Cell Endomembrane System and Plant Response to Stress

Group Structure

Group Leader: Narciso Campos (UB Assistant professor)
PhD Students: Ricardo Enrique Grados
Undergrad or Master Students: Oscar Zhu (since july 2013)

Summary

Plants are sessile organisms that can not move but have to respond to the many biotic and abiotic aggressions they suffer. To achieve growth and reproduction, they have to adapt themselves to varying environmental conditions. Cell metabolism and endomembrane construction are two interconnected aspects that plants modulate to withstand the stress situations. This involves a dynamic organization of the endoplasmic reticulum, which we are deciphering at present. We are interested in the mechanisms of this process and the signal transduction network involved. In particular, we are investigating the role of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl Coenzyme A reductase and protein phosphatase 2A in the plant response to stress. Our results indicate that the interaction between these two factors induces the biogenesis of specific domains of the endoplasmic reticulum, which are directly and rapidly delivered to the vacuole in  response to stress. This allows activation of many defensive hydrolytic enzymes.

Research Projects

  • Involvement of HMG-CoA reductase in the morphogenesis of the endoplasmic reticulum
  • Role of HMG-CoA reductase in the plant response to biotic and abiotic stress
  • Molecular analysis of the control of plant HMGR by PP2A

Selected Publications

Carretero-Paulet L., Cairo A., Talavera D., Saura A., Imperial S., Rodriguez-Concepcion M., Campos N., Boronat A.
Functional and evolutionary analysis of DXL1, a non-essential gene encoding a 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase like protein in arabidopsis thaliana
(2013) Gene, vol. 524 (1), pp. 40-53

Pollier J., Moses T., González-Guzmán M., De Geyter N., Lippens S., Bossche R.V., Marhavý P., Kremer A., Morreel K., Guérin C.J., Tava A., Oleszek W., Thevelein J.M., Campos N., Goormachtig S., Goossens A.
The protein quality control system manages plant defence compound synthesis
(2013) Nature, vol. 504 (7478), pp. 148-152

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