Abstract
Plants rely on the carbon fixed by photosynthesis into sugars to grow and reproduce. However, plants often face non-ideal conditions caused by biotic and abiotic stresses. These constraints impose challenges to managing sugars, the most valuable plant asset. Hence, the precise management of sugars is crucial to avoid starvation under adverse conditions and sustain growth. This review explores the role of post-translational modifications (PTMs) in the modulation of carbon metabolism. PTMs consist of chemical modifications of proteins that change protein properties, including protein-protein interaction preferences, enzymatic activity, stability, and subcellular localization. We provide a holistic view of how PTMs tune resource distribution among different physiological processes to optimize plant fitness.
Highlights
Plants are sessile autotrophs that thrive in ever-changing environments
The fixed carbon is partitioned between sucrose, which is transported throughout the plant to feed sink tissues, and transitory leaf starch, the latter consumed during the night to sustain metabolic activities (Webb and Satake, 2015; Mathan et al, 2021)
In the present review, we provide a holistic update on the effects of post-translational modifications (PTMs) in carbon metabolism
Summary
Plants are sessile autotrophs that thrive in ever-changing environments. These changes can be predictable, such as the daily oscillations in light and temperature or unexpected pathogen infection, flooding, and desiccation. These are the SUCROSE NON-FERMENTING RELATED KINASE1 (SnRK1) and TARGET OF RAPAMYCIN (TOR), which are pivotal protein kinases regulating carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and the hexose-phosphorylation enzyme HEXOKINASE1 (HXK1). The energy-sensing kinase SnRK1 is a central hub integrating stress responses with carbon and energy metabolism in plants (Figure 1; Wurzinger et al, 2018; Margalha et al, 2019; Alves et al, 2021).
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