Water transport efficiency in plants is regulated by ubiquitination

August 5, 2024

This finding will open the door to boosting crop and biomass production

A research group from the University of Tokyo, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (Germany), and the RIKEN CSRS have discovered that ubiquitination, a type of post-translational protein modification, plays a crucial role in regulating the function of xylem vessel, which is responsible for water transport. This study using Arabidopsis thaliana revealed that numerous proteins are ubiquitinated during the differentiation of xylem cells, including the transcription factor VND7, which is a master regulator of xylem vessel cell differentiation. Post-translational protein modification is a vital mechanism by which organisms regulate protein function in response to environmental changes. This research is expected to advance the development of technologies that improve water use efficiency in plants and increase crop and biomass production in an environmentally sustainable way.

Original article

The Plant Cell doi: 10.1093/plcell/koae221

P. Phookaew, Y. Ma, T. Suzuki, S. C. Stolze, A. Harzen, R. Sano, H. Nakagami, T. Demura, M. Ohtani,

"Active protein ubiquitination regulates xylem vessel functionality".

Contact

Misato Ohtani; Visiting Scientist
Taku Demura; Senior Visiting Scientist
Keiji Numata; Team Leader
Biomacromolecules Research Team