GSE113515
The plant-specific COST1 protein balances plant growth and drought tolerance via attenuation of autophagy
Plants balance their conflicting requirements for growth and stress tolerance via sophisticated pathways and unique genes that control responses to the external environment. We have identified a novel plant-specific gene, COST1(Constitutively Stressed 1), that affects plant growth and negatively regulates drought resistance by manipulating the autophagy pathway. An Arabidopsis cost1 mutant has decreased growth and increased drought tolerance, together with constitutive autophagy and increased expression of drought-response genes. The COST1 protein is degraded upon plant dehydration, and this degradation is blocked by treatment with inhibitors of the 26S proteasome or autophagy pathways. The cost1 mutant drought resistance is dependent on an active autophagy pathway, indicating that COST1 acts through manipulation of autophagy. COST1 co-localizes to autophagosomes with the autophagosome marker ATG8e and the autophagy adaptor NBR1, and physically interacts with ATG8e, indicating a pivotal role in direct regulation of autophagy. We propose a model in which COST1 represses autophagy under optimal conditions, thus allowing plant growth. During drought, COST1 is degraded, enabling activation of autophagy and suppressing growth to enhance drought tolerance. Overall design: We examined gene expression by RNA-seq in Arabidopsis wide-type and mutant cost1 with and w/o drought