New research linking fungal elicitors and root hair growth published in Plant, Cell & Environment

Although angiosperm plants generally react to immunity elicitors like chitin or chitosan by the cell wall callose deposition, this response in particular cell types, especially upon chitosan treatment, is not fully understood. In this paper we showed that the growing root hairs (RHs) of Arabidopsis can respond to a mild (0.001%) chitosan treatment by the callose deposition and by a deceleration of the RH growth. Our results thus reveal the unexpected aspects of the RH growth-defence trade-off, and set the basis for possible future modifications of the balanced resistance and fitness.

Drs M, Krupař P, Škrabálková E, Haluška S, Müller K, Potocká A, Brejšková L, Serrano N, Voxeur A, Vernhettes S, Ortmannová J, Caldarescu G, Fendrych M, Potocký M, Žárský V, Pečenková T* (2024) Chitosan stimulates root hair callose deposition and inhibits root hair growth, PLANT, CELL & ENVIRONMENT, in press, doi:10.1111/pce.15111.

Three review papers covering plant membrane domains and protein secretion published in Nature Plants and Journal of Experimental Botany

Exploring lipid–protein interactions in plant membranes

Once regarded as mere membrane building blocks, lipids are now recognized as diverse and intricate players that mold the functions, identities, and responses of cellular membranes. Although the interactions of lipids with integral and peripheral membrane proteins are crucial for their localization, activity, and function, how proteins bind lipids is still far from being thoroughly explored. We reviewed here the current range of experimental techniques employed to study plant protein–lipid interactions, integrating various methods.

Guidelines for naming and studying plasma membrane domains in plants

Biological membranes play a crucial role in actively hosting, modulating and coordinating a wide range of molecular events essential for cellular function. In this Review, experts in the field get together to provide explicit definitions of plasma membrane domains in plant systems and experimental guidelines for their study. We propose that plasma membrane domains should not be considered on the basis of their size alone but rather according to the biological system being considered, such as the local membrane environment or the entire cell.

More than meets the eye: knowns and unknowns of the trafficking of small secreted proteins in Arabidopsis

Small proteins represent a significant portion of the cargo transported through plant secretory pathways, playing crucial roles in developmental processes, fertilization, and responses to environmental stresses. We conducted a comprehensive literature review, focusing particularly on trafficking and localization of Arabidopsis small secreted proteins with potential biochemical and/or signaling roles in the extracellular space.

Top cited paper from our lab!

Congrats to Tamara Pečenková and other lab members - our work “Immunity functions of Arabidopsis pathogenesis-related 1 are coupled but not confined to its C-terminus processing and trafficking“ is a top cited paper in Molecular Plant Pathology journal!

New paper on the regulation of plant endocytosis via phase separation published in Nature Cell Biology

In this large collaborative study, several teams converged to unravel the role AtEH1/2 proteins, which is the essential subunit of the plant-specific endocytic adaptor protein complex TPC. Our team focused on the lipid-driven biomolecular condensation of the EH1/2 proteins. Using tobacco pollen tubes and leaf epidermal cells as model system, our team showed that EH1/2 condensates specifically nucleate on the plasma membrane through interactions with anionic phospholipids, and facilitate the dynamic recruitment and assembly of clathrin, early-, and late-stage endocytic accessory proteins. Importantly, this condensation also promotes ordered clathrin assemblies.

Dragwidge JM, Wang Y, Brocard L, De Meyer A, Hudeček R, Grones P, Buridan M, Chambaud C, Pejchar P, Potocký M, Winkler J, Vandorpe M, Serre N, Fendrych M, Bernard A, De Jaeger G, Pleskot R, Fang X, Van Damme D (2023) Biomolecular condensation orchestrates clathrin-mediated endocytosis in plants, NATURE CELL BIOLOGY, in press doi:10.1038/s41556-024-01354-6

New in silico study on phospholipase A2 in plants published in Frontiers in Plant Science

Plant secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) is a family of lipolytic enzymes, producing free fatty acids and lysophospholipids. We have performed a comparative analysis of sPLA2 family across plants, focusing on gene distribution, phylogenetic analysis, tissue-specific expression, and homology modeling. As a surprise, we described a novel subfamily present in all plant lineages and lacking secretory peptide, which we termed PLA2-like.

Saddhe AA, Potocký M* (2023) Comparative phylogenomic and structural analysis of canonical secretory PLA2 and novel PLA2-like family in plants. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 14:1118670. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1118670

New hypothesis paper on secretion of small proteins published in Plant Signaling and Behavior

Small secreted proteins play an important role in plant development, as well as in reactions to changes in the environment. Our survey of the existing literature for the pathogenesis-related (PR) 1-like and Clavata3/Endosperm Surrounding Region (CLE) families showed a lack of details on their localization, trafficking, and exocytosis. Therefore, in order to uncover the modes of their secretion, we tested the hypothesis that a direct link between the secreted cargoes and the secretion regulators such as Rab GTPases, SNAREs, and exocyst subunits could be established using in silico co-expression and clustering approaches.

Pečenková T*, Potocký M (2023) Small secreted proteins and exocytosis regulators: do they go along? PLANT SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR, 18:1, doi: 10.1080/15592324.2022.2163340

Our first foray into lipidomic studies is published in Frontiers in Plant Sciences

Pollen germination and subsequent pollen tube elongation are cellular processes exhibiting massive activation of membrane trafficking and cell metabolism. However, our knowledge of the dynamics of cellular phospholipids in these processes remains scarce. In this paper, we studied the turnover of the glycerolipid composition during the establishment of cell polarity and elongation processes in tobacco pollen. Moreover, we analyzed the lipid composition of pollen plasma membrane-enriched fraction for the first time.

Serrano N, Pejchar P, Soukupová H, Hubálek M, Potocký M* (2022) Comprehensive analysis of glycerolipid dynamics during tobacco pollen germination and pollen tube growth. (2022) FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 3:1028311. DOI:10.3389/fpls.2022.1028311

New paper on lipid signaling in plant immunity published in Plant Physiology

Flagellin perception is a keystone of pattern-triggered immunity in plants. In this paper we described a role for Arabidopsis DIACYLGLYCEROL KINASE 5 (DGK5) in the flagellin signaling cascade and demonstrate that the activation of DGK5 during plant-microbe recognition is required for an appropriate immune response.

Kalachova T#, Škrabálková E#, Pateyron S, Soubigou-Taconnat L, Djafi N, Collin S, Sekereš J, Burketová L, Potocký M, Pejchar P*, Ruelland E# (2022) DIACYLGLYCEROL KINASE 5 Participates in Flagellin-Induced Signaling in Arabidopsis PLANT PHYSIOLOGY in press DOI:10.1093/plphys/kiac354

New paper on the functional diversification of exocyst subunits published in Plant Journal

The exocyst complex is an octameric evolutionarily conserved tethering complex engaged in the regulation of polarized secretion in eukaryotic cells. In this paper, we focused on systematic comparison of two isoforms of the SEC15 exocyst subunit, SEC15a and SEC15b. We have documented that both isoforms are parts of the exocyst complex and play dominant roles in the exocyst-dependent secretion in the male gametophyte or sporophyte, respectively.

Batystová K, Synek L, Klejchová M, Janková Drdová E, Sabol P, Potocký M, Žárský V, Hála M*. (2022) Diversification of SEC15a and SEC15b isoforms of an exocyst subunit in seed plants is manifested in their specific roles in Arabidopsis sporophyte and male gametophyte. Plant Journal in press DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15744

New paper describing the trafficking of the PR1 protein published in Molecular Plant Pathology

The pathogenesis-related 1 (PR1) protein is frequently used for biotic stress monitoring in plants. Until now, the molecular mechanisms of its cellular processing, localization, and function were still unknown. In this work, we performed a comparative analysis of localization, trafficking, proteolysis, and immunity effects of A. thaliana PR1 and its truncated/mutated variants.

Pečenková T*, Pejchar P, Moravec T, Drs M, Haluška S, Šantrůček J, Potocká A, Žárský V, Potocký M*. (2022) Immunity functions of Arabidopsis pathogenesis-related 1 are coupled but not confined to its C-terminus processing and trafficking. Molecular Plant Pathology in press DOI:10.1111/mpp.13187

New paper on lipid signalling in tip-growing cells published in New Phytologist

Pollen tubes require a tightly regulated pectin secretion machinery to sustain the cell wall plasticity required for polar tip growth. Phosphoinositides and phosphatidic acid are nvolved in this regulation at the apical plasma membrane, but the processes regulating their production are still unclear. In collaboration with Till Ischebeck group from the University of Göttingen, we described that diacylglycerol kinase 5 plays major role in the regulation of pectin secretion in tip growing pollen tubes.

Scholz P#, Pejchar P#*, Fernkorn M, Škrabálková E, Pleskot R, Blersch B, Munnik T, Potocký M, Ischebeck T* (2022) DIACYLGLYCEROL KINASE 5 regulates polar tip growth of tobacco pollen tubes. NEW PHYTOLOGIST, in press, DOI:10.1111/nph.17930

Lukáš Synek won a prize in photography contest

Věda fotogenická is an annual photo competition organized by the Council for Science Popularization of the AS CR and endorsed by the Academic Council of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. This year, Lukáš Synek won a first prize in the category awarded by the Scientific Council. Congrats! Link to the competition webpage is here.

Another paper with cover image published

Lukáš Synek, the researcher from our lab, published a new paper, which stems from his postdoctoral work, and which showcases the beautiful microscopy. Happy to see that it was also selected for the journal cover!

Lukas Synek,Anamika Rawat,Floriane L'Haridon,Laure Weisskopf,Maged M. Saad,Heribert Hirt (2021) Multiple strategies of plant colonization by beneficial endophytic Enterobacter sp. SA187. Environmental Microscopy 23(10):6223-6240 DOI:10.1111/1462-2920.15747

Our new paper on exocyst recruitment to the plasma membrane is out in PNAS

Happy to present our new PNAS paper, showing the architecture of plant exocyst complex and the mechanism of its membrane recruitment. In plants, a single subunit EXO70A1 is doing the job via interactions with multiple lipids.

Lukáš Synek#, Roman Pleskot#, Juraj Sekereš#, Natalia Serrano, Nemanja Vukašinović, Jitka Ortmannová, Martina Klejchová, Přemysl Pejchar, Klára Batystová, Malgorzata Gutkowska, Edita Janková-Drdová, Vedrana Marković, Tamara Pečenková, Jiří Šantrůček, Viktor Žárský* and Martin Potocký* (2021) Plasma membrane phospholipid signature recruits the plant exocyst complex via the EXO70A1 subunit. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 118(36):e2105287118. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2105287118

New paper in collaboration with PSB Ghent

Another outcome of a collaboration with Daniel Van Damme lab! Here, our structural and functional studies reveal distinct but complementary roles of the EH domains of AtEH/Pan1 in plant CME and connect the internalization of SCAMP5 to the TPLATE complex.

Klaas Yperman, Anna C Papageorgiou, Romain Merceron, Steven De Munck, Yehudi Bloch, Dominique Eeckhout, Qihang Jiang, Pieter Tack, Rosa Grigoryan, Thomas Evangelidis, Jelle Van Leene, Laszlo Vincze, Peter Vandenabeele, Frank Vanhaecke, Martin Potocký, Geert De Jaeger, Savvas N Savvides*, Konstantinos Tripsianes*, Roman Pleskot*, Daniel Van Damme* (2021) Distinct EH domains of the endocytic TPLATE complex confer lipid and protein binding. Nature Communications 12(1):3050. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23314-6