<i>Arabidopsis</i> RALF4 Rapidly Halts Pollen Tube Growth by Increasing ROS and Decreasing Calcium Cytoplasmic Tip Levels
Sofía C. Somoza,
Noelia A. Boccardo,
Franco Santin,
Ana R. Sede,
Diego L. Wengier,
Aurélien Boisson-Dernier,
Jorge P. Muschietti
Affiliations
Sofía C. Somoza
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular, “Dr. Héctor Torres” (INGEBI-CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490, Buenos Aires C1428ADN, Argentina
Noelia A. Boccardo
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular, “Dr. Héctor Torres” (INGEBI-CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490, Buenos Aires C1428ADN, Argentina
Franco Santin
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular, “Dr. Héctor Torres” (INGEBI-CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490, Buenos Aires C1428ADN, Argentina
Ana R. Sede
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular, “Dr. Héctor Torres” (INGEBI-CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490, Buenos Aires C1428ADN, Argentina
Diego L. Wengier
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular, “Dr. Héctor Torres” (INGEBI-CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490, Buenos Aires C1428ADN, Argentina
Aurélien Boisson-Dernier
Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany
Jorge P. Muschietti
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular, “Dr. Héctor Torres” (INGEBI-CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490, Buenos Aires C1428ADN, Argentina
In recent years, the rapid alkalinization factor (RALF) family of cysteine-rich peptides has been reported to be crucial for several plant signaling mechanisms, including cell growth, plant immunity and fertilization. RALF4 and RALF19 (RALF4/19) pollen peptides redundantly regulate the pollen tube integrity and growth through binding to their receptors ANXUR1/2 (ANX1/2) and Buddha’s Paper Seal 1 and 2 (BUPS1/2), members of the Catharanthus roseus RLK1-like (CrRLK1L) family, and, thus, are essential for plant fertilization. However, the signaling mechanisms at the cellular level that follow these binding events remain unclear. In this study, we show that the addition of synthetic peptide RALF4 rapidly halts pollen tube growth along with the excessive deposition of plasma membrane and cell wall material at the tip. The ratiometric imaging of genetically encoded ROS and Ca2+ sensors-expressing pollen tubes shows that RALF4 treatment modulates the cytoplasmic levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and calcium (Ca2+) in opposite ways at the tip. Thus, we propose that pollen RALF4/19 peptides bind ANX1/2 and BUPS1/2 to regulate ROS and calcium homeostasis to ensure proper cell wall integrity and control of pollen tube growth.
