title: The actin cytoskeleton is involved in the regulation of the plasmodesmal size exclusion limit.
abstract: Plasmodesmata (PD) are the communication channels which allow the trafficking of macromolecules between neighboring cells. Such cell-to-cell movement of macromolecules is regulated during plant growth and development; however, little is known about the regulation mechanism of PD size exclusion limit (SEL). Plant viral movement proteins (MPs) enhance the invasion of viruses from cell to cell by increasing the SEL of the PD and are therefore a powerful means for the study of the plasmodesmal regulation mechanisms. In a recent study, we reported that the actin cytoskeleton is involved in the increase of the PD SEL induced by MPs. Microinjection experiments demonstrated that actin depolymerization was required for the Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) MP-induced increase in the PD SEL. In vitro experiments showed that CMV MP severs actin filaments (F-actin). Furthermore, through the analyses of two CMV MP mutants, we demonstrated that the F-actin severing ability of CMV MP was required to increase the PD SEL. These results are similar to what has been found in Tobacco mosaic virus MP. Thus, our data suggests that actin dynamics may participate in the regulations of the PD SEL.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Department of Plant Sciences, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000502:physiology*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology*; D010942:Plant Viruses / Q000502:physiology; D031425:Plasmodesmata / Q000502:physiology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D014764:Viral Proteins