Enrichment of vitronectin‐ and fibronectin‐like proteins in NaCl‐adapted plant cells and evidence for their involvement in plasma membrane–cell wall adhesion

Summary Cells of tobacco adapted to grow in high concentrations of NaCl develop tight zones of adhesion between the plasma membrane and cell wall, revealed by concave plasmolysis in osmotic solutions. Unadapted cells exhibit mostly convex plasmolysis and exhibit little or no adhesive character. Wall‐less protoplasts isolated from the adapted cells retain the complementary adhesive character and adhere tightly to each other, whereas protoplasts from unadapted cells do not. The hexapeptide gly‐ arg‐gly‐asp ‐ser‐pro, in which the arg‐gly‐asp represents the integrin‐binding domain of several animal extracellular matrix proteins, specifically blocks adhesion of the protoplasts. A control hexapeptide, gly‐arg‐gly‐glu‐ser‐pro, is ineffective in blocking adhesion. Tobacco proteins immunologically related to human vitronectin were found in cell walls and membranes of unadapted and NaCl‐adapted cells, but the total extractable vitronectin‐like protein was enriched in the adapted cells. Tobacco proteins immunologically related to human fibronectin were found in membranes and cell walls of NaCl‐adapted cells but not in those from unadapted cells. Our observations indicate that plant cells possess cell‐matrix adhesion complexes similar to animal cells, and these adhesion complexes accumulate in growth‐limited cells adapted to saline stress.