title: Emerging insights into heterotrimeric G protein signaling in plants.
abstract: Heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein) signaling is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism in diverse eukaryotic organisms. In plants, the repertoire of the heterotrimeric G protein complex, which is composed of the Gα, Gβ, and Gγ subunits, is much simpler than that in metazoans, and the identity of typical G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) together with their ligands still remains unclear. Comparative phenotypic analysis in Arabidopsis and rice plants using gain- and loss-of-function mutants of G protein components revealed that heterotrimeric G protein signaling plays important roles in a wide variety of plant growth and developmental processes. Grain yield is a complex trait determined by quantitative trait loci (QTL) and is influenced by soil nitrogen availability and environmental changes. Recent studies have shown that the manipulation of two non-canonical Gγ subunits, GS3 (GRAIN SIZE 3) and DEP1 (DENSE AND ERECT PANICLE 1), represents new strategies to simultaneously increase grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency in rice. This review discusses the latest advances in our understanding of the heterotrimeric G protein signal transduction pathway and its application in improving yield and stress tolerance in crops.
authors: Rice Research Institute of Shenyang Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Northern Japonica Rice Genetics and Breeding, Ministry of Education and Liaoning Province, Key Laboratory of Northeast Rice Biology and Genetics and Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Shenyang 110866, China.
authors: Quan
authors: Q
authors: Xu
authors: Rice Research Institute of Shenyang Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Northern Japonica Rice Genetics and Breeding, Ministry of Education and Liaoning Province, Key Laboratory of Northeast Rice Biology and Genetics and Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Shenyang 110866, China.
authors: Mingzhu
authors: M
authors: Zhao
authors: The State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors: Kun
authors: K
authors: Wu
authors: The State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors: Xiangdong
authors: X
authors: Fu
authors: The State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: qianliu@genetics.ac.cn.
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020962:Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D063245:Plant Development; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D020962:Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins
keywords: DEP1; G protein signaling; GS3; Non-canonical Gγ subunits; Yield potential