Plasma membrane H+-ATPases sustain pollen tube growth and fertilization

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Robert D. Hoffmann
  • Maria Teresa Portes
  • Lene Irene Olsen
  • Daniel Santa Cruz Damineli
  • Maki Hayashi
  • Custódio O. Nunes
  • Jesper T. Pedersen
  • Pedro T. Lima
  • Cláudia Campos
  • José A. Feijó
  • Palmgren, Michael Broberg

Pollen tubes are highly polarized tip-growing cells that depend on cytosolic pH gradients for signaling and growth. Autoinhibited plasma membrane proton (H+) ATPases (AHAs) have been proposed to energize pollen tube growth and underlie cell polarity, however, mechanistic evidence for this is lacking. Here we report that the combined loss of AHA6, AHA8, and AHA9 in Arabidopsis thaliana delays pollen germination and causes pollen tube growth defects, leading to drastically reduced fertility. Pollen tubes of aha mutants had reduced extracellular proton (H+) and anion fluxes, reduced cytosolic pH, reduced tip-to-shank proton gradients, and defects in actin organization. Furthermore, mutant pollen tubes had less negative membrane potentials, substantiating a mechanistic role for AHAs in pollen tube growth through plasma membrane hyperpolarization. Our findings define AHAs as energy transducers that sustain the ionic circuit defining the spatial and temporal profiles of cytosolic pH, thereby controlling downstream pH-dependent mechanisms essential for pollen tube elongation, and thus plant fertility.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2395
JournalNature Communications
Volume11
Issue number1
ISSN2041-1723
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2020

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 245000233