Microscopy images (FRET method) of three different regions of a root showing changes in phosphatidic acid under salt stress over time (from left to right).
They are tiny signalling molecules that play important roles in many processes in living organisms. However, the exact function of these substances is often still unknown, which is why scientists are constantly on the lookout for new methods with which they can further investigate them. Researchers at the Universities of Münster and Nanjing (China) have developed such a method for an important messenger substance in plants, called phosphatidic acid. This lipid takes on different roles in the organism: It influences the flexibility and bending of cell membranes, regulates the metabolism of the plant and also serves as a signalling substance to regulate the localization or activity of proteins. However, researchers have not been able to find out which part of the phosphatidic acid pool in the cell has a function for the metabolism and which part serves as a signalling substance. A biosensor developed by German and Chinese scientists has now changed this: By incorporating this sensor into plants, they were able to track the activity of the phosphatidic acid spatially and temporally for the first time. "Our approach enables us to elucidate the dynamics of phosphatidic acid more precisely, especially in plants under stress," says co-author Prof. Jörg Kudla from the University of Münster.
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