Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 51, No. 344, pp. 521-528,
March 2000
© 2000 Oxford University Press
Immunolocalization of actin in root statocytes of Lens culinaris L.
1 Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Laboratoire CEMV, case courrier 150, Bât. N2, 4 place Jussieu, F-75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
2 Hôpital Saint-Louis, Laboratoire d'Analyse d'Images en pathologie cellulaire, 1 avenue Claude Vellefaux, F-75475 Paris Cedex 10, France
3 Universiteit Antwerpen, Department of Biology, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
Lentil root statocytes show a strict structural polarity of their organelles with respect to the g vector. These cells are involved in the perception of gravity and are responsible for the orientation of the root. Actin filaments take part in the positioning of their organelles and could also be involved in the transduction of the gravitropic signal. A pre-embedding immunogold silver technique was carried out with a monoclonal antibody in order to study the distribution of actin cytoskeleton in the statocytes at the electron microscopic level. Some areas were never labelled (cell wall, vacuole, nucleoplasm, mitochondria, starch grains of the amyloplasts) or very slightly labelled (stroma of the amyloplasts). The labelling was scattered in the cytoplasm always close to, or on the nuclear and amyloplast envelopes and the tonoplast. Associations of 2 to 6 dots in file were observed, but these short files were not oriented in one preferential direction. They corresponded to a maximum distance of 0.9 µm. This work demonstrated that each statocyte organelle was enmeshed in an actin web of short filaments arranged in different ways. The images obtained by rhodamine-phalloidin staining were in accordance with those of immunogold labelling. The diffuse fluorescence of the cytoplasm could be explained by the fact that the meshes of the web should be narrow. The vicinity of actin and of the amyloplasts envelope could account for the movement of these organelles that was observed in spatial microgravity.
Key words: Actin, cytoskeleton, immunolocalization, lentil root, pre-embedding technique, statocyte.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  G. Leitz, B.-H. Kang, M. E.A. Schoenwaelder, and L. A. Staehelin Statolith Sedimentation Kinetics and Force Transduction to the Cortical Endoplasmic Reticulum in Gravity-Sensing Arabidopsis Columella Cells PLANT CELL, March 1, 2009; 21(3): 843 - 860. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Yamamoto and J. Z. Kiss Disruption of the Actin Cytoskeleton Results in the Promotion of Gravitropism in Inflorescence Stems and Hypocotyls of Arabidopsis Plant Physiology, February 1, 2002; 128(2): 669 - 681. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. J. Fitzelle and J. Z. Kiss Restoration of gravitropic sensitivity in starch-deficient mutants of Arabidopsis by hypergravity J. Exp. Bot., February 1, 2001; 52(355): 265 - 275. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. L. Yoder, H.-q. Zheng, P. Todd, and L. A. Staehelin Amyloplast Sedimentation Dynamics in Maize Columella Cells Support a New Model for the Gravity-Sensing Apparatus of Roots Plant Physiology, February 1, 2001; 125(2): 1045 - 1060. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
H. Q. Zheng and L. A. Staehelin Nodal Endoplasmic Reticulum, a Specialized Form of Endoplasmic Reticulum Found in Gravity-Sensing Root Tip Columella Cells Plant Physiology, January 1, 2001; 125(1): 252 - 265. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|