By Sadie Harley
Researchers at the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, together with collaborators from RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (RIKEN CSRS) and The University of Osaka, have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism by which plants detect hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a key signaling molecule involved in stress responses and immunity.
Published in Nature Communications, the study reveals that plants rely on a copper-dependent sensing system, rather than the previously assumed cysteine-based mechanism, to perceive reactive oxygen species (ROS).
This work reshapes our understanding of how plants respond to environmental stress and pathogens, and may pave the way for improving crop resilience.
Quinones and hydrogen peroxide play a central role in plant responses to pathogens and environmental stress, and understanding how plants perceive these molecules could inform strategies to enhance crop protection and stress tolerance.
How plants detect redox-related molecules in their environment
As sessile organisms, plants constantly monitor their environment using specialized receptors on the surface of their cells. Among these, a class known as leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases can sense a wide range of stimuli.
One such receptor, CARD1 (also called HPCA1), was previously shown to detect both quinones and ROS such as H2O2. However, how a single receptor distinguishes between these chemically distinct signals remained unclear.
The research team discovered that CARD1 contains a copper ion bound to a cluster of histidine residues on its surface. This copper site plays a critical role in detecting H2O2.
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