The AUX1-AFB1-CNGC14 module establishes a longitudinal root surface pH profile

  1. Nelson BC Serre
  2. Daša Wernerová
  3. Pruthvi Vittal
  4. Shiv Mani Dubey
  5. Eva Medvecká
  6. Adriana Jelínková
  7. Jan Petrášek
  8. Guido Grossmann
  9. Matyáš Fendrych  Is a corresponding author
  1. Charles University, Czech Republic
  2. Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
  3. Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany

Abstract

Plant roots navigate in the soil environment following the gravity vector. Cell divisions in the meristem and rapid cell growth in the elongation zone propel the root tips through the soil. Actively elongating cells acidify their apoplast to enable cell wall extension by the activity of plasma membrane AHA H+-ATPases. The phytohormone auxin, central regulator of gravitropic response and root development, inhibits root cell growth, likely by rising the pH of the apoplast. However, the role of auxin in the regulation of the apoplastic pH gradient along the root tip is unclear. Here we show, by using an improved method for visualization and quantification of root surface pH, that the Arabidopsis thaliana root surface pH shows distinct acidic and alkaline zones, which are not primarily determined by the activity of AHA H+-ATPases. Instead, the distinct domain of alkaline pH in the root transition zone is controlled by a rapid auxin response module, consisting of the AUX1 auxin influx carrier, the AFB1 auxin co-receptor and the CNCG14 calcium channel. We demonstrate that the rapid auxin response pathway is required for an efficient navigation of the root tip.

Data availability

All the data used for the the manuscript are available at Zenodo.The statistics used and p-values are available as supplementary file.

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Nelson BC Serre

    Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Daša Wernerová

    Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Pruthvi Vittal

    Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Shiv Mani Dubey

    Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Eva Medvecká

    Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Adriana Jelínková

    Institute of Experimental Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Jan Petrášek

    Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Guido Grossmann

    Institute of Cell and Interaction Biology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  9. Matyáš Fendrych

    Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
    For correspondence
    matyas.fendrych@natur.cuni.cz
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9767-8699

Funding

European Research Council (803048)

  • Nelson BC Serre
  • Daša Wernerová
  • Pruthvi Vittal
  • Shiv Mani Dubey
  • Eva Medvecká
  • Matyáš Fendrych

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (GR4559)

  • Guido Grossmann

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (CRC1208)

  • Guido Grossmann

EPLAS-EXC-2048/1 (390686111)

  • Guido Grossmann

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

Version history

  1. Preprint posted: November 24, 2022 (view preprint)
  2. Received: November 26, 2022
  3. Accepted: July 10, 2023
  4. Accepted Manuscript published: July 14, 2023 (version 1)
  5. Version of Record published: August 10, 2023 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2023, Serre et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Nelson BC Serre
  2. Daša Wernerová
  3. Pruthvi Vittal
  4. Shiv Mani Dubey
  5. Eva Medvecká
  6. Adriana Jelínková
  7. Jan Petrášek
  8. Guido Grossmann
  9. Matyáš Fendrych
(2023)
The AUX1-AFB1-CNGC14 module establishes a longitudinal root surface pH profile
eLife 12:e85193.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.85193

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