Protein S-acyl transferase 4 controls nucleus position during root hair tip growth

Abstract

Protein S-acyl transferases (PATs) play critical roles in plant developmental and environmental responses by catalyzing S-acylation of substrate proteins, most of which are involved in cellular signaling. However, only few plant PATs have been functionally characterized. We recently demonstrated that Arabidopsis PAT4 mediates root hair elongation by positively regulating the membrane association of ROP2 and actin microfilament organization. Here, we show that apex-associated re-positioning of nucleus during root hair elongation was impaired by PAT4 loss-of-function. Results presented here pose a significant question concerning the molecular machinery mediating nuclear migration during root hair growth.

Keywords: Microtubule; nuclear positioning; palmitoylation; root hairs; tip growth.

Figure 1.

Distribution of microtubule and nuclei in wild-type and pat4–2 root hairs. (A-B) CLSM projections of a growing root hair from Pro_35S: GFP-MBD (A) or Pro_35S: GFP-MBD; pat4–2 (B). (C-D) A representative primary root of wild-type (C) or pat4–2 (D) seedlings at 4 d after germination (DAG) stained with DAPI. (E) Distance between nucleus and the apex. (F) Relative distance the nucleus traveled (distance between the nucleus and the root hair base fractionated with root hair length). Results shown in (E) and (F) are means ± standard deviation (n = 30). Asterisks indicate significant difference (t-test, P < 0.05). Bars = 10 μm for (A-B); 100 μm for (C-D).