Connecting the plant cytoskeleton to the cell surface via the phosphoinositides

Plants have developed fine-tuned cellular mechanisms to respond to a variety of intracellular and extracellular signals. These responses often necessitate the rearrangement of the plant cytoskeleton to modulate cell shape and/or to guide vesicle trafficking. At the cell periphery, both actin filaments and microtubules associate with the plasma membrane that acts as an integrator of the intrinsic and extrinsic environments. At this membrane, acidic phospholipids such as phosphatidic acid, and phosphoinositides contribute to the selection of peripheral proteins and thereby regulate the organization and dynamic of the actin and microtubules. After recognition of the importance of phosphatidic acid on cytoskeleton dynamics and rearrangement, it became apparent that the other lipids might play a specific role in shaping the cytoskeleton. This review focuses on the emerging role of the phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate for the regulation of the peripherical cytoskeleton during cellular processes such as cytokinesis, polar growth, biotic and abiotic responses.