Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2025

High Resolution Quantification of Crystalline Cellulose Accumulation in Arabidopsis Roots to Monitor Tissue-specific Cell Wall Modifications
Published on: May 10, 2016
A developmentally controlled cellular decompartmentalization process executes programmed cell death in the
Jie Wang1,2, Norbert Bollier1,2, Rafael Andrade Buono1,2
1Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent 9052, Belgium.
Abstract:
Programmed cell death (PCD) is a fundamental cellular process crucial to development, homeostasis, and immunity in multicellular eukaryotes. In contrast to our knowledge on the regulation of diverse animal cell death subroutines, information on execution of PCD in plants remains fragmentary. Here, we make use of the accessibility of the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) root cap to visualize the execution process of developmentally controlled PCD. We identify a succession of selective decompartmentalization events and ion fluxes as part of the terminal differentiation program that is orchestrated by the NO APICAL MERISTEM, ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA ACTIVATING FACTOR, CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON (NAC) transcription factor SOMBRERO. Surprisingly, the breakdown of the large central vacuole is a relatively late and variable event, preceded by an increase of intracellular calcium levels and acidification, release of mitochondrial matrix proteins, leakage of nuclear and endoplasmic reticulum lumina, and release of fluorescent membrane reporters into the cytosol. In analogy to animal apoptosis, the plasma membrane remains impermeable for proteins during and after PCD execution. Elevated intracellular calcium levels and acidification are sufficient to trigger cell death execution specifically in terminally differentiated root cap cells, suggesting that these ion fluxes act as PCD-triggering signals. This detailed information on the cellular processes occurring during developmental PCD in plants is a pivotal prerequisite for future research into the molecular mechanisms of cell death execution.
More Related Videos
12:01Long-term, High-resolution Confocal Time Lapse Imaging of Arabidopsis Cotyledon Epidermis during Germination
Published on: December 31, 2012
09:41Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification TRAP to Investigate Arabidopsis thaliana Root Development at a Cell Type-Specific Scale
Published on: May 14, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Cell Death
Cell death was observed in the early 19th century, but there was no experimental evidence to prove it. In 1842, Carl Vogt first discovered cell death in a metamorphic toad; however, it was not termed ‘cell death.’ Scientists discovered different cell death pathways only in the...
The Cell Cycle Control System
Cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) are the primary cell cycle regulators and...
Morphogenesis
Apoptosis
Cell Signaling in Plants
Autophagic Cell Death
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and...