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Profilin Is Essential For Tip Growth In The Moss Physcomitrella Patens, L Vidali, Rc Augustine, Kp Kleinman, M Bezanilla

Magdalena Bezanilla

The actin cytoskeleton is critical for tip growth in plants. Profilin is the main monomer actin binding protein in plant cells. The moss Physcomitrella patens has three profilin genes, which are monophyletic, suggesting a single ancestor for plant profilins. Here, we used RNA interference (RNAi) to determine the loss-of-function phenotype of profilin. Reduction of profilin leads to a complete loss of tip growth and a partial inhibition of cell division, resulting in plants with small rounded cells and fewer cells. We silenced all profilins by targeting their 3′ untranslated region sequences, enabling complementation analyses by expression of profilin coding sequences. …