Proteins among the polysaccharides: a new perspective on root cap slime.

Charles Darwin recognized the power of the root cap as a model for plant signalling and behavior, and used it to explore the ways plants sense and respond to diverse stimuli. Over ensuing decades, various groups have reported tantalizing clues regarding the role of a complex extracellular matrix that ensheaths the tip region housing the apical and root cap meristems. In the course of characterizing root tip resistance to infection and injury and the role border cells play in this phenomenon, we confirmed and extended early- and mid-20(th) century studies reporting enzyme activities secreted from the root cap. Multidimensional protein analysis revealed, in fact, that >100 proteins are actively synthesized and secreted from the root cap and border cells. This 'root cap secretome' appears to be a critical component of root tip resistance to infection. We have developed a microscopic assay to quantify the protein-based extracellular response to dynamic changes in environmental conditions including hydroponic culture, and present the results here. This tool provides a simple, direct measure that can be used to explore the ways border cells may function in the manner of white blood cells to trap, immobilize and neutralize threats to the growing root tip.