Publication Date:
2011-03-19
Description:
Elevations in cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](cyt)) constitute a fundamental signal transduction mechanism in eukaryotic cells, but the molecular identity of Ca(2+) channels initiating this signal in plants is still under debate. Here, we show by pharmacology and loss-of-function mutants that in tobacco and Arabidopsis, glutamate receptor-like channels (GLRs) facilitate Ca(2+) influx across the plasma membrane, modulate apical [Ca(2+)](cyt) gradient, and consequently affect pollen tube growth and morphogenesis. Additionally, wild-type pollen tubes grown in pistils of knock-out mutants for serine-racemase (SR1) displayed growth defects consistent with a decrease in GLR activity. Our findings reveal a novel plant signaling mechanism between male gametophyte and pistil tissue similar to amino acid-mediated communication commonly observed in animal nervous systems.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Michard, Erwan -- Lima, Pedro T -- Borges, Filipe -- Silva, Ana Catarina -- Portes, Maria Teresa -- Carvalho, Joao E -- Gilliham, Matthew -- Liu, Lai-Hua -- Obermeyer, Gerhard -- Feijo, Jose A -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2011 Apr 22;332(6028):434-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1201101. Epub 2011 Mar 17.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, Rua da Quinta Grande, 6, P-2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21415319" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione/pharmacology
;
Arabidopsis/genetics/metabolism
;
Calcium/*metabolism
;
Calcium Channels/genetics/*metabolism
;
Calcium Signaling
;
Cell Membrane/metabolism
;
Cytosol/metabolism
;
Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists/pharmacology
;
Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists/pharmacology
;
Flowers/genetics/*metabolism
;
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
;
Genes, Plant/*genetics
;
Glycine/pharmacology
;
Morphogenesis/drug effects
;
Patch-Clamp Techniques
;
Plants, Genetically Modified
;
Pollen Tube/drug effects/growth & development/*metabolism
;
Racemases and Epimerases/genetics/metabolism
;
Receptors, Glutamate/*genetics/metabolism
;
Serine/*metabolism/pharmacology
;
Tobacco/genetics/metabolism
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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