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DiSUMO-LIKE Interacts with RNA-Binding Proteins and Affects Cell-Cycle Progression during Maize Embryogenesis
Junyi Chen1, Kamila Kalinowska1, Benedikt Müller1
1Cell Biology and Plant Biochemistry, Biochemie-Zentrum Regensburg, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.
Current Biology : CB
|May 8, 2018
Summary
The ubiquitin-like modifier DiSUMO-LIKE (DSUL) is crucial for early maize embryo development, regulating cell division and cell plate formation. Its absence leads to abnormal cell structures and failed cytokinesis.
Area of Science:
- Plant developmental biology
- Molecular genetics
- Cell biology
Background:
- Plant embryogenesis begins with asymmetric zygote division, establishing distinct cell lineages.
- Key molecular regulators of zygote development, asymmetry, and plant-specific cell-plate formation remain largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the function of the ubiquitin-like modifier DiSUMO-LIKE (DSUL) in early maize embryo development.
- To elucidate the role of DSUL in zygotic cell division, asymmetry establishment, and cell-plate formation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized RNA interference (RNAi) targeting DSUL, delivered via sperm cells in maize.
- Analyzed cellular phenotypes including nuclear division, multinucleation, and cell-plate formation.
- Investigated DSUL localization within embryonic cells.
- Identified DSUL targets through biochemical approaches.
- Compared DSUL and SUMO1 localization and substrates.
Main Results:
- DSUL-RNAi disrupted cytokinesis, resulting in unseparated daughter nuclei or multinucleate cells lacking cell plates.
- DSUL was localized to the cytoplasm (partly in granules), nucleus, and cell division zone.
- The DSUL enzymatic cascade shares machinery with SUMO1 but targets distinct pathways.
- DSUL targets are implicated in cytoplasmic RNA metabolism, cell-cycle progression, and cell-plate formation.
Conclusions:
- DSUL is essential for normal early embryogenesis in maize, particularly for cytokinesis and cell-plate formation.
- DSUL functions distinctly from SUMO1, with specialized roles in RNA metabolism and cell division.
- DSUL represents a novel regulator of plant-specific developmental processes.
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