| | Touch induces ATP release in Arabidopsis roots that is modulated by the heterotrimeric G-protein complexEdited by Michael R. Sussman Received 26 May 2009; received in revised form 2 July 2009; accepted 7 July 2009. published online 13 July 2009. Abstract Amongst the many stimuli orienting the growth of plant roots, of critical importance are the touch signals generated as roots explore the mechanically complex soil environment. However, the molecular mechanisms behind these sensory events remain poorly defined. We report an impaired obstacle-avoiding response of roots in Arabidopsis lacking a heterotrimeric G-protein. Obstacle avoidance may utilize a touch-induced release of ATP to the extracellular space. While sequential touch stimulation revealed a strong refractory period for ATP release in response to mechano-stimulation in wild-type plants, the refractory period in mutants was attenuated, resulting in extracellular ATP accumulation. We propose that ATP acts as an extracellular signal released by mechano-stimulation and that the G-protein complex is needed for fine-tuning this response. a Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA b Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA c Cystic Fibrosis/Pulmonary Research and Treatment Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA d Department of Plant Microbiology and Pathology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA e Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA  Corresponding authors Address: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA (A.M. Jones). Fax: +1 919 962 1625 (A.M. Jones), +1 608 262 7509 (S. Gilroy).
PII: S0014-5793(09)00532-8 doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2009.07.007 © 2009 Federation of European Biochemical Societies | |
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