Multitasking mediators: revealing the secret jobs of plant metacaspases
Lam, Eric (Rutgers the State University of New Jersey. Department of Plant Biology)
Sánchez Coll, Núria (Centre de Recerca en Agrigenòmica)
Liu, Qun (Brookhaven National Laboratory. Biology Department)

Date:	2026
Abstract:	As sessile organisms, plants must constantly survey their surroundings and make appropriate responses in their metabolism or development. Numerous receptors and kinases, as well as phytocytokines that play key roles in signal transduction for a multitude of cues, have been revealed in the past 2 decades. However, the mechanisms coordinating these responses remain poorly understood. Recently, the conserved plant metacaspase family emerged as a versatile switch that plays multiple roles, from early signal perception to downstream propagation, by proteolysis of propeptides or other signaling proteins to mediate their conversion to activated forms. In addition, evidence for proteolysis-independent functions of plant metacaspases has also emerged. In this feature review, we summarize advances in plant metacaspase functions and consider approaches to unravel their complex impacts.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2022-136922NB-I00
Note:	Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Metacaspases ; Phytocytokine ; Stress responses and immunity ; Condensates ; Protein structure and function ; Plant development
Published in:	Trends in plant science, June 2026, ISSN 1878-4372

DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2026.04.030

Available from: 2027-06-30 Postprint 29 p, 878.5 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CRAG (Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics)
Articles > Research articles
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