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Science (New York, N.Y.) Sep 2018Animals require rapid, long-range molecular signaling networks to integrate sensing and response throughout their bodies. The amino acid glutamate acts as an excitatory...
Animals require rapid, long-range molecular signaling networks to integrate sensing and response throughout their bodies. The amino acid glutamate acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate central nervous system, facilitating long-range information exchange via activation of glutamate receptor channels. Similarly, plants sense local signals, such as herbivore attack, and transmit this information throughout the plant body to rapidly activate defense responses in undamaged parts. Here we show that glutamate is a wound signal in plants. Ion channels of the family act as sensors that convert this signal into an increase in intracellular calcium ion concentration that propagates to distant organs, where defense responses are then induced.
Topics: Animals; Calcium; Calcium Signaling; Glutamic Acid; Herbivory; Phloem; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plasmodesmata; Receptors, Glutamate
PubMed: 30213912
DOI: 10.1126/science.aat7744 -
The Plant Cell Sep 2023Emerging evidence indicates that in addition to its well-recognized functions in antiviral RNA silencing, dsRNA elicits pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), likely...
Emerging evidence indicates that in addition to its well-recognized functions in antiviral RNA silencing, dsRNA elicits pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), likely contributing to plant resistance against virus infections. However, compared to bacterial and fungal elicitor-mediated PTI, the mode-of-action and signaling pathway of dsRNA-induced defense remain poorly characterized. Here, using multicolor in vivo imaging, analysis of GFP mobility, callose staining, and plasmodesmal marker lines in Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana, we show that dsRNA-induced PTI restricts the progression of virus infection by triggering callose deposition at plasmodesmata, thereby likely limiting the macromolecular transport through these cell-to-cell communication channels. The plasma membrane-resident SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE 1, the BOTRYTIS INDUCED KINASE1/AVRPPHB SUSCEPTIBLE1-LIKE KINASE1 kinase module, PLASMODESMATA-LOCATED PROTEINs 1/2/3, as well as CALMODULIN-LIKE 41 and Ca2+ signals are involved in the dsRNA-induced signaling leading to callose deposition at plasmodesmata and antiviral defense. Unlike the classical bacterial elicitor flagellin, dsRNA does not trigger a detectable reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst, substantiating the idea that different microbial patterns trigger partially shared immune signaling frameworks with distinct features. Likely as a counter strategy, viral movement proteins from different viruses suppress the dsRNA-induced host response leading to callose deposition to achieve infection. Thus, our data support a model in which plant immune signaling constrains virus movement by inducing callose deposition at plasmodesmata and reveals how viruses counteract this layer of immunity.
PubMed: 37378592
DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koad176 -
Journal of Cell Science Jun 2018Plasmodesmata are cytoplasmic communication channels that are vital for the physiology and development of all plants. They facilitate the intercellular movement of... (Review)
Review
Plasmodesmata are cytoplasmic communication channels that are vital for the physiology and development of all plants. They facilitate the intercellular movement of various cargos - ranging from small molecules, such as sugars, ions and other essential nutrients and chemicals, to large complex molecules, such as proteins and different types of RNA species - by bridging neighboring cells across their cell walls. Structurally, an individual channel consists of the cytoplasmic sleeve that is formed between the endoplasmic reticulum and the plasma membrane leaflets. Plasmodesmata are highly versatile channels; they vary in number and structure, and undergo constant adjustments to their permeability in response to many internal and external cues. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and accompanying poster, we provide an overview of plasmodesmata form and function, with highlights on their development and variation, associated components and mobile factors. In addition, we present methodologies that are currently used to study plasmodesmata-mediated intercellular communication.
Topics: Animals; Cell Communication; Plant Cells; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plant Proteins; Plasmodesmata
PubMed: 29880547
DOI: 10.1242/jcs.209346 -
The New Phytologist Apr 2024
Topics: Cell Communication; Plant Proteins; Plasmodesmata
PubMed: 38363008
DOI: 10.1111/nph.19610 -
The New Phytologist Sep 2022
PubMed: 35979686
DOI: 10.1111/nph.18346 -
Annual Review of Plant Biology Apr 2019A fascinating feature of plant growth and development is that plants initiate organs continually throughout their lifespan. The ability to do this relies on specialized... (Review)
Review
A fascinating feature of plant growth and development is that plants initiate organs continually throughout their lifespan. The ability to do this relies on specialized groups of pluripotent stem cells termed meristems, which allow for the elaboration of the shoot, root, and vascular systems. We now have a deep understanding of the genetic networks that control meristem initiation and stem cell maintenance, including the roles of receptors and their ligands, transcription factors, and integrated hormonal and chromatin control. This review describes these networks and discusses how this knowledge is being applied to improve crop productivity by increasing fruit size and seed number.
Topics: Arabidopsis Proteins; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Meristem; Plant Development; Plant Shoots; Plants; Transcription Factors
PubMed: 31035828
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040549 -
Molecular Plant-microbe Interactions :... Feb 2022Being sessile, plants are continuously challenged by changes in their surrounding environment and must survive and defend themselves against a multitude of pathogens.... (Review)
Review
Being sessile, plants are continuously challenged by changes in their surrounding environment and must survive and defend themselves against a multitude of pathogens. Plants have evolved a mode for pathogen recognition that activates signaling cascades such as reactive oxygen species, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and Ca pathways, in coordination with hormone signaling, to execute the defense response at the local and systemic levels. Phytopathogens have evolved to manipulate cellular and hormonal signaling and exploit hosts' cell-to-cell connections in many ways at multiple levels. Overall, triumph over pathogens depends on how efficiently the pathogens are recognized and how rapidly the plant response is initiated through efficient intercellular communication via apoplastic and symplastic routes. Here, we review how intercellular communication in plants is mediated, manipulated, and maneuvered during plant-pathogen interaction.[Formula: see text] The author(s) have dedicated the work to the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 "No Rights Reserved" license by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law, 2022.
Topics: Cell Communication; Plants
PubMed: 34664986
DOI: 10.1094/MPMI-09-21-0221-CR -
Journal of Experimental Botany Nov 2018In plants, communication and molecular exchanges between different cells and tissues are dependent on the apoplastic and symplastic pathways. Symplastic molecular... (Review)
Review
In plants, communication and molecular exchanges between different cells and tissues are dependent on the apoplastic and symplastic pathways. Symplastic molecular exchanges take place through the plasmodesmata, which connect the cytoplasm of neighboring cells in a highly controlled manner. Callose, a β-1,3-glucan polysaccharide, is a plasmodesmal marker molecule that is deposited in cell walls near the neck zone of plasmodesmata and controls their permeability. During cell differentiation and plant development, and in response to diverse stresses, the level of callose in plasmodesmata is highly regulated by two antagonistic enzymes, callose synthase or glucan synthase-like and β-1,3-glucanase. The diverse modes of regulation by callose synthase and β-1,3-glucanase have been uncovered in the past decades through biochemical, molecular, genetic, and omics methods. This review highlights recent findings regarding the function of plasmodesmal callose and the molecular players involved in callose metabolism, and provides new insight into the mechanisms maintaining plasmodesmal callose homeostasis.
Topics: Cell Wall; Glucans; Glucosyltransferases; Homeostasis; Plants; Plasmodesmata
PubMed: 30165704
DOI: 10.1093/jxb/ery317 -
Biochemical Society Transactions Feb 2021It was already suggested in the early '70's that RNA molecules might transfer between mammalian cells in culture. Yet, more direct evidence for RNA transfer in animal... (Review)
Review
It was already suggested in the early '70's that RNA molecules might transfer between mammalian cells in culture. Yet, more direct evidence for RNA transfer in animal and plant cells was only provided decades later, as this field became established. In this mini-review, we will describe evidence for the transfer of different types of RNA between cells through tunneling nanotubes (TNTs). TNTs are long, yet thin, open-ended cellular protrusions that are structurally distinct from filopodia. TNTs connect cells and can transfer many types of cargo, including small molecules, proteins, vesicles, pathogens, and organelles. Recent work has shown that TNTs can also transfer mRNAs, viral RNAs and non-coding RNAs. Here, we will review the evidence for TNT-mediated RNA transfer, discuss the technical challenges in this field, and conjecture about the possible significance of this pathway in health and disease.
Topics: Animals; Cell Communication; Cell Membrane Structures; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Humans; Nanotubes; Organelles; Pseudopodia; RNA; RNA Transport
PubMed: 33367488
DOI: 10.1042/BST20200113 -
Plant Science : An International... Feb 2019Plasmodesmata (PD) allow membrane and cytoplasmic continuity between plant cells, and they are essential for intercellular communication and signaling in addition to... (Review)
Review
Plasmodesmata (PD) allow membrane and cytoplasmic continuity between plant cells, and they are essential for intercellular communication and signaling in addition to metabolite partitioning. Plant pathogens have evolved a variety of mechanisms to subvert PD to facilitate their infection of plant hosts. PD are implicated not only in local spread around infection sites but also in the systemic spread of pathogens and pathogen-derived molecules. In turn, plants have developed strategies to limit pathogen spread via PD, and there is increasing evidence that PD may also be active players in plant defense responses. The last few years have seen important advances in understanding the roles of PD in plant-pathogen infection. Nonetheless, several critical areas remain to be addressed. Here we highlight some of these, focusing on the need to consider the effects of pathogen-PD interaction on the trafficking of endogenous molecules, and the involvement of chloroplasts in regulating PD during pathogen defense. By their very nature, PD are recalcitrant to most currently used investigative techniques, therefore answering these questions will require creative imaging and novel quantification approaches.
Topics: Host-Pathogen Interactions; Plant Immunity; Plants; Plasmodesmata
PubMed: 30709495
DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2018.05.017