ROS and MAPK Cascades in the Post-harvest Senescence of Horticultural Products

Chunjie Zhang,Junhao Wang,Sijia Peng,Yuru Chen,Lijuan Yu,Mohamed Hawali Bata Gouda,Haibo Luo

doi:10.35248/0974-276x.1000508

Abstract

Plants are naturally sessile and cannot move away from adverse environmental conditions. Environmental stress may induce loss of membrane integrity, which is a seminal feature of premature senescence. Therefore, plants must respond in other ways to protect themselves from abiotic and biotic stresses that involve protein kinases, which are crucial to signal transduction pathways. Protein kinases are involved in the phosphorylation of serine/threonine and tyrosine side chains of proteins. Among these protein kinases, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade genes are key components of signal transduction pathways that help transduce extracellular signals to intracellular responses in animals, plants, and fungi. Interestingly, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important and common messengers that are produced in various biotic and abiotic stresses; ROS are known to activate many of the MAPKs. In this review, we highlight the mechanisms of crosstalk between ROS and MAPK cascades in the post-harvest senescence of horticultural products and summarize recent findings about MAPK regulation and functioning in various cellular processes.

Highlights

INTRODUCTIONFresh horticultural crops are prone to post-harvest economic losses of quality and quantity due to biotic and abiotic stresses [1]
As perishable commodities, fresh horticultural crops are prone to post-harvest economic losses of quality and quantity due to biotic and abiotic stresses [1]
We highlight the mechanisms of crosstalk between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitogenactivated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades in the post-harvest senescence of horticultural products and summarize recent findings regarding MAPK regulation and functioning in various cellular processes

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Fresh horticultural crops are prone to post-harvest economic losses of quality and quantity due to biotic and abiotic stresses [1]. These stresses lead to a series of morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular changes in horticultural products [2]. MEKK1 is a common MAPKKK activated by ROS that are produced in response to both biotic and abiotic stresses. The classical MAPK signaling cascade is minimally composed of three kinases, namely, MAPK, MAPK kinase (MAPKK), and MAPKK kinase (MAPKKK) These kinases operate as sequential signal transducers that channel, integrate, and amplify information from the cellular environment to transcriptional and metabolic response centers via phosphorylation. We highlight the mechanisms of crosstalk between ROS and MAPK cascades in the post-harvest senescence of horticultural products and summarize recent findings regarding MAPK regulation and functioning in various cellular processes

LITERATURE REVIEW

DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION