Abstract.
Arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) are abundant plant proteoglycans that react with (β-d-Glc)3 but not (β-d-Man)3 Yariv reagent. We report here that treatment with (β-d-Glc)3 Yariv reagent caused inhibition of root growth of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. seedlings. Moreover, the treated roots exhibited numerous bulging epidermal cells. Treatment with (β-d-Man)3 Yariv reagent did not have any such effects. These results indicate a role for AGPs in root growth and control of epidermal cell expansion. Because treatment with (β-d-Glc)3 Yariv reagent phenocopies the reb1 (root epidermal cell bulging) mutant of Arabidopsis, AGPs were extracted from the reb1-1 mutant and compared with those of the wild type. The reb1-1 roots contained an approximately 30% lower level of AGPs than the wild type. More importantly, while the profile of AGPs from wild-type roots showed two major peaks upon crossed electrophoresis, the profile of AGPs from reb1-1 roots exhibited only one of the major peaks. Therefore, the reb1 phenotype appears to be a result of defective or missing root AGPs. Taken together, this pharmacological and genetic evidence strongly indicates a function of AGPs in the control of root epidermal cell expansion.
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Received: 13 February 1997 / Accepted: 1 April 1997
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Ding, L., Zhu, JK. A role for arabinogalactan-proteins in root epidermal cell expansion. Planta 203, 289–294 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004250050194
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004250050194