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Loss of alkaline ceramidase inhibits autophagy in Arabidopsis and plays an important role during environmental stress response
Author(s) -
Zheng Ping,
Wu JianXin,
Sahu Sunil Kumar,
Zeng HongYun,
Huang LiQun,
Liu Zhe,
Xiao Shi,
Yao Nan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/pce.13148
Subject(s) - arabidopsis , autophagy , stress (linguistics) , fight or flight response , environmental stress , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , biology , biochemistry , ecology , gene , apoptosis , mutant , linguistics , philosophy
Sphingolipids, a class of bioactive lipids found in cell membranes, can modulate the biophysical properties of the membranes and play a critical role in signal transduction. Sphingolipids are involved in autophagy in humans and yeast, but their role in autophagy in plants is not well understood. In this study, we reported that the AtACER , an alkaline ceramidase that hydrolyses ceramide to long‐chain base (LCB), functions in autophagy process in Arabidopsis. Our empirical data showed that the loss of AtACER inhibited autophagy, and its overexpression promoted autophagy under nutrient, salinity, and oxidative stresses. Interestingly, nitrogen deprivation significantly affected the sphingolipid's profile in Arabidopsis thaliana , especially the LCBs. Furthermore, the exogenous application of LCBs also induced autophagy. Our findings revealed a novel function of AtACER , where it was found to involve in the autophagy process, thus, playing a crucial role in the maintenance of a dynamic loop between sphingolipids and autophagy for cellular homeostasis under various environmental stresses.