Euchromatin Peripheral Organization Follows Anterograde Signalling Under Anaesthetic Stress

Abstract

Anterograde and retrograde signalling establish bidirectional communication between the nucleus and chloroplasts. Retrograde signals from chloroplasts regulate nuclear gene expression while anterograde signals from the nucleus coordinate chloroplast development and maintain cellular homeostasis. How this bidirectional signalling framework extends beyond locus-specific regulation to shape the global spatial organization of nuclear chromatin across tissues remains unclear. Although anaesthesia can alter chromatin organisation, the role of chloroplast dysfunction in these changes remains unclear. Here, we investigate how chloroplast dysfunction and anaesthesia influence euchromatin and heterochromatin organisation in Solanum lycopersicum seedlings across tissues with contrasting photosynthetic competence. Using confocal and super-resolution radial fluctuation (SRRF) imaging with quantitative multiparameter analysis, we identify distinct, tissue-specific chromatin responses to chloroplast disruption and anaesthesia. Notably, anaesthesia induces distinct spatial chromatin changes across tissues that are independent of chloroplast dysfunction, suggesting a direct nuclear response to anaesthesia rather than a chloroplast-mediated retrograde effect. These findings highlight chromatin topology as a potential quantitative biomarker of cellular disruption and provide a framework for investigating anterograde chloroplast-nucleus coordination and stress-responsive nuclear organisation in plants.