Mineral nutrition is one of the key environmental factors determining plant development and growth. Nitrate is the major form of macronutrient nitrogen that plants take up from the soil. Fluctuating availability or deficiency of this element severely limits plant growth and negatively affects crop production in the agricultural system. To cope with the heterogeneity of nitrate distribution in soil, plants evolved a complex regulatory mechanism that allows rapid adjustment of physiological and developmental processes to the status of this nutrient. The root, as a major exploitation organ that controls the uptake of nitrate to the plant body, acts as a regulatory hub that, according to nitrate availability, coordinates the growth and development of other plant organs. Here, we identified a regulatory framework, where cytokinin response factors (CRFs) play a central role as a molecular readout of the nitrate status in roots to guide shoot adaptive developmental response. We show that nitrate-driven activation of NLP7, a master regulator of nitrate response in plants, fine tunes biosynthesis of cytokinin in roots and its translocation to shoots where it enhances expression of CRFs. CRFs, through direct transcriptional regulation of PIN auxin transporters, promote the flow of auxin and thereby stimulate the development of shoot organs.
- Klíčová slova
- macronutrient, nitrate, plant development,
- MeSH
- cytokininy metabolismus MeSH
- dusičnany * metabolismus MeSH
- kořeny rostlin metabolismus MeSH
- kyseliny indoloctové * metabolismus MeSH
- půda MeSH
- regulace genové exprese u rostlin MeSH
- signální transdukce MeSH
- výhonky rostlin MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Názvy látek
- cytokininy MeSH
- dusičnany * MeSH
- kyseliny indoloctové * MeSH
- půda MeSH
Cell production and differentiation for the acquisition of specific functions are key features of living systems. The dynamic network of cellular microtubules provides the necessary platform to accommodate processes associated with the transition of cells through the individual phases of cytogenesis. Here, we show that the plant hormone cytokinin fine-tunes the activity of the microtubular cytoskeleton during cell differentiation and counteracts microtubular rearrangements driven by the hormone auxin. The endogenous upward gradient of cytokinin activity along the longitudinal growth axis in Arabidopsis thaliana roots correlates with robust rearrangements of the microtubule cytoskeleton in epidermal cells progressing from the proliferative to the differentiation stage. Controlled increases in cytokinin activity result in premature re-organization of the microtubule network from transversal to an oblique disposition in cells prior to their differentiation, whereas attenuated hormone perception delays cytoskeleton conversion into a configuration typical for differentiated cells. Intriguingly, cytokinin can interfere with microtubules also in animal cells, such as leukocytes, suggesting that a cytokinin-sensitive control pathway for the microtubular cytoskeleton may be at least partially conserved between plant and animal cells.
- Klíčová slova
- cell differentiation, cytokinin, cytoskeleton, microtubules, microtubules dynamics,
- MeSH
- Arabidopsis genetika růst a vývoj MeSH
- buněčná diferenciace * MeSH
- cytokininy genetika metabolismus MeSH
- kořeny rostlin genetika růst a vývoj MeSH
- mikrotubuly genetika metabolismus MeSH
- proliferace buněk * MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Názvy látek
- cytokininy MeSH