Heterotrimeric G Protein Signaling in Abiotic Stress

Abstract

As sessile organisms, plants exhibit extraordinary plasticity and have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to adapt and mitigate the adverse effects of environmental fluctuations. Heterotrimeric G proteins (G proteins), composed of α, β, and γ subunits, are universal signaling molecules mediating the response to a myriad of internal and external signals. Numerous studies have identified G proteins as essential components of the organismal response to stress, leading to adaptation and ultimately survival in plants and animal systems. In plants, G proteins control multiple signaling pathways regulating the response to drought, salt, cold, and heat stresses. G proteins signal through two functional modules, the Gα subunit and the Gβγ dimer, each of which can start either independent or interdependent signaling pathways. Improving the understanding of the role of G proteins in stress reactions can lead to the development of more resilient crops through traditional breeding or biotechnological methods, ensuring global food security. In this review, we summarize and discuss the current knowledge on the roles of the different G protein subunits in response to abiotic stress and suggest future directions for research.

Oryza CLIMtools: A Genome-Environment Association Resource Reveals Adaptive Roles for Heterotrimeric G Proteins in the Regulation of Rice Agronomic Traits

“…In other words, areas with lower PET are associated with more challenging and unpredictable environments (Figure 3A). We hypothesize that those landraces from areas of lower PET will have improved abiotic stress tolerance to multiple factors, a trait in which G proteins play a critical role (Wu and Urano, 2018; Wang and Botella, 2022). We illustrate this point by showcasing the improved drought tolerance of the OsRGA1 natural null mutant, d1 (Figure 3E).…”

Heterotrimeric G Protein-Mediated Signaling Is Involved in Stress-Mediated Growth Inhibition in Arabidopsis thaliana

“…Basically, G protein signaling in plants has been known to function in developmental growth, morphology, and responses to hormones and stresses [ 10 , 43 ]. In previous studies, Arabidopsis gpa1-4 and agb1-2 mutants displayed developmental defects, such as hypocotyl length and hook opening in skotomorphogenesis and seed germination, rosette leaf size/shape, flower, silique length, lateral root formation, and entire root mass under normal growth conditions [ 8 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], suggesting the various roles of G protein signaling in fundamental plant growth and development.…”

Leaf physiological and morphological constraints of water-use efficiency in C3 plants

“…Moreover, manipulation of heterotrimeric G protein signalling can improve plants’ WUE i and productivity due to higher g m rates under drought conditions ( Zait et al 2021 ). More specifically, the canonical Gα (RGA1) subunit gene of G protein regulated gm in rice, which was reflected in improved photosynthetic capacity and overall WUE ( Wang and Botella 2022 ). The optimization of g m and therefore WUE is multifaceted and incorporates multiple organizational levels from cell biochemistry to whole leaf anatomy.…”