PSKR1-mediated phosphorylation of βCA2 activates its carbonic anhydrase activity to integrate CO2 and heat signals for enhanced thermotolerance in tomato.
Lv J, Wang A, Yue C, Ying H, Ding S
Climate Adaptation
Tomatoes on your patio or in your garden suffer disproportionately when a heat wave hits during a high-CO2 summer day — understanding the switch that helps them survive opens a direct path to varieties bred for exactly that punishment.
Tomato plants have a protein that acts like a tiny sensor hub, detecting both heat and rising carbon dioxide at the same time. Scientists found that when both stressors hit simultaneously, a second protein tags the sensor with a chemical flag that switches it on, triggering the plant to produce a protective fat-like molecule that shields its cells from heat damage. This discovery explains how plants cope with the combined pressures of heat waves and elevated atmospheric CO2 — conditions that are becoming more common as the climate changes.
Key Findings
The protein βCA2 physically docks with the receptor kinase PSKR1 at the tomato cell's outer membrane, forming a dual CO2-and-heat sensing complex.
Phosphorylation at a single amino acid site (Serine-231) on βCA2 is the critical on-switch, activated most strongly when both elevated CO2 and heat stress occur together.
Activation of βCA2 drives accumulation of phosphatidic acid, a lipid signaling molecule that protects plant cells from heat damage.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered how tomato plants use a single protein to simultaneously sense rising CO2 levels and heat stress, then trigger a protective response. This molecular switch could help breed crops that survive the hotter, CO2-richer climate conditions increasingly common in fields worldwide.
Abstract Preview
Plants are increasingly subjected to concurrent heat stress and elevated CO2; however, how they perceive and integrate these combined stresses remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the β-car...
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