Glutamate signalling via a MEKK1 kinase-dependent pathway induces changes in Arabidopsis root architecture.

ABSTRACT: A chemical genetic approach has been used to investigate the mechanism by which external glutamate (l-Glu) is able to trigger major changes in root architecture in Arabidopsis thaliana L. An initial screen of 80 agonists and antagonists of mammalian glutamate and GABA receptors, using a specially developed 96-well microphenotyping system, found none that replicated the response of the root to l-Glu or antagonized it. However, a larger screen using >1500 molecules bioactive in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) identified two groups that interfered with the l-Glu response. One of the antagonists, 2-(4-chloro-3-methylphenyl)-2-oxoethyl thiocyanate (CMOT), has been reported to target Ste11, an evolutionarily conserved MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) in yeast. This led to the discovery that roo

SUBMITTER: Forde BG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3739925 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature