New papers from Sprunck, Dresselhaus, Mayer and Braun Labs.
Male-female communication triggers calcium signatures during fertilization in Arabidospsis.
Philipp Denninger, Andrea Bleckmann, Andreas Lausser, Frank Vogler, Thomas Ott, David W. Ehrhardt, Wolf B. Frommer, Stefanie Sprunck, Thomas Dresselhaus and Guido Grossmann.
Cell–cell communication and interaction is critical during fertilization and triggers free cytosolic calcium ([Ca2+]cyto) as a key signal for egg activation and a polyspermy block in animal oocytes. Fertilization in flowering plants is more complex, involving interaction of a pollen tube with egg adjoining synergid cells, culminating in release of two sperm cells and their fusion with the egg and central cell, respectively. Here, we report the occurrence and role of [Ca2+]cyto signals during the entire double fertilization process in Arabidopsis. [Ca2+]cyto oscillations are initiated in synergid cells after physical contact with the pollen tube apex. In egg and central cells, a short [Ca2+]cyto transient is associated with pollen tube burst and sperm cell arrival. A second extended [Ca2+]cyto transient solely in the egg cell is correlated with successful fertilization. Thus, each female cell type involved in double fertilization displays a characteristic [Ca2+]cyto signature differing by timing and behaviour from [Ca2+]cyto waves reported in mammals.
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The beginning of a seed: regulatory mechanisms of double fertilization.
Andrea Bleckmann, Svenja Alter and Thomas Dresselhaus.
The launch of seed development in flowering plants (angiosperms) is initiated by the process of double fertilization: two male gametes (sperm cells) fuse with two female gametes (egg and central cell) to form the precursor cells of the two major seed components, the embryo and endosperm, respectively. The immobile sperm cells are delivered by the pollen tube toward the ovule harboring the female gametophyte by species-specific pollen tube guidance and attraction mechanisms. After pollen tube burst inside the female gametophyte, the two sperm cells fuse with the egg and central cell initiating seed development. The fertilized central cell forms the endosperm while the fertilized egg cell, the zygote, will form the actual embryo and suspensor. The latter structure connects the embryo with the sporophytic maternal tissues of the developing seed. The underlying mechanisms of double fertilization are tightly regulated to ensure delivery of functional sperm cells and the formation of both, a functional zygote and endosperm. In this review we will discuss the current state of knowledge about the processes of directed pollen tube growth and its communication with the synergid cells resulting in pollen tube burst, the interaction of the four gametes leading to cell fusion and finally discuss mechanisms how flowering plants prevent multiple sperm cell entry (polyspermy) to maximize their reproductive success.
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Genetic analysis of DEK1 Loop function in three-dimensional body patterning in Physcomitrella patens.
Viktor Demko, Pierre-Franois Perroud, Wenche Johansen, Charles F. Delwiche, Endymion D. Cooper, Pal Remme, Ako Eugene Ako, Karl G. Kugler, Klaus F.X. Mayer, Ralph Quatrano and Odd-Arne Olsen.
DEK1 of higher plants plays an essential role in position dependent signaling and consists of a large transmembrane domain (MEM) linked to a protease catalytic domain (CysPc) and a regulatory domain (C2L). Here we show that the postulated sensory Loop of the MEM domain plays an important role in the developmental regulation of DEK1 activity in the moss Physcomitrella patens. Compared with P. patens lacking DEK1 (?dek1), the dek1?loop mutant correctly positions the division plane in the bud apical cell. In contrast to an early developmental arrest of ?dek1 buds, dek1?loop develops aberrant gametophores lacking expanded phyllids resulting from mis-regulation of mitotic activity. In contrast to the highly conserved sequence of the catalytic CysPc domain, the Loop is highly variable in land plants. Functionally, the sequence from Marchantia polymorpha fully complements the dek1?loop phenotype, whereas sequences from Zea mays and Arabidopsis thaliana give phenotypes with retarded growth and affected phyllid development. New bioinformatic analysis identifies MEM as a member of the Major Facilitator Superfamily, membrane transporters reacting to stimuli from the external environment. Transcriptome analysis comparing WT and ?dek1 tissues identifies an effect of two groups of transcripts connected to dek1 mutant phenotypes, i.e. transcripts related to cell wall remodeling and regulation of the APB2 and APB3 transcription factors known to regulate bud initiation. Finally, new sequence data support the hypothesis that the advanced charophyte algae that evolved into ancestral land plants lost cytosolic calpains, retaining DEK1 as the sole calpain in the evolving land plant lineage.
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Convergent targeting of a common host protein-network by pathogen effectors from three kingdoms of life.
Ralf Weßling, Petra Epple, Stefan Altmann, Yijian He, Li Yang, Stefan R. Henz, Nathn McDonald, Kristin Wiley, Kai Christian Bader, Christine Gläßer, M. Shahid Mukhtar, Sabine Haigis, Lila Ghamsari, Amber E. Stephens, Joseph R. Ecker, Marc Vidal, Jonathan D.G. Jones, Klaus F.X. Mayer, Emiel Ver Loren van Themaat, Detlef Weigel, Paul Schulze-Lefert, Jeffery L. Dangl, Ralph Panstruga and Pascal Braun.
While conceptual principles governing plant immunity are becoming clear, its systems-level organization and the evolutionary dynamic of the host-pathogen interface are still obscure. We generated a systematic protein-protein interaction network of virulence effectors from the ascomycete pathogen Golovinomyces orontii and Arabidopsis thaliana host proteins. We combined this data set with corresponding data for the eubacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae and the oomycete pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis. The resulting network identifies host proteins onto which intraspecies and interspecies pathogen effectors converge. Phenotyping of 124 Arabidopsis effector-interactor mutants revealed a correlation between intraspecies and interspecies convergence and several altered immune response phenotypes. Several effectors and the most heavily targeted host protein colocalized in subnuclear foci. Products of adaptively selected Arabidopsis genes are enriched for interactions with effector targets. Our data suggest the existence of a molecular host-pathogen interface that is conserved across Arabidopsis accessions, while evolutionary adaptation occurs in the immediate network neighborhood of effector targets.
