Beyond Microcystins: Cyanobacterial Extracts Induce Cytoskeletal Alterations in Rice Root Cells

oleh: Dimitris Pappas, Manthos Panou, Ioannis-Dimosthenis S. Adamakis, Spyros Gkelis, Emmanuel Panteris

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-12-01

Deskripsi

Microcystins (MCs) are cyanobacterial toxins and potent inhibitors of protein phosphatases 1 (PP1) and 2A (PP2A), which are involved in plant cytoskeleton (microtubules and F-actin) organization. Therefore, studies on the toxicity of cyanobacterial products on plant cells have so far been focused on MCs. In this study, we investigated the effects of extracts from 16 (4 MC-producing and 12 non-MC-producing) cyanobacterial strains from several habitats, on various enzymes (PP1, trypsin, elastase), on the plant cytoskeleton and H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> levels in <i>Oryza sativa</i> (rice) root cells. Seedling roots were treated for various time periods (1, 12, and 24 h) with aqueous cyanobacterial extracts and underwent either immunostaining for <i>α</i>-tubulin or staining of F-actin with fluorescent phalloidin. 2,7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCF-DA) staining was performed for H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> imaging. The enzyme assays confirmed the bioactivity of the extracts of not only MC-rich (MC+), but also MC-devoid (MC−) extracts, which induced major time-dependent alterations on both components of the plant cytoskeleton. These findings suggest that a broad spectrum of bioactive cyanobacterial compounds, apart from MCs or other known cyanotoxins (such as cylindrospermopsin), can affect plants by disrupting the cytoskeleton.