Biologia plantarum 56:431-440, 2012 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-012-0071-9

Expression of GFP-mTalin reveals an actin-related role for the Arabidopsis Class II formin AtFH12

F. Cvrčková1,*, M. Grunt1, V. Žárský1,2
1 Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Institute of Experimental Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

Formins (FH2 proteins) are implicated in F-actin nucleation and other aspects of cytoskeletal organization. Plants possess two formin clades, relatively well-described Class I formins and so far poorly characterized Class II formins. Comparison of Class II formin genes of two Arabidopsis species, A. thaliana and A. lyrata, indicates dynamic evolution within the Class II formin clade. Disruption of an outlier A. thaliana Class II formin gene, AtFH12 (At1g42980), whose expression is induced by NaCl, produced only negligible phenotypic effects under a variety of conditions, including salt stress, suggesting functional redundancy among Class II formins. However, the same mutation massively aggravated toxic effects of the expression of a fluorescent actin marker, GFP-tagged mouse talin (GFP-mTalin), known to interfere with normal actin dynamics. Abnormal actin structures were observed in atfh12 mutants expressing GFP-mTalin as compared to wild type. This not only demonstrates an actin-associated function for AtFH12, but also documents the feasibility of using the heterologous actin marker to "stress-test" the actin cytoskeleton in phenotyping "weak" actin related mutant alleles.

Keywords: FH2 proteins; genetic redundancy; salt stress; synthetic lethality
Subjects: FH2 proteins; genetic redundancy; salt stress; synthetic lethality; GFP-m Talin; actin; formins; transgenic plants
Species: Arabidopsis lyrata; Arabidopsis thaliana

Received: April 4, 2011; Accepted: June 21, 2011; Published: September 1, 2012Show citation

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Cvrčková, F., Grunt, M., & Žárský, V. (2012). Expression of GFP-mTalin reveals an actin-related role for the Arabidopsis Class II formin AtFH12. Biologia plantarum, 56(3), 431-440. doi: 10.1007/s10535-012-0071-9.
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