Abstract
α-Expansins are extracellular proteins that increase plant cell-wall extensibility. We analysed their pattern of expression in cucumber roots in the presence and in the absence of the mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus versiforme. The distribution of α-expansins was investigated by use of two polyclonal antibodies (anti-EXPA1 and anti-EXPA2, prepared against two different cucumber α-expansins) in immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, and immunogold experiments. Immunoblot results indicate the presence of a 30-kDa band specific for mycorrhizal roots. The two antibodies identify antigens with a different distribution in mycorrhizal roots: anti-EXPA1 labels the interface zone, but the plant cell walls only weakly. By contrast, the anti-EXPA2 labels only the plant cell walls. In order to understand the potential role of α-expansins during the accommodation of the fungus inside root cells, we prepared semi-thin sections to measure the size of cortical cells and the thickness of cortical cell walls in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal root. Mycorrhizal cortical cells were significantly larger than non-mycorrhizal cells and had thicker cell walls. In double-labelling experiments with cellobiohydrolase–gold complex, we observed that cellulose was co-localized with α-expansins. Taken together, the results demonstrate that α-expansins are more abundant in the cucumber cell walls upon mycorrhizal infection; we propose that these wall-loosening proteins are directly involved in the accommodation of the fungus by infected cortical cells.
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Abbreviations
- AM:
-
Arbuscular mycorrhiza(l)
- EXPA:
-
α-Expansin
- EXPB:
-
β-Expansin
- CBH:
-
Cellobiohydrolase
- XET:
-
Xyloglucan endotransglycosylase
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Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Italian FIRB Project (RBNE01KZE7), by IPP-CNR and CEBIOVEM (D.M. 193/2003) grants. Confocal and electron microscope facilities were available at LMA-Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale dell’Università di Torino.
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Balestrini, R., Cosgrove, D.J. & Bonfante, P. Differential location of α-expansin proteins during the accommodation of root cells to an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus. Planta 220, 889–899 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1431-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1431-2