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Homeostasis of branched-chain amino acids is critical for the activity of TOR signaling in Arabidopsis
Journal article

Homeostasis of branched-chain amino acids is critical for the activity of TOR signaling in Arabidopsis

  • Cao, Pengfei ORCID Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
  • Kim, Sang-Jin Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
  • Xing, Anqi Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
  • Schenck, Craig A ORCID Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
  • Liu, Lu MSU-DOE Plant Research Lab, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
  • Jiang, Nan Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
  • Wang, Jie Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
  • Last, Robert L ORCID Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
  • Brandizzi, Federica ORCID Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
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  • 2019-12-6
Published in:
  • eLife. - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd. - 2019, vol. 8
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
General Immunology and Microbiology
General Neuroscience
General Medicine
English The target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase is an evolutionarily conserved hub of nutrient sensing and metabolic signaling. In plants, a functional connection of TOR activation with glucose availability was demonstrated, while it is yet unclear whether branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are a primary input of TOR signaling as they are in yeast and mammalian cells. Here, we report on the characterization of an Arabidopsis mutant over-accumulating BCAAs. Through chemical interventions targeting TOR and by examining mutants of BCAA biosynthesis and TOR signaling, we found that BCAA over-accumulation leads to up-regulation of TOR activity, which causes reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and actin-associated endomembranes. Finally, we show that activation of TOR is concomitant with alteration of cell expansion, proliferation and specialized metabolism, leading to pleiotropic effects on plant growth and development. These results demonstrate that BCAAs contribute to plant TOR activation and reveal previously uncharted downstream subcellular processes of TOR signaling.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
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Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/31237
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