From structure to function - a family portrait of plant subtilases

Publication Type

Journal contribution (peer reviewed)

Authors

Schaller, A., Stintzi, A., Rivas, S., Serrano, I., Chichkova, N.V., Vartapetian, A.B., Martínez, D., Guiamét, J.J., Sueldo, D.J., van der Hoorn, R.A.L., Ramírez, V., Vera P.

Year of publication

2018

Published in

New Phytol.

Band/Volume

218/

DOI

10.1111/nph.14582

Page (from - to)

901-915

Subtilases (SBTs) are serine peptidases that are found in all three domains of life. As compared to homologs in other Eucarya, plant SBTs are more closely related to archaeal and bacterial SBTs, with which they share many biochemical and structural features. However, in the course of evolution, functional diversification led to the acquisition of novel, plant-specific functions, resulting in the present-day complexity of the plant SBT family. SBTs are much more numerous in plants than in any other organism, and include enzymes involved in general proteolysis as well as highly specific processing proteases. Most SBTs are targeted to the cell wall, where they contribute to the control of growth and development by regulating the properties of the cell wall and the activity of extracellular signaling molecules. Plant SBTs affect all stages of the life cycle as they contribute to embryogenesis, seed development and germination, cuticle formation and epidermal patterning, vascular development, programmed cell death, organ abscission, senescence, and plant responses to their biotic and abiotic environment. In this article we provide a comprehensive picture of SBT structure and function in plants.