Hypoxia-Induced Ethanol Production in Arabidopsis Root Apex Cells Affects Endocytic Vesicle Recycling and F-Actin Organisation

Abstract

Ethanol (EtOH) is a short-chain alcohol that is abundant in nature. EtOH is endogenously produced by plants under hypoxic conditions, and exogenously applied EtOH improves plant stress tolerance at low concentrations (<1%). However, no direct observations have shown how EtOH affects cellular events in plants. In intact Arabidopsis roots, 0.1% EtOH promoted reactive oxygen species production in root apex cells. EtOH also accelerated exocytic vesicle recycling and altered F-actin organisation, both of which are closely related to cell membrane properties. In addition to exogenous EtOH application, hypoxic treatment resulted in EtOH production in roots and degradation of the cross-wall actin cytoskeleton in root epidermal cells. We conclude that hypoxia-induced EtOH production affects endocytic vesicle recycling and associated signalling pathways.