Nuclear movement in growing Arabidopsis root hairs involves both actin filaments and microtubules

Nuclear migration during growth and development is a conserved phenomenon among many eukaryotic species. In Arabidopsis, movement of the nucleus is important for root hair growth, but the detailed mechanism behind this movement is not well known. Previous studies in different cell types have reported that the myosin XI-I motor protein is responsible for this nuclear movement by attaching to the nuclear transmembrane protein complex WIT1/WIT2. Here, we analyzed nuclear movement in growing root hairs of wild-type, myosin xi-i, and wit1 wit2 Arabidopsis lines in the presence of actin and microtubule-disrupting inhibitors to determine the individual effects of actin filaments and microtubules on nuclear movement. We discovered that forward nuclear movement during root hair growth can occur in the absence of myosin XI-I, suggesting the presence of an alternative actin-based mechanism that mediates rapid nuclear displacements. By quantifying nuclear movements with high temporal resolution during the initial phase of inhibitor treatment, we determined that microtubules work to dampen erratic nuclear movements during root hair growth. We also observed microtubule-dependent backwards nuclear movement when actin filaments were impaired in the absence of myosin XI-I, indicating the presence of complex interactions between the cytoskeletal arrays during nuclear movements in growing root hairs. Nuclear movement in growing root hairs is driven by actin filaments with a short half-life, while myosin XI-I and microtubules play secondary roles.

Automated summary

Nuclear migration during growth and development is a conserved phenomenon among many eukaryotic species. In Arabidopsis, the movement of the nucleus is important for root hair growth. This study reveals the presence of an alternative actin-based mechanism that mediates rapid nuclear displacements in the absence of myosin XI-I. Additionally, microtubules work to dampen erratic nuclear movements during root hair growth, and complex interactions between cytoskeletal arrays are observed.