Isolation of mutants with abnormal petal epidermal cell morphology

Cellulose assembles into helical bundles of uniform handedness in cell walls with abnormal pectin composition

Plant cells and organs grow into a remarkable diversity of shapes, as directed by cell walls composed primarily of polysaccharides such as cellulose and multiple structurally distinct pectins. The properties of the cell wall that allow for precise control of morphogenesis are distinct from those of the individual polysaccharide components. For example, cellulose, the primary determinant of cell morphology, is a chiral macromolecule that can self-assemble in vitro into larger-scale structures of consistent chirality, and yet most plant cells do not display consistent chirality in their growth. One interesting exception is the Arabidopsis thaliana rhm1 mutant, which has decreased levels of the pectin rhamnogalacturonan-I and causes conical petal epidermal cells to grow with a left-handed helical twist. Here, we show that in rhm1 the cellulose is bundled into large macrofibrils, unlike the evenly distributed microfibrils of the wild type. This cellulose bundling becomes increasingly severe over time, consistent with cellulose being synthesized normally and then self-associating into macrofibrils. We also show that in the wild type, cellulose is oriented transversely, whereas in rhm1 mutants, the cellulose forms right-handed helices that can account for the helical morphology of the petal cells. Our results indicate that when the composition of pectin is altered, cellulose can form cellular-scale chiral structures in vivo, analogous to the helicoids formed in vitro by cellulose nano-crystals. We propose that an important emergent property of the interplay between rhamnogalacturonan-I and cellulose is to permit the assembly of nonbundled cellulose structures, providing plants flexibility to orient cellulose and direct morphogenesis.

Methods to Visualize and Quantify Cortical Microtubule Arrays in Arabidopsis Conical Cells

Many studies from different model organisms have demonstrated that microtubules are essential for various cellular processes, including cell division, cell morphogenesis, and intracellular trafficking. In interphase plant cells, oriented cortical microtubule arrays are highly characteristic in cells that display various morphologies, such as elongated hypocotyl cells and root cells, jigsaw-puzzled leaf pavement cells, and petal epidermal conical cells. Conical cells represent a specialized epidermal cell type found in the petal epidermis of many flowering plants. It has been suggested that in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the petal adaxial epidermal cells develop from a roughly hemispherical morphology to a conical shape, correlating with the reorientation of cortical microtubules from random to well-ordered circumferential arrays. This chapter presents an overview of the methods available to visualize the microtubule cytoskeleton in living conical cells via confocal microscopy.

PP2A interacts with KATANIN to promote microtubule organization and conical cell morphogenesis

The organization of the microtubule cytoskeleton is critical for cell and organ morphogenesis. The evolutionarily conserved microtubule-severing enzyme KATANIN plays critical roles in microtubule organization in the plant and animal kingdoms. We previously used conical cell of Arabidopsis thaliana petals as a model system to investigate cortical microtubule organization and cell morphogenesis and determined that KATANIN promotes the formation of circumferential cortical microtubule arrays in conical cells. Here, we demonstrate that the conserved protein phosphatase PP2A interacts with and dephosphorylates KATANIN to promote the formation of circumferential cortical microtubule arrays in conical cells. KATANIN undergoes cycles of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. Using co-immunoprecipitation coupled with mass spectrometry, we identified PP2A subunits as KATANIN-interacting proteins. Further biochemical studies showed that PP2A interacts with and dephosphorylates KATANIN to stabilize its cellular abundance. Similar to the katanin mutant, mutants for genes encoding PP2A subunits showed disordered cortical microtubule arrays and defective conical cell shape. Taken together, these findings identify PP2A as a regulator of conical cell shape and suggest that PP2A mediates KATANIN phospho-regulation during plant cell morphogenesis.

Live imaging of microtubules in petal conical cells

The microtubule cytoskeleton plays an important role in cell shape and plant development. During the past decades, the ability to use confocal microcopy to observe microtubules in living cells using fluorescent protein fusions has given plant scientists the opportunity to answer outstanding biological questions. Plants contain diverse epidermal cells with distinct morphologies and physiological functions. For example, flowering plants have specialized petal conical cells that likely facilitate functions such as providing grips for bee pollinators. Here, we summarize recent progress on live imaging of the microtubule cytoskeleton in conical cells. Firstly, we present a simple method for live-cell confocal imaging of conical cells, which is suitable for the quantification of the cell geometry. Secondly, we describe a method for observing microtubule organization in conical cells of Arabidopsis thaliana expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged α-tubulin 6 (GFP-TUA6). These live imaging approaches are likely to lead to rapid advances in our knowledge of the role of microtubules in conical cell shaping.

Cortical Microtubule Organization during Petal Morphogenesis in Arabidopsis

Cortical microtubules guide the direction and deposition of cellulose microfibrils to build the cell wall, which in turn influences cell expansion and plant morphogenesis. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), petal is a relatively simple organ that contains distinct epidermal cells, such as specialized conical cells in the adaxial epidermis and relatively flat cells with several lobes in the abaxial epidermis. In the past two decades, the Arabidopsis petal has become a model experimental system for studying cell expansion and organ morphogenesis, because petals are dispensable for plant growth and reproduction. Recent advances have expanded the role of microtubule organization in modulating petal anisotropic shape formation and conical cell shaping during petal morphogenesis. Here, we summarize recent studies showing that in Arabidopsis, several genes, such as SPIKE1, Rho of plant (ROP) GTPases, and IPGA1, play critical roles in microtubule organization and cell expansion in the abaxial epidermis during petal morphogenesis. Moreover, we summarize the live-confocal imaging studies of Arabidopsis conical cells in the adaxial epidermis, which have emerged as a new cellular model. We discuss the microtubule organization pattern during conical cell shaping. Finally, we propose future directions regarding the study of petal morphogenesis and conical cell shaping.