Extracellular ATP: A modulator of cell death and pathogen defense in plants

• Published in: Plant signaling & behavior 2009-11, Vol.4 (11), p.1078-1080
• Main Authors: Chivasa, Stephen, Tomé, Daniel F. A., Murphy, Alex M., Hamilton, John M., Lindsey, Keith, Carr, John P., Slabas, Antoni R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addendum; adenosine triphosphate; Adenosine Triphosphate - metabolism; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Binding; Biology; Bioscience; Calcium; Cancer; Cell; Cell Death; Cell Membrane - genetics; Cell Membrane - metabolism; Cycle; extracellular matrix; Extracellular Matrix - metabolism; gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Regulatory Networks; genes; Genes, Plant; Landes; Organogenesis; pathogens; plant development; Plant Diseases - genetics; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant Growth Regulators - metabolism; plasma membrane; programmed cell death; Proteins; salicylic acid; Salicylic Acid - metabolism; Signal Transduction - genetics
• ISSN: 1559-2316; 1559-2324; 1559-2324
• DOI: 10.4161/psb.4.11.9784

Living organisms acquire or synthesize high energy molecules, which they frugally conserve and use to meet their cellular metabolic demands. Therefore, it is surprising that ATP, the most accessible and commonly utilized chemical energy carrier, is actively secreted to the extracellular matrix of cells. It is now becoming clear that in plants this extracellular ATP (eATP) is not wasted, but harnessed at the cell surface to signal across the plasma membrane of the secreting cell and neighboring cells to control gene expression and influence plant development. Identification of the gene/protein networks regulated by eATP-mediated signaling should provide insight into the physiological roles of eATP in plants. By disrupting eATP-mediated signaling, we have identified pathogen defense genes as part of the eATP-regulated gene circuitry, leading us to the discovery that eATP is a negative regulator of pathogen defense in plants.1 Previously, we reported that eATP is a key signal molecule that modulates programmed cell death in plants.2 A complex picture is now emerging, in which eATP-mediated signaling cross-talks with signaling mediated by the major plant defense hormone, salicylic acid, in the regulation of pathogen defense and cell death.