Autophagy “eats” paternal mitochondria in rice
Plant Science Research WeeklyIn plants, maternal inheritance of mitochondria is a common phenomenon, resulting from the elimination of paternal mitochondrial DNA during pollen development or by the degradation of paternal mitochondria after fertilization. A recent study by Aini et al. provides new insights into the fate of paternal…
Coordinating plant growth and stress resistance via N-terminal protein acetylation
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe mechanisms by which plants switch between growth and stress survival remain somewhat enigmatic. Following on from previous studies, Gong et al. revealed that the conserved N-terminal acetyltransferase B (NatB) helps regulate this balance. Arabidopsis mutants lacking the catalytic subunit of NatB,…
How selective autophagy protects plants from self-damage upon infection
Plant Science Research WeeklyAutophagy is a conserved cellular recycling process that clears unwanted components and helps maintain balance under stress. In plants, immunity protects against invading pathogens, but how autophagy regulates this defense system has remained unclear. To address this question, Clavel and colleagues challenged…
Conjugation of ATG8 to vacuolar membranes as a response to cell wall damage
Plant Science Research WeeklyATG8 is a well-characterized protein involved in autophagy that binds to the double-membrane enclosed phagophore. In a new preprint, Julian et al. explore their finding that ATG8 binds to the single-membrane enclosed vacuolar membrane (tonoplast). They observed that this binding is enhanced by treatments…
Review. Autophagy: A key player in the recovery of plants from heat stress
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants have a remarkable ability to adapt to stress. For many stresses, plants respond to short-term mild exposure by becoming more tolerant to subsequent harsher stresses that would otherwise be lethal; this effect is known as priming. Priming occurs through several mechanisms that can include changes…
Autophagy regulation by HLS1-mediated acetylation
The Plant Cell: In a NutshellHuang et al. explore the molecular mechanism underlying the regulation of autophagy by HLS1.
https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad252
By Li Huang, Xing Wen, Lian Jin, Huihui Han, and Hongwei Guo
New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Institute of Plant and Food Science, Department of Biology,…
Selective autophagy of THOUSAND GRAIN WEIGHT 6 protein
Plant Science Research WeeklyRice is a globally important crop, therefore increasing yield without compromising quality is of much interest. A reduction in the amount of the TGW6 (THOUSAND-GRAIN WEIGHT 6) protein is associated with improved grain yield and quality in rice. However, we do not fully understand how TGW6 protein levels…
Discovering autophagy protein cargo by protein turnover analysis in Arabidopsis
The Plant Cell: In a NutshellLi et al. explore the nature of proteins that accumulate in mutants deficient in autophagy machinery.
Plant Cell
Lei Li1,2 and A. Harvey Millar2
Frontiers Science Center for Cell Responses, Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, 300071 Tianjin,…
Autophagy promotes photomorphogenesis during seedling development (bioRxiv)
Plant Science Research WeeklyAutophagy is an intracellular evolutionarily conserved catabolic process that degrades cytoplasmic constituents and organelles in lytic vacuoles (micro- and macro-autophagy) or in the cytosol (mega-autophagy). Autophagy can be induced by biotic or abiotic stresses, sugar, carbon and nutrient starvation…