Acute remodeling of phosphoinositide lipids promotes endocytosis downstream of RALF/FERONIA signaling.
Serre NBC, Smokvarska M, Latul E, Bayle V, Rozier F
Plant Signaling
Every tomato, apple, and flower in your garden depends on cells that can instantly reconfigure themselves when attacked by pathogens, and this research reveals one of the molecular switches that makes that lightning-fast response possible.
Plant cells are covered in tiny sensors that detect alarm signals from neighboring cells or invading microbes. This study found that when one particular sensor — called the FERONIA receptor — picks up an alarm signal, it triggers a rapid reshuffling of special fat molecules embedded in the cell's outer skin. That reshuffling acts like a signal flare inside the cell, causing it to pull certain surface proteins inward so it can change how it responds to whatever threat or cue it detected.
Key Findings
RALF peptide signals activate the FERONIA receptor, which triggers acute (rapid) remodeling of phosphoinositide lipids at the plasma membrane
The lipid remodeling is a downstream consequence of FERONIA signaling and is required to drive endocytosis — the internalization of cell surface cargo
Phosphoinositides act as molecular gatekeepers that link extracellular peptide perception to internal cellular reorganization, revealing a direct lipid-signaling axis in plant immunity and development
chevron_right Technical Summary
Plants use a class of signaling lipids called phosphoinositides to rapidly reorganize their cell surfaces in response to molecular danger signals. This study shows that when plants detect stress-related peptides (RALFs) through a surface receptor called FERONIA, they quickly reshape these lipids to trigger endocytosis — the process by which cells internalize proteins from their outer membrane.
Abstract Preview
Phosphoinositides are signaling lipids that regulate cellular responses by acting as gatekeepers of organelle identity or modulating protein localization and activity.
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Chloroplast Genome Editing Eliminates Gluten Immunogenicity in Triticum aestivum
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
Arabidopsis thaliana, the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small plant from the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and Africa. Commonly found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land, it is generally considered a weed.