Tip Growth (tip + growth)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


The Actin Cytoskeleton and Signaling Network during Pollen Tube Tip Growth

JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE PLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
Ying Fu
The organization and dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton play key roles in many aspects of plant cell development. The actin cytoskeleton responds to internal developmental cues and environmental signals and is involved in cell division, subcellular organelle movement, cell polarity and polar cell growth. The tip-growing pollen tubes provide an ideal model system to investigate fundamental mechanisms of underlying polarized cell growth. In this system, most signaling cascades required for tip growth, such as Ca2+ -, small GTPases- and lipid-mediated signaling have been found to be involved in transmitting signals to a large group of actin-binding proteins. These actin-binding proteins subsequently regulate the structure of the actin network, as well as the rapid turnover of actin filaments (F-actin), thereby eventually controlling tip growth. The actin cytoskeleton acts as an integrator in which multiple signaling pathways converge, providing a general growth and regulatory mechanism that applies not only for tip growth but also for polarized diffuse growth in plants. [source]


Expression of MsPG3-GFP fusions in Medicago truncatula,hairy roots' reveals preferential tip localization of the protein in root hairs

FEBS JOURNAL, Issue 2 2003
Ignacio D. Rodríguez-Llorente
Tip growth is a specialized type of polar growth where new cell wall is deposited in a localized region of the cell, the growing tip. These cells show a characteristic zonation, with a high accumulation of secretory vesicles containing cell wall components at the tip, followed by an organelle-enriched zone. MsPG3 is a Medicago sativa polygalacturonase gene isolated in our laboratory, specifically expressed during the interaction of this plant with its symbiotic partner Sinorhizobium meliloti and which might participate in tip growth processes during symbiosis. We have used MsPG3-GFP fusions to study in vivo protein transport processes and localization during root hair growth. Different MsPG3-GFP fusions were expressed in Medicago truncatula,hairy roots' following a protocol developed for this study and also tested by transient expression in onion epidermal cells. Preferential accumulation of an MsPG3-GFP fusion protein in the tip of the growing root hair at different developmental stages was found, confirming the delivery of MsPG3 to the newly synthesized cell wall. This indicates that this protein may participate in tip growth processes during symbiosis and, in addition, that this fusion could be a useful tool to study this process in plants. [source]


Investigations of the Morphogenesis of Filamentous Microorganisms,

ENGINEERING IN LIFE SCIENCES (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2006
S. Kelly
Abstract Several biotechnological production processes are based on the cultivation of filamentous microorganisms like the fungus Aspergillus niger. The morphological development plays an important role for transport phenomena and the related productivity. The description of filamentous morphogenesis of A. niger as a model organism, given here, is structured in three morphological growth processes, a very fast conidial aggregation, followed by a second slower aggregation step promoted by germination and hyphal tip growth, and the growth of pellets as the last process. [source]


The Actin Cytoskeleton and Signaling Network during Pollen Tube Tip Growth

JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE PLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
Ying Fu
The organization and dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton play key roles in many aspects of plant cell development. The actin cytoskeleton responds to internal developmental cues and environmental signals and is involved in cell division, subcellular organelle movement, cell polarity and polar cell growth. The tip-growing pollen tubes provide an ideal model system to investigate fundamental mechanisms of underlying polarized cell growth. In this system, most signaling cascades required for tip growth, such as Ca2+ -, small GTPases- and lipid-mediated signaling have been found to be involved in transmitting signals to a large group of actin-binding proteins. These actin-binding proteins subsequently regulate the structure of the actin network, as well as the rapid turnover of actin filaments (F-actin), thereby eventually controlling tip growth. The actin cytoskeleton acts as an integrator in which multiple signaling pathways converge, providing a general growth and regulatory mechanism that applies not only for tip growth but also for polarized diffuse growth in plants. [source]


Phototropism of Thalli and Rhizoids Developed from the Thallus Segments of Bryopsis hypnoides Lamouroux

JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE PLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2006
Nai-Hao Ye
Abstract Newly regenerated thalli were used to study the phototropism of Bryopsis hypnoides Lamouroux under different qualities of light. Positive phototropism in the thalli and negative phototropism in the rhizoids of B. hypnoides were investigated and analyzed in terms of bending. Both thalli and rhizoids developed from thallus segments exhibited typical tip growth, and their photoreceptive sites for phototropism were also restricted to the apical hemisphere. The bending curvature of rhizoids and thalli were determined with unilateral lights at various wavelengths and different fluence rates after a fixed duration of illumination. The trends of bending from the rhizoid and thallus were coincident, which showed that the action spectrum had a large range, from ultraviolet radiation (366.5 nm) to green light (524 nm). Based on the bending curvatures, blue light had the highest efficiency, while the efficiency of longer wavelengths (>500 nm) was significantly lower. External Ca2+ had no effect on the bending curvature of thalli and rhizoids. Blue light (440 nm) induced thallus branching from rhizoids, while red light (650 nm) had no such effect. Fast-occurring chloroplast accumulation in the outermost cytoplasmic layer of the blue light (440 nm)-irradiated region in the rhizoid was observed, from which protrusions (new thalli) arose after 4 h of the onset of illumination, and this action was thought to be driven by the dynamics of actin microfilaments. (Managing editor: Wei Wang) [source]


Identification of hyperpolarization-activated calcium channels in apical pollen tubes of Pyrus pyrifolia

NEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 3 2007
Hai-Yong Qu
Summary ,,The pollen tube has been widely used to study the mechanisms underlying polarized tip growth in plants. A steep tip-to-base gradient of free cytosolic calcium ([Ca2+]cyt) is essential for pollen-tube growth. Local Ca2+ influx mediated by Ca2+ -permeable channels plays a key role in maintaining this [Ca2+]cyt gradient. ,,Here, we developed a protocol for successful isolation of spheroplasts from pollen tubes of Pyrus pyrifolia and identified a hyperpolarization-activated cation channel using the patch-clamp technique. ,,We showed that the cation channel conductance displayed a strong selectivity for divalent cations, with a relative permeability sequence of barium (Ba2+) , Ca2+ > magnesium (Mg2+) > strontium (Sr2+) > manganese (Mn2+). This channel conductance was selective for Ca2+ over chlorine (Cl,) (relative permeability PCa/PCl = 14 in 10 mm extracellular Ca2+). We also showed that the channel was inhibited by the Ca2+ channel blockers lanthanum (La3+) and gadolinium (Gd3+). Furthermore, channel activity depended on extracellular pH and pollen viability. ,,We propose that the Ca2+ -permeable channel is likely to play a role in mediating Ca2+ influx into the growing pollen tubes to maintain the [Ca2+]cyt gradient. [source]


Differential display proteomic analysis of Picea meyeri pollen germination and pollen-tube growth after inhibition of actin polymerization by latrunculin B

THE PLANT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2006
Yanmei Chen
Summary To investigate roles of the actin cytoskeleton in growth of the pollen tube of Picea meyeri, we used the actin polymerization inhibitor latrunculin B (LATB) under quantitatively controlled conditions. At low concentrations, LATB inhibited polymerization of the actin cytoskeleton in the growing pollen tube, which rapidly inhibited tip growth. The proteomic approach was used to analyse protein expression-profile changes during pollen germination and subsequent pollen-tube development with disturbed organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Two-dimensional electrophoresis and staining with Coomassie Brilliant Blue revealed nearly 600 protein spots. A total of 84 of these were differentially displayed at different hours with varying doses of LATB, and 53 upregulated or downregulated proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. These proteins were grouped into distinct functional categories including signalling, actin cytoskeleton organization, cell expansion and carbohydrate metabolism. Moreover, actin disruption affected the morphology of Golgi stacks, mitochondria and amyloplasts, along with a differential expression of proteins involved in their functions. These findings provide new insights into the multifaceted mechanism of actin cytoskeleton functions and its interaction with signalling, cell-expansion machinery and energy-providing pathways. [source]