormalities during the meiosis-associated process of microspore formation, which corresponded to altered phenotypes during tetrad formation. In vitro biochemical experiments showed that AFH14 bound directly to either microtubules or microfilaments and that the FH2 domain was essential for cytoskeleton binding and bundling. However, in the presence of both microtubules and microfilaments, AFH14 promoted interactions between microtubules and microfilaments. These results demonstrate that AFH14 is a unique plant formin that functions as a linking protein between microtubules and microfilaments and thus plays important roles in the process of plant cell division.     

Microtubules and cell shaping in the mesophyll ofNigella damascena L.

Summary Cell shaping in the mesophyll ofNigella damascena was investigated with the aim of determining the origin of the arm-like protrusions, which are characteristic of, e.g., arm-palisade cells. It was found that hoops of cell wall were deposited during the early stages of cell expansion. The hoops were interconnected, thus embracing the cells with a wide-meshed net of local wall reinforcement. The pattern of wall deposition in the extra-cellular matrix correlated with a pattern of bands of microtubules in the cortical cytoplasm of the cells. During lateral expansion bulges were forced through the comparatively thin walls of spaces between the meshes, giving rise to the arm-like protrusions. After establishing the cell shape the bands of microtubules disintegrated and cell wall was uniformly deposited. The results are discussed in the context of the mode of cell shaping observed in the mesophyll of other systems and of a previous, classical hypothesis on the origin of arms in mesophyll cells.Abbreviations DAPI 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole - EGTA ethylene glycol-bis(-aminoethyl ether) N,N,N,N-tetraacetic acid - FITC fluorescein isothiocyanate - PME phosphate-magnesium-EGTA-buffer     

Root contraction in hyacinth III. Orientation of cortical microtubules visualized by immunofluorescence microscopy

Summary Cortical microtubules (MTs) were visualized in root cortex cells ofHyacinthus orientalis L. using immunofluorescence techniques. Cellular MT orientation was determined adjacent to radial longitudinal and transverse walls of root tip, uncontracted, contracting, and fully contracted regions. As seen in longitudinal views, MTs formed parallel, apparently helical arrays which were oriented transversely, axially or obliquely depending upon the region. Transverse sectional views showed that MTs adjacent to transverse cell walls formed a variety of patterns which varied with developmental stage and cell location. Microtubules were oriented in crisscross or parallel arrays. The parallel arrays were oriented either parallel, perpendicular or oblique to the radius of the root. There was an apparent temporal progression in MT reorientation from outer cortical to inner cortical cell layers. A resultant progression of reoriented cell growth could account for root contraction. These findings corroborate earlier electron microscopic observations of changing MT orientation accompanying root contraction, and provide cytological evidence to test mathematical and biophysical models of the mechanics of cell expansion.Abbreviations MT microtubule - MF microfibril - MTSB microtubule stabilizing buffer - PBS phosphate buffered saline     

The change of pattern in microfibril arrangement on the inner surface of the cell wall of Closterium acerosum during cell growth

Closterium acerosum (Schrank) Ehrenberg cells cultured on cycles of 16 h light and 8 h dark, undergo cell division synchronously in the dark period. After cell division, the symmetry of the daughter semicells is restored by controlled expansion, the time required for this restoration, 3.5–4 h, being relatively constant. The restoration of the symmetry is achieved by highly oriented surface expansion occurring along the entire length of the new semicell. During early semicell expansion, for about 2.5 h, microfibrils are deposited parallel to one another and transversely to the cell axis on the inner surface of the new wall. Wall microtubules running parallel to the transversely oriented microfibrils are observed during this period. About 2.5 h after septum formation, preceding the cessation of cell elongation, bundles of 7–11 microfibrils running in various directions begin to overlay the parallel-arranged microfibrils already deposited. In the fully elongated cells, no wall microtubules are observed.     

Injury toNitella internodal cells alters microtubule organization but microtubules are not involved in the wound response

Summary The arrangement and relative stability of cortical microtubules during and after wound induction in internodal cells ofNitella flexilis andNitella pseudoflabellata were examined by immunofluorescence and by microinjection of fluorescently tagged tubulin. The formation of cellulosic wall appositions (wound walls), induced by treatment with 5×10^–2MCaCl₂, was identicalin young, growing cells and older non-growing internodes, suggesting that the initial microtubule pattern, which differs in growing and non-growing cells, does not influence wound wall formation. Depolymerization of microtubules with oryzalin did not alter wound wall morphology and microtubules were not detected during wound wall formation. After cessation of wound wall growth, microtubules were once again found in the wound site but these were always randomly oriented, even in young cells where the surrounding microtubules were organized into transverse arrays. Microtubules were similarly randomized in chloroplast-free windows induced by laser irradiation. Analysis of microtubule organization in living cells revealed that the microtubules in wound sites are less stable than the microtubules of adjacent transversely oriented arrays. The results indicate that although wounding can alter the relative stability and spatial organization of cortical microtubules, microtubules are neither involved in vesicle transport nor the construction of cellulosic wound walls.Abbreviations AFW artificial fresh water - BSA bovine serum albumin - DMSO dimethyl sulfoxide - FITC fluorescein isothiocyanate - PBS phosphate-buffered saline     

Hypersensitivity to cytoskeletal antagonists demonstrates microtubule-microfilament cross-talk in the control of root elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Elongation of diffusely expanding plant cells is thought to be mainly under the control of cortical microtubules. Drug treatments that disrupt actin microfilaments, however, can reduce elongation and induce radial swelling. To understand how microfilaments assist growth anisotropy, we explored their functional interactions with microtubules by measuring how microtubule disruption affects the sensitivity of cells to microfilament-targeted drugs. We assessed the sensitivity to actin-targeted drugs by measuring the lengths and diameters of expanding roots and by analysing microtubule and microfilament patterns in the temperature-sensitive Arabidopsis thaliana mutant microtubule organization 1 (mor1-1), along with other mutants that constitutively alter microtubule arrays. At the restrictive temperature of mor1-1, root expansion was hypersensitive to the microfilament-disrupting drugs latrunculin B and cytochalasin D, while immunofluorescence microscopy showed that low doses of latrunculin B exacerbated microtubule disruption. Root expansion studies also showed that the botero and spiral1 mutants were hypersensitive to latrunculin B. Hypersensitivity to actin-targeted drugs is a direct consequence of altered microtubule polymer status, demonstrating that cross-talk between microfilaments and microtubules is critical for regulating anisotropic cell expansion.     

Actin-organelle interaction: association with chloroplast in arabidopsis leaf mesophyll cells.

The role of the cytoskeleton in the regulation of chloroplast motility and positioning has been investigated by studying: (1) structural relationship of actin microfilaments, microtubules, and chloroplasts in cryofixed and freeze-substituted leaf cells of Arabidopsis; and (2) the effects of anti-actin (Latrunculin B; LAT-B) and anti-microtubule (Oryzalin) drugs on intracellular distribution of chloroplasts. Immunolabeling of leaf cells with two plant-actin specific antibodies, which react equivalently with all the expressed Arabidopsis actins, revealed two arrangements of actin microfilaments: longitudinal arrays of thick actin bundles and randomly oriented thin actin filaments that extended from the bundles. Chloroplasts were either aligned along the actin bundles or closely associated with the fine filaments. Baskets of actin microfilaments were also observed around the chloroplasts. The leaf cells labeled with an anti-tubulin antibody showed dense transverse arrays of cortical microtubules that exhibited no apparent association with chloroplasts. The application of LAT-B severely disrupted actin filaments and their association with chloroplasts. In addition, LAT-B induced aberrant aggregation of chloroplasts in the mesophyll and bundle sheath cells. Double labeling of LAT-B treated cells with anti-actin and anti-tubulin antibodies revealed that the microtubules in these cells were unaffected. Moreover, depolymerization of microtubules with Oryzalin did not affect the distribution of chloroplasts. These results provide evidence for the involvement of actin, but not tubulin, in the movement and positioning of chloroplasts in leaf cells. We propose that using motor molecules, some chloroplasts migrate along the actin cables directly, while others are pulled along the cables by the fine actin filaments. The baskets of microfilaments may anchor the chloroplasts during streaming and allow control over proper three-dimensional orientation to light.     

Establishing and maintaining axial growth: wall mechanical properties and the cytoskeleton

Organ morphology depends on cell placement and directional cell expansion. Microtubules are involved in both of these processes so genetic approaches to understand the role microtubules play in organ expansion are not straightforward. Our use of the temperature-sensitive mor1-1 mutants led to the surprising discovery that Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. root cells can establish and maintain transverse cellulose texture without well organized microtubule arrays. This work also demonstrated that cells can lose the ability to expand anisotropically without losing transversely oriented cellulose microfibrils. We suggest that microtubule disruption affects the cells ability to generate long cellulose microfibrils, which may be essential for achieving growth anisotropy. Thus organ shape may depend not only on the orientation but also on the relative length of cellulose microfibrils during axis establishment and growth. More recent work has shown an important correlation between microtubule organization and the deposition patterns of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored wall protein COBRA. Loss of microtubule organization is associated with the dissipation of transverse banding patterns of COBRA, suggesting that COBRAs function in maintaining anisotropic expansion may be microtubule-dependent.     

Actin Filaments in Mature Guard Cells Are Radially Distributed and Involved in Stomatal Movement

Stomatal movements, which regulate gas exchange in plants, involve pronounced changes in the shape and volume of the guard cell. To test whether the changes are regulated by actin filaments, we visualized microfilaments in mature guard cells and examined the effects of actin antagonists on stomatal movements. Immunolocalization on fixed cells and microinjection of fluorescein isothiocyanate-phalloidin into living guard cells of Commelina communis L. showed that cortical microfilaments were radially distributed, fanning out from the stomatal pore site, resembling the known pattern of microtubules. Treatment of epidermal peels with phalloidin prior to stabilizing microfilaments with m-maleimidobenzoyl N-hydroxysuccimimide caused dense packing of radial microfilaments and an accumulation of actin around many organelles. Both stomatal closing induced by abscisic acid and opening under light were inhibited. Treatment of guard cells with cytochalasin D abolished the radial pattern of microfilaments; generated sparse, poorly oriented arrays; and caused partial opening of dark-closed stomata. These results suggest that microfilaments participate in stomatal aperture regulation.     

Microtubule rearrangements accompanying dedifferentiation in mesophyll cultures ofZinnia elegans L.

Summary To determine the orientation of cortical microtubule arrays in mesophyll cells ofZinnia, a new technique designed to increase the rate of fixation of excised leaf tissue and subsequent permeabilization of mesophyll cell walls was developed. This procedure resulted in immunolabeling of high percentages of mesophyll cells, making it possible to quantify cells with different types of cortical microtubule arrays. When developing palisade mesophyll cells were fixed in situ, most of the cells had cortical microtubules organized in parallel arrays oriented transverse to the long axis. Delay in the transfer of leaf tissue to fixative resulted in increased numbers of cells with random cortical microtubule orientations, indicating that arrays may become reoriented rapidly during leaf excision and cell isolation procedures. The role of wound-induced microtubule reorientation in mesophyll dedifferentiation and tracheary element development is discussed.Abbreviations BSA bovine serum albumin - CMT cortical microtubule - TE tracheary element - TBS tris-buffered saline     

Cytoskeletal dynamics in living plant cells

Microtubules and microfilaments have been imaged in living plant cells and their dynamic changes recorded during division, growth and development. Carboxyfluorescein labeled brain tubulin has been injected into cells that are maintained in an active state in a culture chamber on the microscope stage. Subsequent imaging with the confocal microscope reveals microtubules in the preprophase band, the mitotic apparatus, the phragmoplast, and the cortical array. The structural changes of these microtubules have been observed during transitional stages. In addition, their dynamic features are demonstrated by depolymerization in elevated calcium, low temperature, and in the drug oryzalin, and by repolymerization when returned to normal conditions. Examination of living Tradescantia stamen hair cells, which have been injected with fluorescent phalloidin to label the actin microfilaments, reveals hitherto undisclosed aspects of the preparation of the division site and dynamics of the phragmoplast cytoskeleton. During prophase microfilaments occur throughout the cell cortex, with those in the region of the preprophase band becoming transversely aligned. At nuclear envelope breakdown, these specifically disassemble, leaving a circumferential zone from which microfilaments remain absent throughout division. During cytokinesis microfilaments arise within the phragmoplast, oriented parallel to the microtubules, but excluded from the zone where the MTs overlap and where cell plate vesicles aggregate. The phragmoplast microfilaments, in a manner similar to microtubules, shorten in length, expand in girth, and eventually disassemble when the cell plate is complete.     

Cortical microtubules mark the mucilage secretion domain of the plasma membrane in Arabidopsis seed coat cells

During their differentiation Arabidopsis thaliana seed coat cells undergo a brief but intense period of secretory activity that leads to dramatic morphological changes. Pectic mucilage is secreted to one domain of the plasma membrane and accumulates under the primary cell wall in a ring-shaped moat around an anticlinal cytoplasmic column. Using cryofixation/transmission electron microscopy and immunofluorescence, the cytoskeletal architecture of seed coat cells was explored, with emphasis on its organization, function and the large amount of pectin secretion at 7 days post-anthesis. The specific domain of the plasma membrane where mucilage secretion is targeted was lined by abundant cortical microtubules while the rest of the cortical cytoplasm contained few microtubules. Actin microfilaments, in contrast, were evenly distributed around the cell. Disruption of the microtubules in the temperature-sensitive mor1-1 mutant affected the eventual release of mucilage from mature seeds but did not appear to alter the targeted secretion of vesicles to the mucilage pocket, the shape of seed coat cells or their secondary cell wall deposition. The concentration of cortical microtubules at the site of high vesicle secretion in the seed coat may utilize the same mechanisms required for the formation of preprophase bands or the bands of microtubules associated with spiral secondary cell wall thickening during protoxylem development.     

Microtubules spatial alterations in root cells of Brassica rapa under clinorotation

Organization of tubulin cytoskeleton in epidermis and cortex cells in different root growth zones in Brassica rapa L. 6-day-old seedlings under clinorotation has been investigated. It was shown that changes in cortical microtubules orientation occur only in the distal elongation zone. In control, cortical microtubule arrays oriented transversely to the root long axis. Whereas under clinorotation an appearance of shorter randomly organized cortical microtubules was observed. Simultaneously, a significant decrease in a cell length in the central elongation zone under clinorotation was revealed. It is suggested that the decline of anisotropic growth, typical for central elongation zone cells, is connected with cortical microtubules disorientation under clinorotation.     

Microtubular organization in flat epitheloid and stellate process-bearing astrocytes in culture

Microtubules and microfilament patterns in cultured astrocytes were revealed by using indirect immunofluorescent microscopy in conjunction with anti-tubulin immune serum and anti-actin immunoglobulins respectively. In flat epitheloid astroglial cells (either polygonal or elongated) colchicine-sensitive immunofluorescent fibres, which correspond to bundles of microtubules, extend from the perinuclear cytoplasm into the cell periphery by running for long distances through the different focal planes. These patterns of organization differ markedly from the patterns of organization of microfilaments which are arranged in fibres parallel to each other and often oriented along the cell boundary. In response to the combined treatments of serum withdrawal and administration of dBcAMP, flat epitheloid astrocytes adopt a morphology similar to that of the mature astrocytes in situ in the CNS, that is of stellate process-bearing cells. This is prevented or is reverted by the administration of colchicine at the appropriate times. There are strong suggestions indicating that during cell processes formation the microtubular network is reorganized and microtubules assembled into dense bundles which are oriented along the axis of the cell processes. In view of these results, we suggest that, in contrast to microfilaments, microtubules are not determinant for the maintenance of cellular shape in elongated or polygonal flat epitheloid astroglial cells but they are required for both the formation and maintenance of processes in stellate astrocytes.