Dynamic F-actin movement is essential for fertilization in Arabidopsis thaliana

Auxin and ROP GTPase Signaling of Polar Nuclear Migration in Root Epidermal Hair Cells

Polar nuclear migration is crucial during the development of diverse eukaryotes. In plants, root hair growth requires polar nuclear migration into the outgrowing hair. However, knowledge about the dynamics and the regulatory mechanisms underlying nuclear movements in root epidermal cells remains limited. Here, we show that both auxin and Rho-of-Plant (ROP) signaling modulate polar nuclear position at the inner epidermal plasma membrane domain oriented to the cortical cells during cell elongation as well as subsequent polar nuclear movement to the outer domain into the emerging hair bulge in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Auxin signaling via the nuclear AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR7 (ARF7)/ARF19 and INDOLE ACETIC ACID7 pathway ensures correct nuclear placement toward the inner membrane domain. Moreover, precise inner nuclear placement relies on SPIKE1 Rho-GEF, SUPERCENTIPEDE1 Rho-GDI, and ACTIN7 (ACT7) function and to a lesser extent on VTI11 vacuolar SNARE activity. Strikingly, the directionality and/or velocity of outer polar nuclear migration into the hair outgrowth along actin strands also are ACT7 dependent, auxin sensitive, and regulated by ROP signaling. Thus, our findings provide a founding framework revealing auxin and ROP signaling of inner polar nuclear position with some contribution by vacuolar morphology and of actin-dependent outer polar nuclear migration in root epidermal hair cells.

Dynamic Changes in Plant Nuclear Organization in Response to Environmental and Developmental Signals

The functional organization of the plant nuclear pore, nuclear envelope, and nucleoplasm marks dynamically changing environmental cues and developmental programs.

DNA replication-coupled histone modification maintains Polycomb gene silencing in plants

Propagation of patterns of gene expression through the cell cycle requires prompt restoration of epigenetic marks after the twofold dilution caused by DNA replication. Here we show that the transcriptional repressive mark H3K27me3 (histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation) is restored in replicating plant cells through DNA replication-coupled modification of histone variant H3.1. Plants evolved a mechanism for efficient K27 trimethylation on H3.1, which is essential for inheritance of the silencing memory from mother to daughter cells. We illustrate how this mechanism establishes H3K27me3-mediated silencing during the developmental transition to flowering. Our study reveals a mechanism responsible for transmission of H3K27me3 in plant cells through cell divisions, enabling H3K27me3 to function as an epigenetic mark.

Nuclear migration during karyogamy in rice zygotes is mediated by continuous convergence of actin meshwork toward the egg nucleus

Fertilization is comprised of two sequential fusion processes; plasmogamy and karyogamy. Karyogamy completes with migration and fusion of the male and female nuclei in the fused cell. In animals, microtubules organized by the centrosome control female/male pronuclei migration. In contrast, the nuclear migration in fused gametes of angiosperms is controlled by actin filaments, but the mechanism that regulates actin filament-dependent nuclear migration is not clear. In this study, we prepared fused rice (Oryza sativa L.) gametes/zygotes using in vitro fertilization and observed the spatial and temporal movements of actin filaments and sperm nuclei. Our results show that actin filaments in egg cells form a meshwork structure surrounding the nuclei. Quantitative analysis of the actin meshwork dynamics suggests that actin meshwork converges toward the egg nucleus. In egg cells fused with sperm cells, actin filaments appeared to interact with a portion of the sperm nuclear membrane. The velocity of the actin filaments was positively correlated with the velocity of the sperm nucleus during karyogamy. These results suggest that sperm nuclear membrane and actin filaments physically interact with each other during karyogamy, and that the sperm nucleus migrates toward the egg nucleus through the convergence of the actin meshwork. Interestingly, actin filament velocity increased promptly after gamete fusion and was further elevated during nuclear fusion. In addition to the migration of gamete nuclei, convergence of actin meshwork may also be critical during early zygotic developments.

The WASP-Arp2/3 complex signal cascade is involved in actin-dependent sperm nuclei migration during double fertilization in tobacco and maize

Sperm nuclear migration during fertilization in Arabidopsis and rice has recently been found to be actin-dependent, but the driving force behind this actin cytoskeleton-dependent motion is unclear. Here, we confirmed that the actin-dependent sperm nuclei migration during fertilization is a conserved mechanism in plants. Using in vitro fertilization systems, we showed that a functional actin is also essential in maize and tobacco for sperm nuclei migration after gamete membrane fusion. Cytoskeleton depolymerization inhibitor treatments supported the view that sperm nuclei migration is actin-dependent but microtubule-independent in both egg cell and central cell during double fertilization. We further revealed that the actin-based motor myosin is not the driving force for sperm nuclear migration in maize and tobacco. The WASP-Arp2/3 complex signal cascade is shown here to be involved in the regulation of sperm nuclear migration in maize and tobacco. It is interesting that sperm nuclei migration within somatic cell also need WASP-Arp2/3 complex signal cascade and actin, suggesting that the mechanism of sperm nuclear migration is not gamete specific.

Polyspermy barriers: a plant perspective

A common denominator of sexual reproduction in many eukaryotic species is the exposure of an egg to excess sperm to maximize the chances of reproductive success. To avoid potential harmful or deleterious consequences of supernumerary sperm fusion to a single female gamete (polyspermy), many eukaryotes, including plants, have evolved barriers preventing polyspermy. Typically, these checkpoints are implemented at different stages in the reproduction process. The virtual absence of unambiguous reports of naturally occurring egg cell polyspermy in flowering plants is likely reflecting the success of this multiphasic strategy and highlights the difficulty to trace this presumably rare event. We here focus on potential polyspermy avoidance mechanisms in plants and discuss them in light of analogous processes in animals.

Live-Cell Imaging of F-Actin Dynamics During Fertilization in Arabidopsis thaliana

Fertilization comprises a complex series of cellular processes leading to the fusion of a male and female gamete. Many studies have been carried out to investigate each step of fertilization in plants; however, our comprehensive understanding of all the sequential events during fertilization is still limited. This is largely due to difficulty in investigating events in the female gametophyte, which is deeply embedded in the maternal tissue. Recent advances in confocal microcopy assisted by fluorescent marker lines have contributed to visualizing subcellular dynamics in real time during fertilization in vivo. In this chapter, we describe a method focusing on the investigation of F-actin dynamics in the central cell during male gamete nuclear migration. This method also allows the study of a wide range of early sexual reproduction events, from pollen tube guidance to the early stage of seed development.

Female gametophyte and embryo development in Helleborus bocconei Ten. (Ranunculaceae)

In this study, we investigated cytohistochemistry, cycle progression, and relative DNA content of the female gametophyte cells of Helleborus bocconei Ten. before and after fertilization process. The early stages of embryo development were also investigated. H. bocconei possesses a monosporic seven-celled/eight-nucleate Polygonum type female gametophyte, characterized by a morpho-functional polarity. The cells of the embryo sac showed abundant reserves of polysaccharides, strongly increasing in the egg cell just before fertilization. With different timing in DNA replication during cell cycle progression, synergids, egg cells, and polar nuclei showed a haploid DNA content at the end of their differentiation, while antipodes underwent three DNA endoreduplication cycles. Programmed cell death symptoms were detectable in synergid and antipodal cells. After double fertilization, the central cell quickly underwent many mitotic cycles forming the endosperm, which exhibited a progressive increase in protein bodies and starch grains. Close to the developing embryo, the endosperm differentiated a well-defined region rich in a fibrillar carbohydrate matrix. The zygote, that does not start immediately to divide after double fertilization, developed in to an embryo that reached the heart stage at fruit maturation time. A weakly differentiated embryo at this time indicates a morpho-physiological dormancy of seeds, as a survival strategy imposed by the life cycle of this plant with seed dispersal in spring and their germination in the following winter.

Cytoskeleton dynamics control the first asymmetric cell division in Arabidopsis zygote

The asymmetric cell division of the zygote is the initial and crucial developmental step in most multicellular organisms. In flowering plants, whether zygote polarity is inherited from the preexisting organization in the egg cell or reestablished after fertilization has remained elusive. How dynamically the intracellular organization is generated during zygote polarization is also unknown. Here, we used a live-cell imaging system with Arabidopsis zygotes to visualize the dynamics of the major elements of the cytoskeleton, microtubules (MTs), and actin filaments (F-actins), during the entire process of zygote polarization. By combining image analysis and pharmacological experiments using specific inhibitors of the cytoskeleton, we found features related to zygote polarization. The preexisting alignment of MTs and F-actin in the egg cell is lost on fertilization. Then, MTs organize into a transverse ring defining the zygote subapical region and driving cell outgrowth in the apical direction. F-actin forms an apical cap and longitudinal arrays and is required to position the nucleus to the apical region of the zygote, setting the plane of the first asymmetrical division. Our findings show that, in flowering plants, the preexisting cytoskeletal patterns in the egg cell are lost on fertilization and that the zygote reorients the cytoskeletons to perform directional cell elongation and polar nuclear migration.

Fertilization Mechanisms in Flowering Plants

Compared with the animal kingdom, fertilization is particularly complex in flowering plants (angiosperms). Sperm cells of angiosperms have lost their motility and require transportation as a passive cargo by the pollen tube cell to the egg apparatus (egg cell and accessory synergid cells). Sperm cell release from the pollen tube occurs after intensive communication between the pollen tube cell and the receptive synergid, culminating in the lysis of both interaction partners. Following release of the two sperm cells, they interact and fuse with two dimorphic female gametes (the egg and the central cell) forming the major seed components embryo and endosperm, respectively. This process is known as double fertilization. Here, we review the current understanding of the processes of sperm cell reception, gamete interaction, their pre-fertilization activation and fusion, as well as the mechanisms plants use to prevent the fusion of egg cells with multiple sperm cells. The role of Ca(2+) is highlighted in these various processes and comparisons are drawn between fertilization mechanisms in flowering plants and other eukaryotes, including mammals.

Cell fusion and nuclear fusion in plants

Eukaryotic cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane and have a large nucleus containing the genomic DNA, which is enclosed by a nuclear envelope consisting of the outer and inner nuclear membranes. Although these membranes maintain the identity of cells, they sometimes fuse to each other, such as to produce a zygote during sexual reproduction or to give rise to other characteristically polyploid tissues. Recent studies have demonstrated that the mechanisms of plasma membrane or nuclear membrane fusion in plants are shared to some extent with those of yeasts and animals, despite the unique features of plant cells including thick cell walls and intercellular connections. Here, we summarize the key factors in the fusion of these membranes during plant reproduction, and also focus on "non-gametic cell fusion," which was thought to be rare in plant tissue, in which each cell is separated by a cell wall.

Hybrid Sterility in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Involves the Tetratricopeptide Repeat Domain Containing Protein

Intersubspecific hybrid sterility is a common form of reproductive isolation in rice (Oryza sativa L.), which significantly hampers the utilization of heterosis between indica and japonica varieties. Here, we elucidated the mechanism of S7, which specially causes Aus-japonica/indica hybrid female sterility, through cytological and genetic analysis, map-based cloning, and transformation experiments. Abnormal positioning of polar nuclei and smaller embryo sac were observed in F1 compared with male and female parents. Female gametes carrying S7(cp) and S7(i) were aborted in S7(ai)/S7(cp) and S7(ai)/S7(i), respectively, whereas they were normal in both N22 and Dular possessing a neutral allele, S7(n) S7 was fine mapped to a 139-kb region in the centromere region on chromosome 7, where the recombination was remarkably suppressed due to aggregation of retrotransposons. Among 16 putative open reading frames (ORFs) localized in the mapping region, ORF3 encoding a tetratricopeptide repeat domain containing protein was highly expressed in the pistil. Transformation experiments demonstrated that ORF3 is the candidate gene: downregulated expression of ORF3 restored spikelet fertility and eliminated absolutely preferential transmission of S7(ai) in heterozygote S7(ai)/S7(cp); sterility occurred in the transformants Cpslo17-S7(ai) Our results may provide implications for overcoming hybrid embryo sac sterility in intersubspecific hybrid rice and utilization of hybrid heterosis for cultivated rice improvement.

F-actin mechanics control spindle centring in the mouse zygote

Mitotic spindle position relies on interactions between astral microtubules nucleated by centrosomes and a rigid cortex. Some cells, such as mouse oocytes, do not possess centrosomes and astral microtubules. These cells rely only on actin and on a soft cortex to position their spindle off-centre and undergo asymmetric divisions. While the first mouse embryonic division also occurs in the absence of centrosomes, it is symmetric and not much is known on how the spindle is positioned at the exact cell centre. Using interdisciplinary approaches, we demonstrate that zygotic spindle positioning follows a three-step process: (1) coarse centring of pronuclei relying on the dynamics of an F-actin/Myosin-Vb meshwork; (2) fine centring of the metaphase plate depending on a high cortical tension; (3) passive maintenance at the cell centre. Altogether, we show that F-actin-dependent mechanics operate the switch between asymmetric to symmetric division required at the oocyte to embryo transition.

Embryos, camera, laser, action!

The Arabidopsis embryo establishes polarity and main tissue types with the first five rounds of cell division. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Gooh et al. (2015) provide tools toward elucidating this poorly understood process through the first movies and targeted manipulations of early embryos developing inside cultured seeds.

Gamete Dialogs in Green Lineages

Gamete fusion is a core process of sexual reproduction and, in both plants and animals, different sex gametes fuse within species. Although most of the molecular factors involved in gamete interaction are still unknown in various sex-possessing eukaryotes, reports of such factors in algae and land plants have been increasing in the past decade. In particular, knowledge of gamete interaction in flowering plants and green algae has increased since the identification of the conserved gamete fusion factor generative cell specific 1/hapless 2 (GCS1/HAP2). GCS1 was first identified as a pollen generative cell-specific transmembrane protein in the lily (Lilium longiflorum), and was then shown to function not only in flowering plant gamete fusion but also in various eukaryotes, including unicellular protists and metazoans. In addition, although initially restricted to Chlamydomonas, knowledge of gamete attachment in flowering plants was also acquired. This review focuses on recent progress in the study of gamete interaction in volvocine green algae and flowering plants and discusses conserved mechanisms of gamete recognition, attachment, and fusion leading to zygote formation.

The central cell nuclear position at the micropylar end is maintained by the balance of F-actin dynamics, but dispensable for karyogamy in Arabidopsis

Advances in Fertilization. In flowering plants, fertilization is initiated by the delivery of immotile sperm cells to the boundary between two female gametes, the egg cell and the central cell. During female gamete development in Arabidopsis, the nucleus of the central cell becomes positioned toward this boundary. How this specific polarized nuclear position is maintained is unclear and whether it plays a role in successful fertilization remains to be determined. By disrupting and manipulating F-actin dynamics in the central cell, we identified that the balance of F-actin dynamics is important for nuclear positioning in the central cell and that the presence of intact F-actin cables in the central cell correlates with successful karyogamy regardless of the central cell nuclear position. We also report that the surface of the central cell nucleus is enriched in F-actin. Thus, the central cell nucleus might also serve as a site that organizes F-actin cytoskeleton to promote sperm cell nucleus movement and karyogamy.

Generation of a homozygous fertilization-defective gcs1 mutant by heat-inducible removal of a rescue gene

Key message: New gametic homozygous mutants. In angiosperms, a haploid male gamete (sperm cell) fuses with a haploid female gamete (egg cell) during fertilization to form a zygote carrying paternally and maternally derived chromosomes. Several fertilization-defective mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana, including a generative cell-specific 1 (gcs1)/hapless 2 mutant, the sperm cells of which are unable to fuse with female gametes, can only be maintained as heterozygous lines due to the infertile male or female gametes. Here, we report successful generation of a gcs1 homozygous mutant by heat-inducible removal of the GCS1 transgene. Using the gcs1 homozygous mutant as male, the defect in gamete fusion was observed with great frequency; in our direct observation by semi-in vivo fertilization assay using ovules, 100 % of discharged sperm cells in culture failed to show gamete fusion. More than 70 % of ovules in the pistil received a second pollen tube as attempted fertilization recovery. Moreover, gcs1 mutant sperm cells could fertilize female gametes at a low frequency in the pistil. This strategy to generate homozygous fertilization-defective mutants will facilitate novel approaches in plant reproduction research.