title: Extracellular ATP: a modulator of cell death and pathogen defense in plants.
abstract: Living organisms acquire or synthesize high energy molecules, which they frugally conserve and use to meet their cellular metabolic demands. Therefore, it is surprising that ATP, the most accessible and commonly utilized chemical energy carrier, is actively secreted to the extracellular matrix of cells. It is now becoming clear that in plants this extracellular ATP (eATP) is not wasted, but harnessed at the cell surface to signal across the plasma membrane of the secreting cell and neighboring cells to control gene expression and influence plant development. Identification of the gene/protein networks regulated by eATP-mediated signaling should provide insight into the physiological roles of eATP in plants. By disrupting eATP-mediated signaling, we have identified pathogen defense genes as part of the eATP-regulated gene circuitry, leading us to the discovery that eATP is a negative regulator of pathogen defense in plants.(1) Previously, we reported that eATP is a key signal molecule that modulates programmed cell death in plants.(2) A complex picture is now emerging, in which eATP-mediated signaling cross-talks with signaling mediated by the major plant defense hormone, salicylic acid, in the regulation of pathogen defense and cell death.
authors.affiliation: Creative Gene Technology Ltd, The Integrative Cell Biology Laboratory and School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, Durham, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chivasa
authors.forename: Daniel F A
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Tomé
authors.forename: Alex M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lindsey
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Carr
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016923:Cell Death; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D017343:Genes, Plant; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000378:metabolism; D020156:Salicylic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D020156:Salicylic Acid