title: The ubiquitin/26S proteasome pathway, the complex last chapter in the life of many plant proteins.
abstract: Plants use a repertoire of methods to control the level and activity of their constituent proteins. One method, whose prominence is only now being appreciated, is selective protein breakdown by the ubiquitin/26S proteasome pathway. Remarkably, recent analyses of the near-complete Arabidopsis thaliana genome identified >1300 genes, or approximately 5% of the proteome, involved in the ubiquitin/26S proteasome pathway, making it one of the most elaborate regulatory mechanisms in plants. Molecular genetic analyses have also connected individual components to almost all aspects of plant biology, including the cell-cycle, embryogenesis, photomorphogenesis, circadian rhythms, hormone signaling, homeosis, disease resistance and senescence. Consequently, it appears that the ubiquitin/26S proteasome pathway rivals transcription complexes and protein kinase cascades as the main player in plant cell regulation.
authors.affiliation: Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, Department of Horticulture, 1575 Linden Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA. vierstra@facstaff.wisc.edu
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Vierstra
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018745:Genome, Plant; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; D011487:Protein Conformation; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009097:Multienzyme Complexes; D010940:Plant Proteins; D025801:Ubiquitin; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; C061553:ATP dependent 26S protease