Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Carbon starvation, senescence and specific mitochondrial stresses, but not nitrogen starvation and general stresses, are major triggers for mitophagy in Arabidopsis

Kacprzak, Sylwia M. LU and Van Aken, Olivier LU (2022) In Autophagy 18(12). p.2894-2912
Abstract

Selective degradation of mitochondria by autophagy (mitophagy) is thought to play an important role in mitochondrial quality control, but our understanding of which conditions induce mitophagy in plants is limited. Here, we developed novel reporter lines to monitor mitophagy in plants and surveyed the rate of mitophagy under a wide range of stresses and developmental conditions. Especially carbon starvation induced by dark-incubation causes a dramatic increase in mitophagy within a few hours, further increasing as dark-induced senescence progresses. Natural senescence was also a strong trigger of mitophagy, peaking when leaf yellowing became prominent. In contrast, nitrogen starvation, a trigger of general autophagy, does not induce... (More)

Selective degradation of mitochondria by autophagy (mitophagy) is thought to play an important role in mitochondrial quality control, but our understanding of which conditions induce mitophagy in plants is limited. Here, we developed novel reporter lines to monitor mitophagy in plants and surveyed the rate of mitophagy under a wide range of stresses and developmental conditions. Especially carbon starvation induced by dark-incubation causes a dramatic increase in mitophagy within a few hours, further increasing as dark-induced senescence progresses. Natural senescence was also a strong trigger of mitophagy, peaking when leaf yellowing became prominent. In contrast, nitrogen starvation, a trigger of general autophagy, does not induce strong increases in mitophagy. Similarly, general stresses such as hydrogen peroxide, heat, UV-B and hypoxia did not appear to trigger substantial mitophagy in plants. Additionally, we exposed plants to inhibitors of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, mitochondrial translation and protein import. Although short-term treatments did not induce high mitophagy rates, longer term exposures to uncoupling agent and inhibitors of mitochondrial protein import/translation could clearly increase mitophagic flux. These findings could further be confirmed using confocal microscopy. To validate that mitophagy is mediated by the autophagy pathway, we showed that mitophagic flux is abolished or strongly decreased in atg5/AuTophaGy 5 and atg11 mutants, respectively. Finally, we observed high rates of mitophagy in etiolated seedlings, which remarkably was completely repressed within 6 h after light exposure. In conclusion, we propose that dark-induced carbon starvation, natural senescence and specific mitochondrial stresses are key triggers of mitophagy in plants. Abbreviations AA: antimycin A; ATG: AuToPhagy related; ConA: concanamycin A; DIS: dark-induced senescence; Dox: doxycycline; FCCP: carbonyl cyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone; GFP: green fluorescent protein; IDH1: isocitrate dehydrogenase 1; MB: MitoBlock-6; Mito-GFP: transgenic Arabidopsis line expressing a mitochondrially targeted protein fused to GFP; mtETC: mitochondrial electron transport chain; OXPHOS: oxidative phosphorylation; PQC: protein quality control; TOM20: Translocase of Outer Membrane 20.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Arabidopsis, autophagy, mitochondria, mitophagy, plants, senescence
in
Autophagy
volume
18
issue
12
pages
2894 - 2912
publisher
Landes Bioscience
external identifiers
  • pmid:35311445
  • scopus:85129189225
ISSN
1554-8627
DOI
10.1080/15548627.2022.2054039
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
44c1a55b-ae78-4778-8bc9-75f12b49b603
date added to LUP
2022-07-08 09:48:15
date last changed
2024-06-14 18:51:01
@article{44c1a55b-ae78-4778-8bc9-75f12b49b603,
  abstract     = {{<p>Selective degradation of mitochondria by autophagy (mitophagy) is thought to play an important role in mitochondrial quality control, but our understanding of which conditions induce mitophagy in plants is limited. Here, we developed novel reporter lines to monitor mitophagy in plants and surveyed the rate of mitophagy under a wide range of stresses and developmental conditions. Especially carbon starvation induced by dark-incubation causes a dramatic increase in mitophagy within a few hours, further increasing as dark-induced senescence progresses. Natural senescence was also a strong trigger of mitophagy, peaking when leaf yellowing became prominent. In contrast, nitrogen starvation, a trigger of general autophagy, does not induce strong increases in mitophagy. Similarly, general stresses such as hydrogen peroxide, heat, UV-B and hypoxia did not appear to trigger substantial mitophagy in plants. Additionally, we exposed plants to inhibitors of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, mitochondrial translation and protein import. Although short-term treatments did not induce high mitophagy rates, longer term exposures to uncoupling agent and inhibitors of mitochondrial protein import/translation could clearly increase mitophagic flux. These findings could further be confirmed using confocal microscopy. To validate that mitophagy is mediated by the autophagy pathway, we showed that mitophagic flux is abolished or strongly decreased in atg5/AuTophaGy 5 and atg11 mutants, respectively. Finally, we observed high rates of mitophagy in etiolated seedlings, which remarkably was completely repressed within 6 h after light exposure. In conclusion, we propose that dark-induced carbon starvation, natural senescence and specific mitochondrial stresses are key triggers of mitophagy in plants. Abbreviations AA: antimycin A; ATG: AuToPhagy related; ConA: concanamycin A; DIS: dark-induced senescence; Dox: doxycycline; FCCP: carbonyl cyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone; GFP: green fluorescent protein; IDH1: isocitrate dehydrogenase 1; MB: MitoBlock-6; Mito-GFP: transgenic Arabidopsis line expressing a mitochondrially targeted protein fused to GFP; mtETC: mitochondrial electron transport chain; OXPHOS: oxidative phosphorylation; PQC: protein quality control; TOM20: Translocase of Outer Membrane 20.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kacprzak, Sylwia M. and Van Aken, Olivier}},
  issn         = {{1554-8627}},
  keywords     = {{Arabidopsis; autophagy; mitochondria; mitophagy; plants; senescence}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{2894--2912}},
  publisher    = {{Landes Bioscience}},
  series       = {{Autophagy}},
  title        = {{Carbon starvation, senescence and specific mitochondrial stresses, but not nitrogen starvation and general stresses, are major triggers for mitophagy in Arabidopsis}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2022.2054039}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/15548627.2022.2054039}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}