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Plasma Membrane Fluidity: An Environment Thermal Detector in Plants.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Cano-Ramirez, Dora L  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5713-8284
Carmona-Salazar, Laura  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9192-824X
Morales-Cedillo, Francisco 
Ramírez-Salcedo, Jorge  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8900-9209
Cahoon, Edgar B 

Abstract

The lipid matrix in cell membranes is a dynamic, bidimensional array of amphipathic molecules exhibiting mesomorphism, which contributes to the membrane fluidity changes in response to temperature fluctuation. As sessile organisms, plants must rapidly and accurately respond to environmental thermal variations. However, mechanisms underlying temperature perception in plants are poorly understood. We studied the thermal plasticity of membrane fluidity using three fluorescent probes across a temperature range of -5 to 41 °C in isolated microsomal fraction (MF), vacuolar membrane (VM), and plasma membrane (PM) vesicles from Arabidopsis plants. Results showed that PM were highly fluid and exhibited more phase transitions and hysteresis, while VM and MF lacked such attributes. These findings suggest that PM is an important cell hub with the capacity to rapidly undergo fluidity modifications in response to small changes of temperatures in ranges spanning those experienced in natural habitats. PM fluidity behaves as an ideal temperature detector: it is always present, covers the whole cell, responds quickly and with sensitivity to temperature variations, functions with a cell free-energy cost, and it is physically connected with potential thermal signal transducers to elicit a cell response. It is an optimal alternative for temperature detection selected for the plant kingdom.

Description

Keywords

lipids, membrane fluidity, membrane lipids, plant membranes, plasma membrane, temperature perception, Arabidopsis, Cell Membrane, Fluorescent Dyes, Membrane Fluidity, Temperature, Vacuoles

Journal Title

Cells

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2073-4409
2073-4409

Volume Title

10

Publisher

MDPI AG
Sponsorship
Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (PAPIIT IN222815, IN220618, IN222621)
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (238368)
Facultad de Química, UNAM (PAIP 5000 9115, MCB-1818297)