Skip to main content
The Plant Cell logoLink to The Plant Cell
. 1999 Jun;11(6):1033–1046. doi: 10.1105/tpc.11.6.1033

Hormonally regulated programmed cell death in barley aleurone cells

PC Bethke 1, JE Lonsdale 1, A Fath 1, RL Jones 1
PMCID: PMC144253  PMID: 10368175

Abstract

Cell death was studied in barley (cv Himalaya) aleurone cells treated with abscisic acid and gibberellin. Aleurone protoplasts incubated in abscisic acid remained viable in culture for at least 3 weeks, but exposure to gibberellin initiated a series of events that resulted in death. Between 4 and 8 days after incubation in gibberellin, >70% of all protoplasts died. Death, which occurred after cells became highly vacuolated, was manifest by an abrupt loss of plasma membrane integrity followed by rapid shrinkage of the cell corpse. Hydrolysis of DNA began before death and occurred as protoplasts ceased production of alpha-amylase. DNA degradation did not result in the accumulation of discrete low molecular weight fragments. DNA degradation and cell death were prevented by LY83583, an inhibitor of gibberellin signaling in barley aleurone. We conclude that cell death in aleurone cells is hormonally regulated and is the final step of a developmental program that promotes successful seedling establishment.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.1 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aubert S., Gout E., Bligny R., Marty-Mazars D., Barrieu F., Alabouvette J., Marty F., Douce R. Ultrastructural and biochemical characterization of autophagy in higher plant cells subjected to carbon deprivation: control by the supply of mitochondria with respiratory substrates. J Cell Biol. 1996 Jun;133(6):1251–1263. doi: 10.1083/jcb.133.6.1251. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bethke P. C., Hillmer S., Jones R. L. Isolation of Intact Protein Storage Vacuoles from Barley Aleurone (Identification of Aspartic and Cysteine Proteases). Plant Physiol. 1996 Feb;110(2):521–529. doi: 10.1104/pp.110.2.521. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bortner C. D., Oldenburg N. B., Cidlowski J. A. The role of DNA fragmentation in apoptosis. Trends Cell Biol. 1995 Jan;5(1):21–26. doi: 10.1016/s0962-8924(00)88932-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brown P. H., Ho T. H. Barley aleurone layers secrete a nuclease in response to gibberellic Acid : purification and partial characterization of the associated ribonuclease, deoxyribonuclease, and 3'-nucleotidase activities. Plant Physiol. 1986 Nov;82(3):801–806. doi: 10.1104/pp.82.3.801. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bush D. S., Cornejo M. J., Huang C. N., Jones R. L. Ca-stimulated secretion of alpha-amylase during development in barley aleurone protoplasts. Plant Physiol. 1986 Oct;82(2):566–574. doi: 10.1104/pp.82.2.566. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chrispeels M. J., Varner J. E. Gibberellic Acid-enhanced synthesis and release of alpha-amylase and ribonuclease by isolated barley and aleurone layers. Plant Physiol. 1967 Mar;42(3):398–406. doi: 10.1104/pp.42.3.398. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Ellis R. E., Yuan J. Y., Horvitz H. R. Mechanisms and functions of cell death. Annu Rev Cell Biol. 1991;7:663–698. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cb.07.110191.003311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fukuda Hiroo. XYLOGENESIS: INITIATION, PROGRESSION, AND CELL DEATH. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol. 1996 Jun;47(NaN):299–325. doi: 10.1146/annurev.arplant.47.1.299. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Green L. S., Faergestad E. M., Poole A., Chandler P. M. Grain Development Mutants of Barley ([alpha]-Amylase Production during Grain Maturation and Its Relation to Endogenous Gibberellic Acid Content). Plant Physiol. 1997 May;114(1):203–212. doi: 10.1104/pp.114.1.203. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Greenberg J. T. Programmed cell death: a way of life for plants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Oct 29;93(22):12094–12097. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.22.12094. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jones R. L., Jacobsen J. V. Regulation of synthesis and transport of secreted proteins in cereal aleurone. Int Rev Cytol. 1991;126:49–88. doi: 10.1016/s0074-7696(08)60682-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kuo A., Cappelluti S., Cervantes-Cervantes M., Rodriguez M., Bush D. S. Okadaic acid, a protein phosphatase inhibitor, blocks calcium changes, gene expression, and cell death induced by gibberellin in wheat aleurone cells. Plant Cell. 1996 Feb;8(2):259–269. doi: 10.1105/tpc.8.2.259. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Levine A., Pennell R. I., Alvarez M. E., Palmer R., Lamb C. Calcium-mediated apoptosis in a plant hypersensitive disease resistance response. Curr Biol. 1996 Apr 1;6(4):427–437. doi: 10.1016/s0960-9822(02)00510-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mittler R., Lam E. In Situ Detection of nDNA Fragmentation during the Differentiation of Tracheary Elements in Higher Plants. Plant Physiol. 1995 Jun;108(2):489–493. doi: 10.1104/pp.108.2.489. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pennell R. I., Lamb C. Programmed Cell Death in Plants. Plant Cell. 1997 Jul;9(7):1157–1168. doi: 10.1105/tpc.9.7.1157. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Penson S. P., Schuurink R. C., Fath A., Gubler F., Jacobsen J. V., Jones R. L. cGMP Is Required for Gibberellic Acid-Induced Gene Expression in Barley Aleurone. Plant Cell. 1996 Dec;8(12):2325–2333. doi: 10.1105/tpc.8.12.2325. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Swanson SJ, Bethke PC, Jones RL. Barley aleurone cells contain two types of vacuoles. Characterization Of lytic organelles by use of fluorescent probes . Plant Cell. 1998 May;10(5):685–698. doi: 10.1105/tpc.10.5.685. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wang H., Li J., Bostock R. M., Gilchrist D. G. Apoptosis: A Functional Paradigm for Programmed Plant Cell Death Induced by a Host-Selective Phytotoxin and Invoked during Development. Plant Cell. 1996 Mar;8(3):375–391. doi: 10.1105/tpc.8.3.375. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wang M., Oppedijk B. J., Lu X., Van Duijn B., Schilperoort R. A. Apoptosis in barley aleurone during germination and its inhibition by abscisic acid. Plant Mol Biol. 1996 Dec;32(6):1125–1134. doi: 10.1007/BF00041396. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Plant Cell are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES