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Polymerization-mediated SRFR1 condensation in upper lateral root cap cells regulates root growth

ABSTRACT: Plant growth and development depend on precise responses to environmental and developmental cues. Primary root growth, regulated by internal hormone signals, must adapt to external factors such as water availability, soil compactness, pH, and microbial interactions. An essential step in root growth consists of cell divisions in the meristem, with outermost root cap layer thought to provide protection. However, recent studies reveal that lateral root cap (LRC) cells play critical regulatory roles beyond protection. In this study, we identified an LRC-specific protein condensation mechanism governing root growth. We demonstrated that SRFR1 forms condensates specifically in upper LRCs and their accumulation is dynamically modulated by both growth conditions and hormone treatment. SRFR1 condensate formation is driven by its plant-associated N-terminal tetratricopeptide repeat (PANT) polymerization domain and finetuned by the adjacent intrinsically disordered region 1 (IDR1). Mutational and biophysical analyses show that IDR1’s zwitterionic nature is essential for its regulatory role, acting as a chaperone to promote PANT polymerization at low temperatures while preventing aggregation at high temperatures. This enables SRFR1 condensate formation across a wide temperature range. Notably, the zwitterionic IDR1 can be functionally substituted by zwitterionic dehydrins. Shifting IDR1 towards a negative state impairs condensate formation, whereas a positive shift enhances SRFR1 condensation and further improves root growth. The association of zwitterionic IDRs with polymerization domains is common, suggesting that this mechanism broadly prevents irreversible aggregation and promotes physiological polymerization under varying temperatures.

INSTRUMENT(S):

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis Thaliana (mouse-ear Cress)

SUBMITTER: Thao Nguyen

LAB HEAD: Gassmann, Walter

PROVIDER: PXD069457 | Pride | 2026-01-05

REPOSITORIES: Pride

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			Action	DRS
	20250618_115754_Jianbin_arabidopsis_IP_June2025.sne	Other
	Jianbin_Ctrl_1_S2-A3_1_7686.d.zip	Other
	Jianbin_Ctrl_2_S2-A4_1_7687.d.zip	Other
	Jianbin_Ctrl_3_S2-A5_1_7688.d.zip	Other
	Jianbin_WT_1_S2-A6_1_7689.d.zip	Other

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Project description:Cellular responses to maladaptive environmental changes—stresses—allow for organismal adaptation to diverse and dynamic conditions. Across the tree of life, cells upregulate a highly conserved transcriptional program in response to so-called proteotoxic stresses such as heat shock. Correspondingly, in eukaryotes, these stresses induce the formation of biomolecular condensates, clusters of mRNA and protein which are referred to as stress granules under severe stress. However, major questions remain about this stress-induced response. How conserved is the condensation response relative to the transcriptional response? How does it vary across environmental niches, and to what extent does it correspond with the conserved transcriptional response? To answer these fundamental questions, we studied the growth, transcriptional, and condensation heat-induced stress responses in three fungal species adapted to thrive in different thermal environments: cryophilic S. kudriavzevii, mesophilic S. cerevisiae, and thermotolerant K. marxianus. Here we show that transcriptional heat shock responses track each species’ evolved temperature range of growth. Further, orthologous proteins—including poly(A)-binding protein, Pab1, a core marker of stress granules—form condensates in vivo at temperatures systematically tuned to the temperature at which the organisms activate the transcriptional heat shock response and slow their growth. In vitro, purified Pab1 from each species condenses autonomously at niche-specific temperatures. Homologous mutations in Pab1 cause similar shifts in relative condensation temperature across species, and crucially, mutations which suppress condensation in vitro also reduce fitness during heat stress. Our findings indicate that stress-induced protein condensation is adaptive, conserved, integrated with the growth and transcriptional responses, and tuned to features of the cellular and organismal environment to initiate at niche-specific levels.

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Polymerization-mediated SRFR1 condensation in upper lateral root cap cells regulates root growth

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