Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2011
Originally Published In
Mol Plant. 2011 Sep;4(5):879-85. doi: 10.1093/mp/ssr077
Abstract
The Arabidopsis FRA1 kinesin contributes to the organization of cellulose microfibrils through an unknown mechanism. The cortical localization of this kinesin during interphase raises the possibility that it transports cell wall-related cargoes along cortical microtubules that either directly or indirectly influence cellulose microfibril patterning. To determine whether FRA1 is an authentic motor protein, we combined bulk biochemical assays and single molecule fluorescence imaging to analyze the motor properties of recombinant, GFP-tagged FRA1 containing the motor and coiled-coil domains (designated as FRA1(707)–GFP). We found that FRA1(707)–GFP binds to microtubules in an ATP-dependent manner and that its ATPase activity is dramatically stimulated by the presence of microtubules. Using single molecule studies, we found that FRA1(707)–GFP moves processively along microtubule tracks at a velocity of about 0.4 μm s−1. In addition, we found that FRA1(707)–GFP is a microtubule plus-end-directed motor and that it moves along microtubules as a dimer. Interestingly, our single molecule analysis shows that the processivity of FRA1(707)–GFP is at least twice the processivity of conventional kinesin, making FRA1 the most processive kinesin to date. Together, our data show that FRA1 is a bona fide motor protein that has the potential to drive long-distance transport of cargo along cortical microtubules.
Recommended Citation
Zhu, Chuanmei and Dixit, Ram, "Single Molecule Analysis of the Arabidopsis FRA1 Kinesin Shows that It Is a Functional Motor Protein with Unusually High Processivity" (2011). Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations. 78.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bio_facpubs/78
Comments
Final author manuscript version of Mol Plant. 2011 Sep;4(5):879-85. doi: 10.1093/mp/ssr077. © 2011 Elsevier.