Transcriptional networks orchestrating programmed cell death during plant development

Abstract

Transcriptional gene regulation is a fundamental biological principle in the development of eukaryotes. It does not only control cell proliferation, specification, and differentiation, but also cell death processes as an integral feature of an organism's developmental program. As in animals, developmentally regulated cell death in plants occurs in numerous contexts and is of vital importance for plant vegetative and reproductive development. In comparison with the information available on the molecular regulation of programmed cell death (PCD) in animals, however, our knowledge on plant PCD still remains scarce. Here, we discuss the functions of different classes of transcription factors that have been implicated in the control of developmentally regulated cell death. Though doubtlessly representing but a first layer of PCD regulation, information on PCD-regulating transcription factors and their targets represents a promising strategy to understand the complex machinery that ensures the precise and failsafe execution of PCD processes in plant development.

Characterization of a High Hierarchical Regulator, PtrGATA12, Functioning in Differentially Regulating Secondary Wall Component Biosynthesis in Populus trichocarpa

“…Primers used for quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) of the Potri.001G188500, Potri.006G237700, Potri.018G044900, and Potri.T158300 are listed in Supplementary Table S3 . Analysis of expression levels of genes involved in cellulose biosynthesis pathways genes ( PtrCESA4 , PtrCESA7 , and PtrCESA8 ; Suzuki et al, 2006 ), xylan biosynthesis pathways genes ( PtrGT43A , PtrGT47C , and PtrGT8F ; Zhou et al, 2006 , 2007 ), lignin biosynthesis ( PtrPAL4 , PtrC4H1 , PtrC3H3 , Ptr4CL5 , PtrCCoAOMT3 , PtrCOMT2 , PtrCCR2 , PtrCAld5H2 , and PtrCAD1 ), PCD ( PtrXCP1 , PtrXCP2 , PtrRNS3 , and PtrBFN1 ; Hussey et al, 2013 ; Cubria-Radio and Nowack, 2019 ), and well-known wood-associated TFs ( PtrWND6A , PtrWND6B , PtrMYB2 , PtrMYB21 , PtrMYB157 , PtrMYB221 , PtrMYB28 , PtrMYB152 , PtrNAC105 , PtrMYB128 , PtrMYB52 , and PtrMYB54 ) in poplars ( Zhong et al, 2010a , 2011 ; Zhong and Ye, 2010 ; Hussey et al, 2013 ; Zhang et al, 2018b , 2020 ; Cubria-Radio and Nowack, 2019 ), were performed using qRT-PCR primers ( Supplementary Table S3 ). PtrActin was employed as internal controls, and the delta-delta CT method was used to quantify gene expression levels relative to PtrActin ( Taylor et al, 2019 ).…”

Editorial: Plant Programmed Cell Death Revisited

“…The two review articles of this Topic discuss critical aspects of plant cell death pathway: its transcriptional control (Burke et al) and the proteases involved in execution of cell death process (Balakireva and Zamyatnin). Burke et al highlights the role of transcription factors (TFs) in the regulation of plant PCD occurring in response to abiotic and biotic environmental triggers, complementing a recent publication by Cubría-Radío and Nowack (2019), who focused on TFs involvement during developmental PCD. Burke et al surveyed TFs from NAC, ERF and WKRY families that are involved in life-death decisions in response to environmental perturbations, including those modulating mitochondrial stress signaling.…”

Transcriptional Regulation and Signaling of Developmental Programmed Cell Death in Plants

“…For example, Ca 2+ -dependent DNases (CaN) participate in the PCD of secretory cavity cells through nuclear DNA degradation in Citrus (Bai et al, 2020). In Eucommia ulmoides, EuCaN1, and EuCaN2 were identified to be involved in secondary xylem development (Chen et al, 2012).…”

“…Over the last two decades, numerous studies unscrambling dPCD have focused on (1) the extracellular and intracellular signals that initiate dPCD or are altered during dPCD ( Gechev and Hille, 2005 ), (2) the transcriptional regulation of specific gene expression to control dPCD ( Cubría-Radío and Nowack, 2019 ), and (3) hydrolytic enzymes such as proteases and nucleases, which are key executors of dPCD ( Buono et al, 2019 ). The aim of this review is to shed light on the most common instances of dPCD in plant development, focusing on the molecular regulation of the dPCD process, to discuss future research directions contributing to a clear understanding of the mechanisms of dPCD and to take full advantage of dPCD in plants to improve the efficiency of production.…”