Programmed cell death in plants: lessons from bacteria?
Programmed cell death (PCD) has well-established roles in the development and physiology of animals, plants, and fungi. Although aspects of PCD control appear evolutionarily conserved between these organisms, the extent of conservation remains controversial. Recently, a putative bacterial PCD protein homolog in plants was found to play a significant role in cell death control, indicating a conservation of function between these highly divergent organisms. Interestingly, these bacterial proteins are thought to be evolutionarily linked to the Bcl-2 family of proteins. In this opinion article, we propose a new unifying model to describe the relationship between bacterial and plant PCD systems and propose that the underlying control of PCD is conserved across at least three Kingdoms of life.
Institute of Genetics, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Junhui
J
Wang
Kenneth W
KW
Bayles
D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics*; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D059828:Plant Cells; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D036226:Seedlings / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C571061:LrgB protein, Arabidopsis; D008565:Membrane Proteins