A new regulatory pathway involved in plant response to oxidative stress was revealed using the iron-induced Arabidopsis ferritin AtFER1 as a model.
Using pharmacological and genetic approaches, the DownSTream (DST) cis-acting element in the 3'-untranslated region of the AtFER1 mRNA was shown to be involved in the degradation of this transcript, and oxidative stress triggers this destabilization.
In the two previously identified trans-acting mutants (dst1 and dst2), AtFER1 mRNA stability is indeed impaired.
Other iron-regulated genes containing putative DST sequences also displayed altered expression.
Further physiological characterization identified this oxidative stress-induced DST-dependent degradation pathway as an essential regulatory mechanism to modulate mRNA accumulation patterns.
Alteration of this control dramatically impacts plant oxidative physiology and growth.
In conclusion, the DST-dependent mRNA stability control appears to be an essential mechanism that allows plants to cope with adverse environmental conditions.
2012-01-04
Eng.
The EMBO journal
Biochimie et Physiologie Moléculaire des Plantes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Université Montpellier 2, Montpellier Cedex 1, France.
EMBO J. 2012 Jan;31(1):175-86
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