What is it about?
ATP is a biological fuel produced by cells to power metabolic reactions necessary for growth. Some of this ATP is leaked out of the cells to form a coating on the external cell surface, from where it controls important processes such as cell death in response to pathogen toxins. We show that this external ATP blocks toxin-induced cell death by suppressing production of a key protein that degrades RNAs - crucial molecules synthesised by decoding information contained in genes.
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Why is it important?
The study points to impairment of the DNA decoding system as a key strategy used by a toxin to kill plant cells, and identifies the executioner protein. Crucially, this provides an important molecular target for blocking the toxic effects and preserving plant health.
Perspectives
I have always found it intriguing how a toxin with a defined molecular target, which is conserved across most plants, is completely harmless to some species. While writing this manuscript, I was compelled to consider the possibility that the ribonuclease gene family might hold the key accounting for these differences.
Stephen Chivasa
Durham University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Extracellular ATP targets Arabidopsis RIBONUCLEASE 1 to suppress mycotoxin stress‐induced cell death, New Phytologist, May 2022, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/nph.18211.
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