• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.287-293
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• 1996

The effect of taxol and ethyl-N-phenylcarbamate (EPC) on the growth and gravitropism of maize roots and coleoptiles was studied. Taxol is known to promote the assembly of microtubules (MTs) and stabilizes MTs by preventing depolymerization. EPC, on the contrary, is an anti-microtubule drug that promotes disassembly of MTs. Taxol, at 1 $\mu$M, inhibited gravitropic response of maize roots to about 40%, but did not inhibit growth; at 10 $\mu$M, it inhibited the gravitropic response of coleoptile segments of maize by approximately 50%, but did not inhibit growth, while 0.5 mM EPC inhibited both the gravitropic response and growth of maize roots by approximately 50%. Taxol, which inhibited the gravitropic response of maize roots and coleoptile segments, had no effect on either the polar or the bilateral transport of auxin. These results indicated that MT polymerization could not occur normally with taxol or EPC, so that if there was any abnormal rearrangement of MT, the gravitropic response was inhibited, which resulted from the inhibition of neither growth nor auxin transport. This results suggested that gravitropic response was related to the MT arrangement, and that both straight growth and the differential growth in gravitropic response could be regulated by different mechanisms.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.1139-1144
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• 2009

It has been known that brassiolide (BL) increased the positive gravitropic response and ethylene production in maize roots. This study examined the relationship between the BL-induced gravitropic response and ethylene Production. The ethylene production was inhibited to about 90% of the control by the treatment of $10^{-4}$ M aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG), the ethylene synthesis inhibitor. However, the gravitropic response did not show any significant changes compared to the control at $10^{-4}$ M AVG. In the case of treatment of AVG with BL, the ethylene production decreased to 60% of the control. However, the gravitropic response increased to the level which was induced by BL. Cobalt ions, another ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor, inhibited ethylene production, but not gravitropic response. When roots were treated with BL and cobalt ions, they showed the inhibition of ethylene production and promotion of gravitropic response. To elucidate the possibility that the effect of BL is related to auxin transport, roots were treated with TIBA (2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid), an auxin transport inhibitor. Both treatment of TIBA alone and TIBA with BL stimulated ethylene production to about 96% and 132%, respectively. However, gravitropic response was completely inhibited in both treatments. Further, roots treated with BL in the presence of TIBA and IAA showed a negative gravitropic response, which means that IAA accumulates in the upper side of horizontal roots. Root elongation was also stimulated in this treatment. Taken together, these results suggest that BL might affect the differential distribution of internal IAA on roots, causing the regulation of positive gravitropic response.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.597-603
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• 2018

Inhibitory effect of colchicine on growth and gravitropic responses in Arabidopsis root was explored to find whether there was an involvement of ethylene production. It has been known that cytoskeleton components are implicated in sedimentation of statoliths to respond to gravitropism and growth. The root growth was inhibited by 25% and 40% over control for 8 hr treatment of colchicine at a concentration of $10^{-5}M$ and $10^{-7}M$, respectively. The roots treated with colchicine at the concentration of $10^{-7}M$ showed the same pattern as control in 3 hr, however, gravitropic response was decreased in the next 5 hr. The colchicine treatment at the concentration of $10^{-5}M$ inhibited the gravitropic response resulting in $60^{\circ}$ of curvature. In order to better understand the role of colchicine, the production of ethylene was measured with and without the treatment of colchicine. Colchicine increased the ethylene production by 20% when compared to control via the activation of ACC oxidase and ACC synthase activity. These results suggest that the inhibition of the growth and gravitropic responses of Arabidopsis roots by the treatment of colchicine could be attributed to the rearrangement of microtubule, and increase of ethylene production.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1364-1370
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• 2014

Ascorbic acid (AA) is a multifunctional metabolite in plants that is essential for plant development and growth. We examined the effect of AA, an antioxidant, on the gravitropic response of primary roots in maize. The application of $10^{-3}$ M AA to the elongation zone did not affect the gravitropic response and slightly inhibited the root growth. However, treatment with both $10^{-5}$ M and $10^{-3}$ M AA at the root tip increased the gravitropic response and inhibited root growth. Differences in indole-3- acetic acid (IAA) activity between the upper and lower hemispheres of the root resulted in differential elongation along the horizontal root. Roots are extremely sensitive to IAA, and increasing the amount of IAA in the lower hemisphere of the root inhibited elongation. Therefore, we examined the effect of IAA in the presence of AA. The inhibitory effect of AA on the gravitropic response was greater in combination with IAA. To understand the role of AA in the regulation of root growth and the gravitropic response, we measured ethylene production in the presence of AA in the primary roots of maize. AA stimulated ethylene production via the activation of the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) oxidase gene, which regulates the conversion of ACC to ethylene. These results suggest that AA alters the gravitropic response of maize roots through modification of the action of ethylene.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1223-1229
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• 2015

Oryzalin is a dinitroaniline herbicide, which disrupts the arrangement of microtubules. Microtubules and microfilaments are cytoskeletal components that are thought to play a role in the sedimentation of statoliths and the formation of cell walls. Statoliths regulate the perception of gravity by columella cells in the root tip. To determine the effect of oryzalin on the gravitropic response, ethylene production in primary roots of maize was investigated. Treatment with 10^-4 M oryzalin to the root tip inhibited the growth and gravitropic response of the roots. However, the treatment had no effect on the elongation zone of the roots. An application of 10^-4 M oryzalin for 15 hr to the root tip caused root tip swelling. The application of 1-aminocycopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), a precursor of ethylene, to the root tip also inhibited the gravitropic response. To understand the role of oryzalin in the regulation of the growth and gravitropic response of roots, ethylene production in the primary roots of maize was measured following treatment with oryzalin. Oryzalin stimulated ethylene production via the activation of ACC oxidase (ACO) and ACC synthase (ACS), and it increased the expression of ACO and ACS genes. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) played a key role in the asymmetric elongation rates observed during gravitropism. The results suggest that oryzalin alters the gravitropic response of maize roots through modification of the arrangement of microtubules. This might reduce the distribution of IAA in the upper and lower sides of the elongation zone and increase ethylene production, thereby inhibiting growth and gravitropic responses.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.148-153
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• 2008

Phytochrome double mutant (PhyAB) showed the delayed root gravitropic response compared to the wild type (WT) in Arabidopsis. After 8 hr of gravistimulation, the gravitropic response of mutant showed 48% of the WT. The delayed response started at 1.5 hr after gravistimulation. And we measured the ethylene production in the root segments of WT and mutant for 12 hr. Ethylene production of mutant decreased about 40% of the WT at 12 hr. This result suggested that the phytochrome might be linked with ethylene production in some way. Generally, ethylene inhibits the growth of plant organs including roots. We measured the root growth rate in the presence of ACC (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid), a precursor of ethylene. And WT showed the inhibition of root growth with ACC, but mutant did not show the inhibition as WT did. To confirm the relationship between the ethylene and gravitropic response, we measured the gravitropic response with ACC. In the presence of $10^{-6}$ M ACC, WT showed the 37.4% inhibition compared to the control (no ACC), whereas mutant showed the only 6.6% inhibition of control (no ACC). This research suggested the relationship between phytochrome and gravitropic response through an ethylene production.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2021

Oryzalin is a dinitroaniline herbicide that has been known to disrupt microtubules. Microtubules and microfilaments are components of cytoskeletons that are implicated in plant cell growth, which requires the synthesis of cellulose when cell walls elongate. In addition, microtubules are also involved in the sedimentation of statoliths, which regulate the perception of gravity in the columella cells of root tips. In this study, we investigated the effect of oryzalin on the growth and gravitropic response of Arabidopsis roots. The role of ethylene in oryzalin's effect was also examined using these roots. Treatment of oryzalin at a concentration of 10-4 M completely inhibited the roots' growth and gravitropic response. At a concentration of 10-6 M oryzalin, root growth was inhibited by 47% at 8 hr when compared to control. Gravitropic response was inhibited by about 38% compared to control in roots treated with 10-6 M oryzalin for 4 hr. To understand the role of oryzalin in the regulation of root growth and gravitropic response, we measured ethylene production in root segments treated with oryzalin. It was found that the addition of oryzalin stimulated ethylene production through the activation of ACC oxidase and ACC synthase genes, which are key components in the synthesis of ethylene. From these findings, it can be inferred that oryzalin inhibits the growth and gravitropic response of Arabidopsis roots by stimulating ethylene production. The increased ethylene alters the arrangement of the microtubules, which eventually interferes with the growth of the cell wall.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.148-153
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• 2006

While the underlying molecular mechanism remains to be elucidated, recent studies suggest that polar auxin transport is a key controlling factor in triggering differential growth responses to gravity. Identification of regulatory components in auxin-mediated differential cell expansion would improve our understanding of the gravitropic response. In this study, we identify a mutant designated aux1-like(later changed to aux1), an allele of the aux1 mutant that exhibits a severely disrupted root gravitropic response, but no defects in developmental processes. In Arabidopsis, AUX1 encodes an auxin influx carrier. Since in-depth characterization of the gravitropic response caused by mutations in this gene has been performed previously, we focused on identifying the downstream genes that were differentially expressed compared to wild-type plants. Consistent with the mutant phenotype, the transcription of the auxin-responsive genes IAA17 and GH3 were altered in aux1 plants treated with IAA, 2, 4-D and NAA. In addition, we identified two expansin genes EXP10 and EXPL3 that exhibited different expression in wild-type and mutant plants.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.87-91
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• 2012

Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), a known tumor-promoting phorbol ester, activates the signal transduction enzyme protein kinase C (PKC) in animal cells. We investigated the effect of PMA on the regulation of gravitropism via ethylene production in primary roots of maize. PMA stimulated root growth and the gravitropic response in a concentration-dependent manner at $10^{-6}$ M and $10^{-4}$ M over 8 hrs. These effects were prevented by treatment with staurosporine (STA), a potent inhibitor of PKC. These results support the possibility that the gravitropic response might be regulated through protein kinases that are involved in the signal transduction system. Ethylene is known to play a role in the regulation of root growth and gravitropism. Ethylene production was increased by about 26% and 37% of the control rate in response to $10^{-6}$ M and $10^{-4}$ M PMA, respectively. PMA also stimulated the activity of ACC synthase (ACS), which converts the S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) to 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) in the ethylene production pathway. These effects on ethylene production were also prevented by STA treatment. These results suggest that the root gravitropic response in maize is regulated through protein kinases via ethylene production.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2018

Light is essential to the growth and development of plants, and it is perceived by phytochromes, which are one of the photoreceptors that regulate physiological responses in plants. Ethylene regulates the dormancy, senescence, growth, and development of organs in plants. This research focused on the interaction of phytochromes and ethylene to control hypocotyl growth and gravitropism using phytochrome mutants of Arabidopsis, phyA, phyB, and phyAB, under three light conditions: red (R) light, farred (FR) light, and white light. The mutant phyAB exhibited the most stimulation of gravitropic response of all three phytochrome mutants and wild type (WT) in all three light conditions. Moreover, phyB in the R light condition showed more negative gravitropism than phyA. However, phyB in the FR light condition showed less curvature than phyA. The hypocotyl growth pattern was similar to the gravitropic response in several light conditions. To explain the mechanism of the regulation of gravitropic response and growth, we measured the ethylene production and activities of in vitro ACS and ACO. Ethylene production was reduced in all the mutants grown in white light in comparison to the WT. Ethylene production increased in the phyA grown in R light and phyB grown in FR light in comparison to the other mutants. The ACS activity coincided with the ethylene production in the phyA and the phyB grown in R light and FR light, respectively. These results suggest that the Pfr form of phyB in R light and the Pr form of phyA in FR light increased ethylene production via increasing ACS activity.