Molecular oxygen as a signaling component in plant development
New Phytologist, vol. 229, pp. 24–35
Abstract
While traditionally hypoxia has been studied as a detrimental component of flooding stress, the last decade has flourished with studies reporting the involvement of molecular oxygen availability in plant developmental processes. Moreover, proliferating and undifferentiated cells from different plant tissues were found to reside in endogenously generated hypoxic niches. Thus, stress-associated acute hypoxia may be distinguished from constitutively generated chronic hypoxia. The Cys/Arg branch of the N-degron pathway assumes a central role in integrating oxygen levels resulting in proteolysis of transcriptional regulators that control different aspects of plant growth and development. As a target of this pathway, group VII of the Ethylene Response Factor (ERF-VII) family has emerged as a hub for the integration of oxygen dynamics in root development and during seedling establishment. Additionally, vegetative shoot meristem activity and reproductive transition were recently associated with oxygen availability via two novel substrates of the N-degron pathways: VERNALISATION 2 (VRN2) and LITTLE ZIPPER 2 (ZPR2). Together, these observations support roles for molecular oxygen as a signalling molecule in plant development, as well as in essential metabolic reactions. Here, we review recent findings regarding oxygen-regulated development, and discuss outstanding questions that spring from these discoveries.
Authors 3
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Daan A. Weits corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Plantlab Institute of Life Sciences Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa 56010 Italy
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Biology I RWTH Aachen University Aachen 52074 Germany
Institute of Biology I, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, 52074 Germany
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University of Pisa · Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
Affiliation as printed
Biology Department University of Pisa Pisa 56126 Italy
Plantlab Institute of Life Sciences Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa 56010 Italy
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