Review
Cell Biology
Lei Li, Kun-Hsiang Liu, Jen Sheen
Summary: This article reviews the multifaceted roles of nutrients in plants, discussing the regulation of signaling networks by sugars, nitrate, and phosphate, as well as key regulators newly discovered. The paper highlights the dynamic nutrient, energy, growth, and stress signaling networks that coordinate systemwide transcriptional, translational, and metabolic reprogramming and respond to environmental stimuli.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, VOL 37
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Magdalena Foltman, Alberto Sanchez-Diaz
Summary: This article focuses on the significance of the highly conserved TOR signaling pathway, particularly the connection between TORC1 complex in budding yeast and the cell cycle, and the importance of this connection for cell size and chromosome stability.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Limei Song, Guoyun Xu, Tingting Li, Huina Zhou, Qinlu Lin, Jia Chen, Long Wang, Dousheng Wu, Xiaoxu Li, Lifeng Wang, Sirui Zhu, Feng Yu
Summary: The TOR kinase is activated in plants by interacting with the receptor kinase FERONIA (FER), which helps regulate nitrogen and amino acid signaling under low-nutrient conditions and promotes leaf growth.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gonzalo Calo, Maria Agustina De Marco, Graciela Lidia Salerno, Giselle Maria Astrid Martinez-Noel
Summary: In this study, TOR signaling in the smallest free-living eukaryote Ostreococcus tauri was investigated. The results showed that O. tauri responds to TOR inhibitors more similarly to plants than to Chlamydomonas, and Ottor is dynamically regulated under nutritional stress. Therefore, this alga is proposed as a good and simple model for studying TOR kinase and its regulation.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alicja B. Kunkowska, Fabrizia Fontana, Federico Betti, Raphael Soeur, Gerold J. M. Beckers, Christian Meyer, Geert De Jaeger, Daan A. Weits, Elena Loreti, Pierdomenico Perata
Summary: Plants respond to oxygen deprivation by activating a set of hypoxia-responsive genes through a group of transcription factors. However, the activity of these factors is greatly reduced when the plant has limited sugar reserves, suggesting the involvement of another sensing pathway related to energy availability. The energy sensor target of rapamycin (TOR) is responsible for the oxygen sensing in plants, and its inhibition leads to a lower induction of hypoxia-responsive genes.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Christian Montes, Ping Wang, Ching-Yi Liao, Trevor M. Nolan, Gaoyuan Song, Natalie M. Clark, J. Mitch Elmore, Hongqing Guo, Diane C. Bassham, Yanhai Yin, Justin W. Walley
Summary: This study reveals the crosstalk between Brassinosteroids and Target of Rapamycin Complex in coordinating plant growth and stress responses. By quantifying the levels of transcripts, proteins, and phosphorylation sites, the researchers found that mutants with altered levels of key players in BR and TORC signaling affect a common set of gene-products involved in growth and stress responses. Additionally, a predictive network was reconstructed to define the molecular interactions between BR- or TORC-regulated growth and autophagy.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yugang Zhang, Zhewang Lin, Julia Zhu, Miao Wang, Hening Lin
Summary: Diphthamide, a modification unique to translation elongation factor 2 (EF2), suppresses -1 frameshifting in translation and affects the TORC1/mTORC1 signaling pathway. In yeast, diphthamide deficiency inhibits the translation of TORC1-activating proteins.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Liufeng Dai, Baojie Wang, Ting Wang, Etienne H. Meyer, Valentin Kettel, Natalie Hoffmann, Heather E. McFarlane, Shalan Li, Xuna Wu, Kelsey L. Picard, Patrick Giavalisco, Staffan Persson, Yi Zhang
Summary: Energy is crucial for cellular functions, but how actin dynamics are regulated by ATP levels in plant cells is not well understood. This study reveals an important role for TORC1 in coordinating ATP homeostasis and actin dynamics in plant cells.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Bjoern Heinemann, Tatjana M. Hildebrandt
Summary: Plants adapt their metabolism to stress-induced energy deficiency by undergoing significant changes in amino acid metabolism. Amino acids can act as alternative substrates for respiratory pathways and also as signaling molecules in response to stress. The regulation of amino acid metabolism during energy deprivation is controlled by the balance between TOR and SnRK signaling, with some amino acids potentially serving as nutrient signals to promote a shift from catabolic to anabolic pathways.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Michael J. Considine, Christine H. Foyer
Summary: Quiescence is an important survival mechanism in cells, where cell division is temporarily repressed. Recent studies have shown that quiescence is an actively monitored process influenced by environmental stimuli, contrary to its previous perception as an inactive state. This article provides a perspective on the quiescent state and discusses the regulation of this process by energy, nutrient and oxygen status, as well as the pathways involved in sensing and transmitting these signals. It highlights the role of canonical regulators, signaling mechanisms, mitochondrial functions, and reactive oxygen species in the orchestration of quiescence.
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Juliana Calderan-Rodrigues, Marcin Luzarowski, Carolina Cassano Monte-Bello, Romina I. Minen, Boris M. Zuehlke, Zoran Nikoloski, Aleksandra Skirycz, Camila Caldana
Summary: Plants as autotrophic organisms capture light energy to convert carbon dioxide into ATP, NADPH, and sugars for biosynthesis. During night, metabolism and growth can be sustained by mobilizing carbon reserves. Proteogenic dipeptides act as metabolic switches in plants, regulating enzymatic activities and contributing to metabolic rewiring during day-night cycles.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Syed Inzimam Ul Haq, Jun Shang, Huichun Xie, Quan-Sheng Qiu
Summary: In living organisms, the sensing and signaling of nutrients, energy, and environmental stimuli play a crucial role in regulating growth and development. Target of Rapamycin (TOR) is a protein kinase found in all eukaryotes that controls various growth and developmental pathways. TOR acts as a central hub in plants, integrating nutrients, energy, hormones, and environmental stimuli. By being activated by different nutrients, TOR promotes energy-consuming processes such as cell division, protein translation, mRNA translation, and ribosome biogenesis. Recent studies have revealed the importance of TOR in regulating the dynamic networks of nutrients and responding to abiotic stress in plants. The interplay between TOR and SnRK1 kinase in controlling nutrient deprivation and abiotic stress has also been explored.
JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Manuel J. Mallen-Ponce, Maria Esther Perez-Perez, Jose L. Crespo
Summary: Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms widely distributed on Earth and they play an important role in oxygen production and food chains. Recent studies have identified a protein called TOR, which regulates cell growth and nutrient sensing in microalgae. Conservation of TOR signaling pathway has been found in diverse microalgae.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Mohan Sharma, Manvi Sharma, Muhammed K. Jamsheer, Ashverya Laxmi
Summary: Plants have established a 'stress memory' to better cope with stress recurrences. Glucose and target of rapamycin (TOR) play important roles in stress adaptation. However, the role of TOR in modulating stress memory response is still unknown. This study found that Glucose regulates the expression of genes involved in thermomemory through TOR. Overexpression of TOR resulted in better stress endurance, while TOR RNAi showed reduced thermomemory. Thermomemory is linked with histone methylation at specific sites of heat stress genes. TOR promotes long-term accumulation of H3K4me3 on thermomemory-associated gene promoters. The study also identified TOR-activating E2Fa as a regulator of ATX1 expression, which ultimately regulates thermomemory formation.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Leszek A. Kleczkowski, Abir U. Igamberdiev
Summary: Free magnesium (Mg2+) functions as a signal of adenylate (ATP+ADP+AMP) status in cells, controlled by the equilibrium of adenylate kinase (AK) and membrane-bound adenylate- and Mg2+-translocators. Changes in [Mg2+] impact enzyme activities, metabolism, and processes like photosynthesis, under normal and stress conditions. Magnesium signaling is likely widespread in all eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms due to the ubiquitous nature of AK and its role in adenylate equilibration.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)