Targeted Gene Knockouts Reveal Overlapping Functions of the Five Physcomitrella patens FtsZ Isoforms in Chloroplast Division,Chloroplast Shaping,Cell Patterning,Plant Development,and Gravity Sensing

Chloroplasts and bacterial cells divide by binary fission. The key protein in this constriction division is FtsZ, a self-assembling GTPase similar to eukaryotic tubulin. In prokaryotes, FtsZ is almost always encoded by a single gene, whereas plants harbor several nuclear-encoded FtsZ homologs. In seed plants, these proteins group in two families and all are exclusively imported into plastids. In contrast, the basal land plant Physcomitrella patens, a moss, encodes a third FtsZ family with one member. This protein is dually targeted to the plastids and to the cytosol. Here, we report on the targeted gene disruption of all ftsZ genes in R patens. Subsequent analysis of single and double knockout mutants revealed a complex interaction of the different FtsZ isoforms not only in plastid division, but also in chloroplast shaping, cell patterning, plant development, and gravity sensing. These results support the concept of a plastoskeleton and its functional integration into the cytoskeleton, at least in the moss R patens.     

Visualization of a cytoskeleton-like FtsZ network in chloroplasts

It has been a long-standing dogma in life sciences that only eukaryotic organisms possess a cytoskeleton. Recently, this belief was questioned by the finding that the bacterial cell division protein FtsZ resembles tubulin in sequence and structure and, thus, may be the progenitor of this major eukaryotic cytoskeletal element. Here, we report two nuclear-encoded plant ftsZ genes which are highly conserved in coding sequence and intron structure. Both their encoded proteins are imported into plastids and there, like in bacteria, they act on the division process in a dose-dependent manner. Whereas in bacteria FtsZ only transiently polymerizes to a ring-like structure, in chloroplasts we identified persistent, highly organized filamentous scaffolds that are most likely involved in the maintenance of plastid integrity and in plastid division. As these networks resemble the eukaryotic cytoskeleton in form and function, we suggest the term "plastoskeleton" for this newly described subcellular structure.     

烟草质体分裂相关基因NtFtsZ1和NtFtsZ2对叶绿体分裂和形态的影响

质体作为植物细胞中一类重要的细胞器,控制其分裂的分子机制一直都不清楚。最近的研究表明,植物细胞中与原核细胞分裂基因fisZ类似的同源基因控制着质体的分裂过程。通过正反义转化分析了两个烟草的ftsZ基因（NtFtsZ1和NtFtsZ2)在转基因烟草中的功能。二的反义表达并未对转化烟草细胞中叶绿体的分裂和形态产生明显影响,但二过表达转化植株中叶绿体的数目和形态都发生了明显的变化,在某些转化植株的叶肉细胞中甚至只有1－2个巨大的叶绿体存在。对不同转化植株的电镜观察和叶绿素含量分析认为,NtFtsZs基因可能对叶绿体的正常发育和功能没有影响,叶绿体形态的变化是对其数目减少的一种补偿。正反义转化植株中叶绿体的不同表型暗示高等植物中同一家族的ftsZ基因可能在控制质体分裂方面具有相同的功能。同时,过表达植株中叶绿体形态的变化被认为是高等植物的FtsZ质体骨架功能的体现。     

烟草质体分裂相关基因NtFtsZ1和NtFtsZ2对叶绿体分裂和形态的影响

质体作为植物细胞中一类重要的细胞器,控制其分裂的分子机制一直都不清楚.最近的研究表明,植物细胞中与原核细胞分裂基因ftsZ类似的同源基因控制着质体的分裂过程.通过正反义转化分析了两个烟草的ftsZ基因(NtFtsZ1和NtFtsZ2)在转基因烟草中的功能.二者的反义表达并未对转化烟草细胞中叶绿体的分裂和形态产生明显影响,但二者过表达转化植株中叶绿体的数目和形态都发生了明显的变化,在某些转化植株的叶肉细胞中甚至只有1～2个巨大的叶绿体存在.对不同转化植株的电镜观察和叶绿素含量分析认为,NtFtsZs基因可能对叶绿体的正常发育和功能没有影响,叶绿体形态的变化是对其数目减少的一种补偿.正反义转化植株中叶绿体的不同表型暗示高等植物中同一家族的ftsZ基因可能在控制质体分裂方面具有相同的功能.同时,过表达植株中叶绿体形态的变化被认为是高等植物FtsZ质体骨架功能的体现.     

A uniquely high number of ftsZ genes in the moss Physcomitrella patens

Plant FtsZ proteins are encoded by two small nuclear gene families (FtsZ1 and FtsZ2) and are involved in chloroplast division. From the moss Physcomitrella patens , four FtsZ proteins, two in each nuclear gene family, have been characterised and described so far. In the recently sequenced P. patens genome, we have now found a fifth fts Z gene. This novel gene has a genomic structure similar to Pp fts Z1-1. According to phylogenetic analysis, the encoded protein is a member of the FtsZ1 family, while PpFtsZ1-2, together with an orthologue from Selaginella moellendorffii , forms a separate clade. Further, this new gene is expressed in different gametophytic tissues and the encoded protein forms filamentous networks in chloroplasts, is found in stromules, and acts in plastid division. Based on all these results, we have renamed the PpFtsZ proteins of family 1 and suggest the existence of a third FtsZ family. No species is known to encode more FtsZ proteins per haploid genome than P. patens .