A negative feedback loop of TOR signaling balances growth and stress-response trade-offs in plants

  • Cell Rep. 2022 Apr 5;39(1):110631. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110631.
Muhammed Jamsheer K  1 ,  Sunita Jindal  2 ,  Mohan Sharma  2 ,  Prakhar Awasthi  2 ,  Sreejath S  3 ,  Manvi Sharma  2 ,  Chanchal Thomas Mannully  2 ,  Ashverya Laxmi  4
Affiliations
  • 1. National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 2. National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India.
  • 3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India.
  • 4. National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 35385724 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110631
Abstract

TOR kinase is a central coordinator of nutrient-dependent growth in eukaryotes. Maintaining optimal TOR signaling is critical for the normal development of organisms. In this study, we describe a negative feedback loop of TOR signaling helping in the adaptability of Plants in changing environmental conditions. Using an interdisciplinary approach, we show that the plant-specific Zinc Finger Protein FLZ8 acts as a regulator of TOR signaling in Arabidopsis. In sugar sufficiency, TOR-dependent and -independent histone modifications upregulate the expression of FLZ8. FLZ8 negatively regulates TOR signaling by promoting antagonistic SnRK1α1 signaling and bridging the interaction of SnRK1α1 with RAPTOR1B, a crucial accessory protein of TOR. This negative feedback loop moderates the TOR-growth signaling axis in the favorable condition and helps in the activation of stress signaling in unfavorable conditions, establishing its importance in the adaptability of Plants.

Keywords
CP: Metabolism; CP: Plants; FCS-like zinc finger; SNF1-related protein kinase 1; growth-stress response trade-offs; negative feedback loop; nutrient signaling; target of rapamycin.
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