Mammalian Bax initiates plant cell death through organelle destruction.
Mammalian Bax is known to cause cell death when expressed in plants. We examined transgenic plants expressing both Bax and organelle-targeted green fluorescent protein to determine the cellular changes that occur during Bax-induced cell death. The mitochondria changed morphologically from being bacilli-shaped to being round, eventually becoming swollen. Mitochondria streaming also stopped. The chloroplasts lost membrane function and their contents leaked out, followed by the disruption of the vacuole. Light was not essential for Bax-induced ion leakage or organelle disruption. These results indicate that Bax induces temporal and spatial cell death events at the organelle level in the plant. A heterologous system, using Bax, would therefore be available to investigate cell death, which is commonly conserved in animals and plants.
Yoshinaga
Keiko
K
Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 13-0032, Japan.
Arimura
Shin-ich
SI
Hirata
Aiko
A
Niwa
Yasuo
Y
Yun
Dae-Jin
DJ
Tsutsumi
Nobuhiro
N
Uchimiya
Hirofumi
H
Kawai-Yamada
Maki
M
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016923:Cell Death / Q000502:physiology; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008954:Models, Biological; D015388:Organelles / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins