Various environmental and developmental stimuli generate reactive electrophile species (RES) that modify proteins through covalent adduct formation and trigger adaptive cellular responses in animal systems. Although this post-translational modification termed electrophile mediated thiol-binding (EMTB) is known to regulate signal transduction pathways in animals, it has not been previously reported in plant systems. Recently it was discovered that EMTB modification of a key enzyme in the oxylipin pathway of plants functions as an important signal in plant stress responses. The goal of this project is to examine the general role of EMTB modification in controlling plant signaling pathways.
Intellectual Merit: Interdisciplinary approaches will be used to identify, on a genome-wide scale, the cellular target proteins that are covalently modified by stress-induced 12-oxophytodienoic acid (12-OPDA), a lipid RES in plants. A subset of the 12-OPDA binding protein targets will be fully characterized and examined for their role in plant stress signaling pathways. Finally, the specificity of 12-OPDA versus the other stress-induced thiolreactive electrophiles in covalent modification of the proteins identified will be determined.
Broader impacts: The results of this study will provide important foundational insights into a novel, previously unrecognized posttranslational regulatory mechanism controlling a complex and crucial signaling network in plants with significant relevance to animal signaling systems. In addition the discovery of pathway components regulated by ETMB may provide for the generation of tools for biotechnological applications in agronomically important crops. This project will also provide for the training of undergraduate students and postdoctoral fellows in state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research and will include efforts to recruit underrepresented minority undergraduate students, the broad dissemination of research results in papers, seminars, and conference presentations, and the development of short courses on the role of post-translational modification in signaling pathways.
