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Griseofulvin Inhibits Root Growth by Targeting Microtubule-Associated Proteins Rather Tubulins in Arabidopsis

Authors :
Yanjing Guo
Jingjing Li
Jiale Shi
Liru Mi
Jing Zhang
Su Han
Wei Liu
Dan Cheng
Sheng Qiang
Hazem M. Kalaji
Shiguo Chen
Source :
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol 24, Iss 10, p 8692 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2023.

Abstract

Griseofulvin was considered an effective agent for cancer therapy in past decades. Although the negative effects of griseofulvin on microtubule stability are known, the exact target and mechanism of action in plants remain unclear. Here, we used trifluralin, a well-known herbicide targeting microtubules, as a reference and revealed the differences in root tip morphology, reactive oxygen species production (ROS), microtubule dynamics, and transcriptome analysis between Arabidopsis treated with griseofulvin and trifluralin to elucidate the mechanism of root growth inhibition by griseofulvin. Like trifluralin, griseofulvin inhibited root growth and caused significant swelling of the root tip due to cell death induced by ROS. However, the presence of griseofulvin and trifluralin caused cell swelling in the transition zone (TZ) and meristematic zone (MZ) of root tips, respectively. Further observations revealed that griseofulvin first destroyed cortical microtubules in the cells of the TZ and early elongation zone (EZ) and then gradually affected the cells of other zones. The first target of trifluralin is the microtubules in the root MZ cells. Transcriptome analysis showed that griseofulvin mainly affected the expression of microtubule-associated protein (MAP) genes rather than tubulin genes, whereas trifluralin significantly suppressed the expression of αβ-tubulin genes. Finally, it was proposed that griseofulvin could first reduce the expression of MAP genes, meanwhile increasing the expression of auxin and ethylene-related genes to disrupt microtubule alignment in root tip TZ and early EZ cells, induce dramatic ROS production, and cause severe cell death, eventually leading to cell swelling in the corresponding zones and inhibition of root growth.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14220067 and 16616596
Volume :
24
Issue :
10
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.1b3e1b50e03440e1938d077e0a796429
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24108692