title: ATG8 Expansion: A Driver of Selective Autophagy Diversification?
abstract: Selective autophagy is a conserved homeostatic pathway that involves engulfment of specific cargo molecules into specialized organelles called autophagosomes. The ubiquitin-like protein ATG8 is a central player of the autophagy network that decorates autophagosomes and binds to numerous cargo receptors. Although highly conserved across eukaryotes, ATG8 diversified from a single protein in algae to multiple isoforms in higher plants. We present a phylogenetic overview of 376 ATG8 proteins across the green plant lineage that revealed family-specific ATG8 clades. Because these clades differ in fixed amino acid polymorphisms, they provide a mechanistic framework to test whether distinct ATG8 clades are functionally specialized. We propose that ATG8 expansion may have contributed to the diversification of selective autophagy pathways in plants.
authors.affiliation: The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK; Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, Cologne 50829, Germany.
authors.forename: Ronny
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kellner
authors.affiliation: The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK; John Innes Centre, Department of Biological Chemistry, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: De la Concepcion
authors.affiliation: John Innes Centre, Department of Biological Chemistry, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK.
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maqbool
authors.affiliation: The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK. Electronic address: sophien.kamoun@tsl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sophien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kamoun
authors.affiliation: The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK; The Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 3, 1030, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: yasin.dagdas@gmi.oeaw.ac.at.
authors.forename: Yasin F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Dagdas
mesh_terms: D000071182:Autophagosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D001343:Autophagy / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000071190:Autophagy-Related Protein 8 Family / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000071190:Autophagy-Related Protein 8 Family; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: ATG8; autophagosome; cargo receptor; evolution; plants; selective autophagy