The Arabidopsis thaliana Immunophilin ROF1 Directly Interacts with PI(3)P and PI(3,5)P2 and Affects Germination under Osmotic Stress

A direct interaction of the Arabidopsis thaliana immunophilin ROF1 with phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate and phosphatidylinositol-3,5-bisphosphate was identified using a phosphatidylinositol-phosphate affinity chromatography of cell suspension extracts, combined with a mass spectrometry (nano LC ESI-MS/MS) analysis. The first FK506 binding domain was shown sufficient to bind to both phosphatidylinositol-phosphate stereoisomers. GFP-tagged ROF1 under the control of a 35S promoter was localised in the cytoplasm and the cell periphery of Nicotiana tabacum leaf explants. Immunofluorescence microscopy of Arabidopsis thaliana root tips verified its cytoplasmic localization and membrane association and showed ROF1 localization in the elongation zone which was expanded to the meristematic zone in plants grown on high salt media. Endogenous ROF1 was shown to accumulate in response to high salt treatment in Arabidopsis thaliana young leaves as well as in seedlings germinated on high salt media (0.15 and 0.2 M NaCl) at both an mRNA and protein level. Plants over-expressing ROF1, (WSROF1OE), exhibited enhanced germination under salinity stress which was significantly reduced in the rof1(-) knock out mutants and abolished in the double mutants of ROF1 and of its interacting homologue ROF2 (WSrof1(-)/2(-)). Our results show that ROF1 plays an important role in the osmotic/salt stress responses of germinating Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings and suggest its involvement in salinity stress responses through a phosphatidylinositol-phosphate related protein quality control pathway.