In animals, PIEZOs are plasma membrane–localized cation channels involved in diverse mechanosensory processes. We investigated PIEZO function in tip-growing cells in the moss Physcomitrium patens and the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. PpPIEZO1 and PpPIEZO2 redundantly contribute to the normal growth, size, and cytoplasmic calcium oscillations of caulonemal cells. Both PpPIEZO1 and PpPIEZO2 localized to vacuolar membranes. Loss-of-function, gain-of-function, and overexpression mutants revealed that moss PIEZO homologs promote increased complexity of vacuolar membranes through tubulation, internalization, and/or fission. Arabidopsis PIEZO1 also localized to the tonoplast and is required for vacuole tubulation in the tips of pollen tubes. We propose that in plant cells the tonoplast has more freedom of movement than the plasma membrane, making it a more effective location for mechanosensory proteins.

在动物中，PIEZO 是质膜定位的阳离子通道，参与多种机械感觉过程。我们研究了 PIEZO 在苔藓Physcomitrium patens和开花植物拟南芥的尖端生长细胞中的功能。Pp PIEZO1 和Pp PIEZO2 对茎干细胞的正常生长、大小和细胞质钙振荡有多余的贡献。无论PP PIEZO1和PP的Piezo2定位于液泡膜。功能丧失、功能获得和过表达突变体表明，苔藓 PIEZO 同源物通过管状、内化和/或裂变促进液泡膜的复杂性增加。拟南芥PIEZO1 也定位于液泡膜，是花粉管尖端液泡管化所必需的。我们提出，在植物细胞中，液泡膜比质膜具有更大的运动自由度，使其成为机械感应蛋白更有效的位置。