Autophagy deficiency confers freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana
Abstract Background Plants have evolved multiple strategies to cope with the ever-changing external environment. Autophagy, as one of the crucial mechanisms involved, has been demonstrated to play a pivotal role in plant responses and adaptation to abiotic stresses. However, the precise molecular me...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Plant Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-025-07066-9 |
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| author | Yushi Peng Shujuan Guo Ben Lei Linhui Yu Qiuling Wang |
| author_facet | Yushi Peng Shujuan Guo Ben Lei Linhui Yu Qiuling Wang |
| author_sort | Yushi Peng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Plants have evolved multiple strategies to cope with the ever-changing external environment. Autophagy, as one of the crucial mechanisms involved, has been demonstrated to play a pivotal role in plant responses and adaptation to abiotic stresses. However, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying the role of autophagy in mediating cold stress remain to be fully elucidated. Results In this study, we demonstrated that autophagy mutants presented increased freezing tolerance under both non-acclimated and cold-acclimated conditions in Arabidopsis. Autophagy positively regulates the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes, thereby influencing anthocyanin accumulation in Arabidopsis under low-temperature conditions. Moreover, we found that cold stress directly suppresses the expression of autophagy-related genes and reduces autophagic flux in Arabidopsis. The RNA-seq data revealed that cold-responsive genes were pre-activated in the autophagy mutant atg13ab even before cold treatment. Additionally, we observed constitutive accumulation of the dehydrin protein COR47 in atg13ab mutant. Conclusions Taken together, these data suggest that autophagy is a negative regulator of freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-abe26d8f9b0d43c3bb3130af9503ea93 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1471-2229 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Plant Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-abe26d8f9b0d43c3bb3130af9503ea932025-08-20T03:04:24ZengBMCBMC Plant Biology1471-22292025-07-0125111810.1186/s12870-025-07066-9Autophagy deficiency confers freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thalianaYushi Peng0Shujuan Guo1Ben Lei2Linhui Yu3Qiuling Wang4Institute of Future Agriculture, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityInstitute of Future Agriculture, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityInstitute of Future Agriculture, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityInstitute of Future Agriculture, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityInstitute of Future Agriculture, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityAbstract Background Plants have evolved multiple strategies to cope with the ever-changing external environment. Autophagy, as one of the crucial mechanisms involved, has been demonstrated to play a pivotal role in plant responses and adaptation to abiotic stresses. However, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying the role of autophagy in mediating cold stress remain to be fully elucidated. Results In this study, we demonstrated that autophagy mutants presented increased freezing tolerance under both non-acclimated and cold-acclimated conditions in Arabidopsis. Autophagy positively regulates the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes, thereby influencing anthocyanin accumulation in Arabidopsis under low-temperature conditions. Moreover, we found that cold stress directly suppresses the expression of autophagy-related genes and reduces autophagic flux in Arabidopsis. The RNA-seq data revealed that cold-responsive genes were pre-activated in the autophagy mutant atg13ab even before cold treatment. Additionally, we observed constitutive accumulation of the dehydrin protein COR47 in atg13ab mutant. Conclusions Taken together, these data suggest that autophagy is a negative regulator of freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-025-07066-9AutophagyArabidopsisCold stressatg13abATG8COR47 |
| spellingShingle | Yushi Peng Shujuan Guo Ben Lei Linhui Yu Qiuling Wang Autophagy deficiency confers freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana BMC Plant Biology Autophagy Arabidopsis Cold stress atg13ab ATG8 COR47 |
| title | Autophagy deficiency confers freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana |
| title_full | Autophagy deficiency confers freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana |
| title_fullStr | Autophagy deficiency confers freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Autophagy deficiency confers freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana |
| title_short | Autophagy deficiency confers freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana |
| title_sort | autophagy deficiency confers freezing tolerance in arabidopsis thaliana |
| topic | Autophagy Arabidopsis Cold stress atg13ab ATG8 COR47 |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-025-07066-9 |
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