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The importance of lipid modified proteins in plants
Author(s) -
Hemsley Piers A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.13085
Subject(s) - palmitoylation , membrane , prenylation , membrane protein , peripheral membrane protein , function (biology) , myristoylation , lipid anchored protein , integral membrane protein , biological membrane , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , lipid microdomain , chemistry , apoptosis , autophagy , cysteine , enzyme
Summary Membranes have long been known to act as more than physical barriers within and between plant cells. Trafficking of membrane proteins, signalling from and across membranes, organisation of membranes and transport through membranes are all essential processes for plant cellular function. These processes rely on a myriad array of proteins regulated in a variety of manners and are frequently required to be directly associated with membranes. For integral membrane proteins, the mode of membrane association is readily apparent, but many peripherally associated membrane proteins are outwardly soluble proteins. In these cases the proteins are frequently modified by the addition of lipids allowing direct interaction with the hydrophobic core of membranes. These modifications include N‐myristoylation, S‐acylation (palmitoylation), prenylation and GPI anchors but until recently little was truly known about their function in plants. New data suggest that these modifications are able to act as more than just membrane anchors, and dynamic S‐acylation in particular is emerging as a means of regulating protein function in a similar manner to phosphorylation. This review discusses how these modifications occur, their impact on protein function, how they are regulated, recent advances in the field and technical approaches for studying these modifications.ContentsSummary 476 I. Introduction 476 II. Types of lipid modification 477 III. Effects of lipid modifications on proteins in plants 481 IV. Strategies for study 485 V. Outlook 487Acknowledgements 487References 487