1.
Cargo Recognition and Function of Selective Autophagy Receptors in Plants.
Luo, S, Li, X, Zhang, Y, Fu, Y, Fan, B, Zhu, C, Chen, Z
International journal of molecular sciences. 2021;(3)
Abstract
Autophagy is a major quality control system for degradation of unwanted or damaged cytoplasmic components to promote cellular homeostasis. Although non-selective bulk degradation of cytoplasm by autophagy plays a role during cellular response to nutrient deprivation, the broad roles of autophagy are primarily mediated by selective clearance of specifically targeted components. Selective autophagy relies on cargo receptors that recognize targeted components and recruit them to autophagosomes through interaction with lapidated autophagy-related protein 8 (ATG8) family proteins anchored in the membrane of the forming autophagosomes. In mammals and yeast, a large collection of selective autophagy receptors have been identified that mediate the selective autophagic degradation of organelles, aggregation-prone misfolded proteins and other unwanted or nonnative proteins. A substantial number of selective autophagy receptors have also been identified and functionally characterized in plants. Some of the autophagy receptors in plants are evolutionarily conserved with homologs in other types of organisms, while a majority of them are plant-specific or plant species-specific. Plant selective autophagy receptors mediate autophagic degradation of not only misfolded, nonactive and otherwise unwanted cellular components but also regulatory and signaling factors and play critical roles in plant responses to a broad spectrum of biotic and abiotic stresses. In this review, we summarize the research on selective autophagy in plants, with an emphasis on the cargo recognition and the biological functions of plant selective autophagy receptors.
2.
The role of C2H2 zinc finger proteins in plant responses to abiotic stresses.
Wang, K, Ding, Y, Cai, C, Chen, Z, Zhu, C
Physiologia plantarum. 2019;(4):690-700
Abstract
Abiotic stresses are important factors affecting plant growth and development and limiting agricultural production worldwide. Plants have evolved complex regulatory mechanisms to respond and adapt to constantly changing environmental conditions. C2H2 zinc finger proteins form a relatively large family of transcriptional regulators in plants. Recent studies have revealed that C2H2 zinc finger proteins function as key transcriptional regulators in plant responses to a wide spectrum of stress conditions, including extreme temperatures, salinity, drought, oxidative stress, excessive light and silique shattering. Here, we summarize recent functional analysis on C2H2 zinc finger proteins in plant responses to abiotic stresses and discuss their roles as part of a large regulatory network in the perception and responses by plants to different environmental stimuli.