Actin filaments responsible for the location of the nucleus in the lentil statocyte are sensitive to gravity

Abstract

The location of the nucleus in statocytes of lentil roots Lens culinaris grown: 1), at 1 g on the ground, 2), on a 1 g centrifuge in space 3), in simulated microgravity on a slowly rotating clinostat (0.9 rmp) 4), in microgravity in space was investigated and statistically evaluated. In cells differentiated at 1 g on the ground, the nuclear membrane was almost in contact with the plasmalemma lining the proximal cell wall, whereas in statocytes of roots grown on the clinostat there was a distance of 0.47 .mu.M (horizontal clinorotation) and of 0.76 .mu.m (vertical clinorotation) between these membranes. However, in microgravity the nucleus was the most displaced, 0.87 .mu.m from the proximal cell wall. Centrifugation of vertically grown roots in the root-tip direction showed that the threshold of centrifugal force to detach all nuclei from the proximal cell wall was about 40 g. In statocytes developed in the presence of cytochalasin B at 1 g the nuclei were sedimented on the amyloplasts at the distal cell pole, demonstrating that the location of the nucleus depends on actin filaments. The results obtained are in agreement with the hypothesis that gravity causes a tension of actin filaments and that this part of the cytoskeleton undergoes a relaxation in microgravity.