Mutations in two putative phosphorylation motifs in LePRK2 show antagonistic effects on tube length

SALEM, TAMARA; MAZZELLA, AGUSTINA; WENGIER, DIEGO; MOTILLO, VIVIANA; PARISI, GUSTAVO; SALEM, TAMARA; MUSCHIETTI, JORGE

Ciudad de Tucumán, Argentina

Conferencia; XLV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (SAIB); 2009

SAIB

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:ES-AR;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> The tip-growing pollen tube is a useful model for studying polarized cell growth in plants. We previously characterized LePRK2, a pollen-specific receptor-like kinase from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). When transiently overexpressed in tobacco pollen tubes, LePRK2-eGFP significantly decreased pollen tube length and increased pollen tube tip width, relative to eGFP tubes. Tubes that expressed a mutation in a lysine essential for kinase activity showed the same length and width as the eGFP control. LePRK2 is present as multiple phosphorylated isoforms in mature pollen membranes. Using comparative sequence analysis and phosphorylation site prediction programs we identified two putative phosphorylation motifs in the cytoplasmic juxtamembrane domain. Site-directed mutagenesis in these motifs, and overexpression in tobacco pollen, showed that both motifs have opposite effects in regulating pollen tube length. Relative to LePRK2-eGFP pollen tubes, alanine substitutions in residues of motif I, S277/S279/S282, resulted in longer pollen tubes, but alanine substitutions in motif II, S304/S307/T308, resulted in shorter tubes. We conclude that pollen tube length can be negatively and positively regulated by phosphorylation of residues in motif I and II respectively. These results suggest that LePRK2 may have a role in pollen tube growth through regulation of its own phosphorylation status.