Target of Rapamycin Signaling in Plant Stress Responses

Overview

Journal Plant Physiol

Specialty Physiology

Date 2020 Jan 18

PMID 31949028

Citations 53

Authors

Liwen Fu

Pengcheng Wang

Yan Xiong

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Target of Rapamycin (TOR) is an atypical Ser/Thr protein kinase that is evolutionally conserved among yeasts, plants, and mammals. In plants, TOR signaling functions as a central hub to integrate different kinds of nutrient, energy, hormone, and environmental signals. TOR thereby orchestrates every stage of plant life, from embryogenesis, meristem activation, root, and leaf growth to flowering, senescence, and life span determination. Besides its essential role in the control of plant growth and development, recent research has also shed light on its multifaceted roles in plant environmental stress responses. Here, we review recent findings on the involvement of TOR signaling in plant adaptation to nutrient deficiency and various abiotic stresses. We also discuss the mechanisms underlying how plants cope with such unfavorable conditions via TOR-abscisic acid crosstalk and TOR-mediated autophagy, both of which play crucial roles in plant stress responses. Until now, little was known about the upstream regulators and downstream effectors of TOR in plant stress responses. We propose that the Snf1-related protein kinase-TOR axis plays a role in sensing various stress signals, and predict the key downstream effectors based on recent high-throughput proteomic analyses.

Citing Articles

TOR Mediates Stress Responses Through Global Regulation of Metabolome in Plants.

Yang L, Zhang R, Zhang H, Yang Y, Fu L Int J Mol Sci. 2025; 26(5).

PMID: 40076716 PMC: 11900525. DOI: 10.3390/ijms26052095.

Role of Carrot ( L.) Storage Roots in Drought Stress Adaptation: Hormonal Regulation and Metabolite Accumulation.

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SnRK1α1-mediated RBOH1 phosphorylation regulates reactive oxygen species to enhance tolerance to low nitrogen in tomato.

Zheng X, Yang H, Zou J, Jin W, Qi Z, Yang P Plant Cell. 2024; 37(1).

PMID: 39667074 PMC: 11684077. DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koae321.

TOR balances plant growth and cold tolerance by orchestrating amino acid-derived metabolism in tomato.

Li Z, Yang L, Wu Y, Zhang R, Yu S, Fu L Hortic Res. 2024; 11(12):uhae253.

PMID: 39664689 PMC: 11630258. DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhae253.

Unveiling the secrets of abiotic stress tolerance in plants through molecular and hormonal insights.

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