The microtubule-associated protein CLASP is translationally-regulated in light-dependent root apical meristem growth

ABSTRACT The ability for plant growth to be optimized, either in the light or dark, depends on the intricate balance between cell division and differentiation in specialized regions called meristems. When Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings are grown in the dark, hypocotyl elongation is promoted, whereas root growth is greatly reduced as a result of changes in hormone transport and a reduction in meristematic cell proliferation. Previous work showed that the microtubule-associated protein CLASP sustains root apical meristem (RAM) size by influencing microtubule (MT) organization and by modulating the brassinosteroid (BR) signalling pathway. Here, we investigated whether CLASP is involved in light-dependent root growth promotion, since dark-grown seedlings have reduced RAM activity that is observed in the clasp-1 null mutant. We showed that CLASP protein levels were greatly reduced in the root tips of dark-grown seedlings, which could be reversed by exposing plants to light. We confirmed that removing seedlings from the light led to a discernible shift in MT organization from bundled arrays, which are prominent in dividing cells, to transverse orientations typically observed in cells that have exited the meristem. BR receptors and auxin transporters, both of which are sustained by CLASP, were largely degraded in the dark. Interestingly, we found that despite the lack of protein, CLASP transcript levels were higher in dark-grown root tips. Together, these findings uncover a mechanism that sustains meristem homeostasis through CLASP, and advances our understanding of how roots modulate their growth according to the amount of light and nutrients perceived by the plant. One Sentence Summary The microtubule-associated protein CLASP is regulated at the translational level when root meristem growth is inhibited in dark-grown plants.