The effect of colchicine on microtubules and microfibrils in root hairs

Interleukin-6 promotes microtubule stability in axons via Stat3 protein-protein interactions

The interleukin-6 (IL-6) family of cytokines and its downstream effector, STAT3, are important mediators of neuronal health, repair, and disease throughout the CNS, including the visual system. Here, we elucidate a transcription-independent mechanism for the neuropoietic activities of IL-6 related to axon development, regeneration, and repair. We examined the outcome of IL-6 deficiency on structure and function of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons, which form the optic projection. We found that IL-6 deficiency substantially delays anterograde axon transport in vivo. The reduced rate of axon transport is accompanied by changes in morphology, structure, and post-translational modification of microtubules. In vivo and in vitro studies in mice and swine revealed that IL-6-dependent microtubule phenotypes arise from protein-protein interactions between STAT3 and stathmin. As in tumor cells and T cells, this STAT3-stathmin interaction stabilizes microtubules in RGCs. Thus, this IL-6-STAT3-dependent mechanism for axon architecture is likely a fundamental mechanism for microtubule stability systemically.

Cellulose microfibril angle in the cell wall of wood fibres

The term microfibril angle (MFA) in wood science refers to the angle between the direction of the helical windings of cellulose microfibrils in the secondary cell wall of fibres and tracheids and the long axis of cell. Technologically, it is usually applied to the orientation of cellulose microfibrils in the S2 layer that makes up the greatest proportion of the wall thickness, since it is this which most affects the physical properties of wood. This review describes the organisation of the cellulose component of the secondary wall of fibres and tracheids and the various methods that have been used for the measurement of MFA. It considers the variation of MFA within the tree and the biological reason for the large differences found between juvenile (or core) wood and mature (or outer) wood. The ability of the tree to vary MFA in response to environmental stress, particularly in reaction wood, is also described. Differences in MFA have a profound effect on the properties of wood, in particular its stiffness. The large MFA in juvenile wood confers low stiffness and gives the sapling the flexibility it needs to survive high winds without breaking. It also means, however, that timber containing a high proportion of juvenile wood is unsuitable for use as high-grade structural timber. This fact has taken on increasing importance in view of the trend in forestry towards short rotation cropping of fast grown species. These trees at harvest may contain 50% or more of timber with low stiffness and therefore, low economic value. Although they are presently grown mainly for pulp, pressure for increased timber production means that ways will be sought to improve the quality of their timber by reducing juvenile wood MFA. The mechanism by which the orientation of microfibril deposition is controlled is still a matter of debate. However, the application of molecular techniques is likely to enable modification of this process. The extent to which these techniques should be used to improve timber quality by reducing MFA in juvenile wood is, however, uncertain, since care must be taken to avoid compromising the safety of the tree.

Cytoskeletal control of plant cell shape: getting the fine points

The shapes of plant cells, which are defined by their surrounding walls, are often important for cell function. The cytoskeleton plays key roles in determining plant cell shape, mainly by influencing the patterns in which wall materials are deposited in expanding cells. Studies employing cytoskeleton-disrupting drugs, together with studies of mutants with cytoskeletal defects, have demonstrated that both microtubules and actin filaments are critical for all modes of cell expansion, although their precise roles remain poorly understood. In recent years, however, significant progress has been made in understanding the contributions of a variety of proteins that influence cell shape by regulating the organization and polymerization of cytoskeletal filaments in expanding cells.

Endoplasmic microtubules configure the subapical cytoplasm and are required for fast growth of Medicago truncatula root hairs

To investigate the configuration and function of microtubules (MTs) in tip-growing Medicago truncatula root hairs, we used immunocytochemistry or in vivo decoration by a GFP linked to a MT-binding domain. The two approaches gave similar results and allowed the study of MTs during hair development. Cortical MTs (CMTs) are present in all developmental stages. During the transition from bulge to a tip-growing root hair, endoplasmic MTs (EMTs) appear at the tip of the young hair and remain there until growth arrest. EMTs are a specific feature of tip-growing hairs, forming a three-dimensional array throughout the subapical cytoplasmic dense region. During growth arrest, EMTs, together with the subapical cytoplasmic dense region, progressively disappear, whereas CMTs extend further toward the tip. In full-grown root hairs, CMTs, the only remaining population of MTs, converge at the tip and their density decreases over time. Upon treatment of growing hairs with 1 microM oryzalin, EMTs disappear, but CMTs remain present. The subapical cytoplasmic dense region becomes very short, the distance nucleus tip increases, growth slows down, and the nucleus still follows the advancing tip, though at a much larger distance. Taxol has no effect on the cytoarchitecture of growing hairs; the subapical cytoplasmic dense region remains intact, the nucleus keeps its distance from the tip, but growth rate drops to the same extent as in hairs treated with 1 microM oryzalin. The role of EMTs in growing root hairs is discussed.

On the alignment of cellulose microfibrils by cortical microtubules: a review and a model

The hypothesis that microtubules align microfibrils, termed the alignment hypothesis, states that there is a causal link between the orientation of cortical microtubules and the orientation of nascent microfibrils. I have assessed the generality of this hypothesis by reviewing what is known about the relation between microtubules and microfibrils in a wide group of examples: in algae of the family Characeae, Closterium acerosum, Oocystis solitaria, and certain genera of green coenocytes and in land plant tip-growing cells, xylem, diffusely growing cells, and protoplasts. The salient features about microfibril alignment to emerge are as follows. Cellulose microfibrils can be aligned by cortical microtubules, thus supporting the alignment hypothesis. Alignment of microfibrils can occur independently of microtubules, showing that an alternative to the alignment hypothesis must exist. Microfibril organization is often random, suggesting that self-assembly is insufficient. Microfibril organization differs on different faces of the same cell, suggesting that microfibrils are aligned locally, not with respect to the entire cell. Nascent microfibrils appear to associate tightly with the plasma membrane. To account for these observations, I present a model that posits alignment to be mediated through binding the nascent microfibril. The model, termed templated incorporation, postulates that the nascent microfibril is incorporated into the cell wall by binding to a scaffold that is oriented; further, the scaffold is built and oriented around either already incorporated microfibrils or plasma membrane proteins, or both. The role of cortical microtubules is to bind and orient components of the scaffold at the plasma membrane. In this way, spatial information to align the microfibrils may come from either the cell wall or the cell interior, and microfibril alignment with and without microtubules are subsets of a single mechanism.

How the deposition of cellulose microfibrils builds cell wall architecture

Cell walls, the extracytoplasmic matrices of plant cells, consist of an ordered array of cellulose microfibrils embedded in a matrix of polysaccharides and glycoproteins. This construction is reminiscent of steel rods in reinforced concrete. How a cell organizes these ordered textures around itself, creating its own desirable environment, is a fascinating question. We believe that nature adopted an economical solution to this design problem: it exploits the geometrical constraints imposed by the shape of the cell and the limited space in which microfibrils are deposited, enabling the wall textures essentially to 'build themselves'. This does not imply that the cell cannot control its wall texture. On the contrary, the cell has ample regulatory mechanisms to control wall texture formation by controlling the insertion of synthases and the distance between individual microfibrils within a wall lamella.

Microtubules regulate tip growth and orientation in root hairs of Arabidopsis thaliana

The polarized growth of cells as diverse as fungal hyphae, pollen tubes, algal rhizoids and root hairs is characterized by a highly localized regulation of cell expansion confined to the growing tip. In apically growing plant cells, a tip-focused [Ca2+]c gradient and the cytoskeleton have been associated with growth. Although actin has been established to be essential for the maintenance of elongation, the role of microtubules remains unclear. To address whether the microtubule cytoskeleton is involved in root hair growth and orientation, we applied microtubule antagonists to root hairs of Arabidopsis. In this report, we show that depolymerizing or stabilizing the microtubule cytoskeleton of these apically growing root hairs led to a loss of directionality of growth and the formation of multiple, independent growth points in a single root hair. Each growing point contained a tip-focused gradient of [Ca2+]c. Experimental generation of a new [Ca2+]c gradient in root hairs pre-treated with microtubule antagonists, using the caged-calcium ionophore Br-A23187, was capable of inducing the formation of a new growth point at the site of elevated calcium influx. These data indicate a role for microtubules in regulating the directionality and stability of apical growth in root hairs. In addition, these results suggest that the action of the microtubules may be mediated through interactions with the cellular machinery that maintains the [Ca2+]c gradient at the tip.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) seed trichomes expand via diffuse growing mechanism

The ultrastructure of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) seed trichomes was investigated to obtain insight into their growth behavior during the phase of rapid cell elongation. A mold and cast method of scanning electron microscopy was used to record the morphological changes in the ovular surface during the initiation and elongation of trichomes. A rapid freeze-fixation and freeze-substitution protocol was used to study the cytological features of trichomes at 2 days after anthesis. At the cytological level, attention was primarily focused on determining whether the seed trichomes display features that are characteristic of other tip-growing plant cells, including organelle zonation, polarized deposition of cell wall, axial orientation of microtubules, and microfilament meshwork at the cell apex. Our results show that cotton seed trichomes do not share any ultrastructural characteristic with other tip-growing plant cells. Rather, they show all the characteristics of cells that undergo diffuse growth. The roles of actin microfilaments and microtubules were also investigated through an in vitro administration of cytochalasin D and colchicine. Although the disruption of actin filaments did not stop trichome growth, disruption of microtubules did prevent polarized cell expansion. Based on these results, cotton seed trichomes are not tip-growing cells but expand via diffuse growth. Key words: cytoskeleton, freeze-fixation, freeze-substitution, Gossypium hirsutum, lint fibers, tip growth, trichomes.

Differentiation of abnormal sieve elements in roots of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) affected by colchicine

Protophloem sieve elements (PSEs) of seminal roots of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) treated with 2 MM colchicine solution differentiate into an extraordinary cell type not found in normal roots. Colchicine-treated PSEs stop elongating and increase in diameter considerably. Abnormal ultrastructural features appear gradually with increasing time of exposure to the drug. Microtubules disorganize and disappear first. Cell divisions are blocked and nuclei become polyploid, with multiple lobes and deep imaginations. Profuse paracrystalline material, presumably consisting of tubulin or, more likely, of tubulin-colchicine polymers, accumulates in the cytoplasm of the polyploid cells. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) cisternae do not aggregate in stacks and mitochondria are not enveloped by ER cisternae, as normal. Golgi bodies appear active and distinct, while unusual vesicles with dense contents occur in the cytoplasm. However, development of plastids and degeneration of nuclei do not seem to be significantly affected by colchicine. The rate of development of affected PSEs is retarded considerably, as judged from ultrastructural features (plastid inclusions, wall thickenings), which appear much later in the vertical files of cells. Due to the retardation and to the overall stoppage of Toot elongation, differentiation of PSEs is caught up by other vascular elements such as protoxylem elements and metaphloem sieve elements. The aberrant PSEs undergo autolysis and reach maturity, but plastids, mitochondria, nuclear remnants and ER configurations characterizing normal PSEs are retained. Transverse walls differentiate into abnormal sieve plates, in which sieve pores are not formed. Lateral walls develop unusual thickenings projecting in the cytoplasm. The observations show that: (a) Differentiation of the affected PSEs proceeds in the absence of divisions; (b) the number and degree of aberrations depend largely on the timing of exposure to the drug, and (c) strands of paracrystalline material and vacuoles are formed in microtubule-free PSEs after long and continuous colchicine treatment.