Heat and chilling stress induce nucleolus morphological changes

The nucleolus, where components of the ribosome are constructed, is known to play an important role in various stress responses in animals. However, little is known about the role of the plant nucleolus under environmental stresses such as heat and chilling stress. In this study, we analyzed nucleolus morphology by determining the distribution of newly synthesized rRNAs with an analog of uridine, 5-ethynyl uridine (EU). When EU was incorporated into the root of the Arabidopsis thaliana, EU signals were strongly localized in the nucleolus. The results of the short-term incorporation of EU implied that there is no compartmentation among the processes of transcription, processing, and construction of rRNAs. Nevertheless, under heat and chilling stress, EU was not incorporated into the center of the nucleolus. Morphological analyses using whole rRNA staining and differential interference contrast observations revealed speckled and round structures in the center of the nucleolus under heat and chilling stress, respectively.