A kiss of death—proteasome-mediated membrane fusion and programmed cell death in plant defense against bacterial infection
Abstract
Eukaryotes have evolved various means for controlled and organized cellular destruction, known as programmed cell death (PCD). In plants, PCD is a crucial regulatory mechanism in multiple physiological processes, including terminal differentiation, senescence, and disease resistance. In this issue of Genes & Development, Hatsugai and colleagues (pp. 2496–2506) demonstrate a novel plant defense strategy to trigger bacteria-induced PCD, involving proteasome-dependent tonoplast and plasma membrane fusion followed by discharge of vacuolar antimicrobial and death-inducing contents into the apoplast.
Keywords
- Membrane fusion
- proteasome
- cell-autonomous immunity
- hypersensitive response
- caspase activity
- programmed cell death
Footnotes
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↵1 Corresponding author.
E-MAIL xdong{at}duke.edu; FAX (919) 613-8177.
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Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.1861609.
- Copyright © 2009 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
