Brassinosteroids regulate pavement cell growth by mediating BIN2-induced microtubule stabilization.

Brassinosteroids (BRs), a group of plant steroid hormones, play important roles in regulating plant development. The cytoskeleton also affects key developmental processes and a deficiency in BR biosynthesis or signaling leads to abnormal phenotypes similar to those of microtubule-defective mutants. However, how BRs regulate microtubule and cell morphology remains unknown. Here, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we identified tubulin proteins that interact with Arabidopsis BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE2 (BIN2), a negative regulator of BR responses in plants. In vitro and in vivo pull-down assays confirmed that BIN2 interacts with tubulin proteins. High-speed co-sedimentation assays demonstrated that BIN2 also binds microtubules. The Arabidopsis genome also encodes two BIN2 homologs, BIN2-LIKE 1 (BIL1) and BIL2, which function redundantly with BIN2. In the bin2-3 bil1 bil2 triple mutant, cortical microtubules were more sensitive to treatment with the microtubule-disrupting drug oryzalin than in wild-type, whereas in the BIN2 gain-of-function mutant bin2-1, cortical microtubules were insensitive to oryzalin treatment. These results provide important insight into how BR regulates plant pavement cell and leaf growth by mediating the stabilization of microtubules by BIN2.

KEYWORDS: {{ getKeywords(articleDetailText.words) }}