RAF-like Protein Kinases Mediate a Deeply Conserved, Rapid Auxin Response

Overview

Journal Cell

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2023 Dec 21

PMID 38128538

Authors

Andre Kuhn

Mark Roosjen

Sumanth Mutte

Shiv Mani Dubey

Vanessa Polet Carrillo Carrasco

Sjef Boeren

Aline Monzer

Jasper Koehorst

Takayuki Kohchi

Ryuichi Nishihama

Matyas Fendrych

Joris Sprakel

Jiri Friml

Dolf Weijers

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The plant-signaling molecule auxin triggers fast and slow cellular responses across land plants and algae. The nuclear auxin pathway mediates gene expression and controls growth and development in land plants, but this pathway is absent from algal sister groups. Several components of rapid responses have been identified in Arabidopsis, but it is unknown if these are part of a conserved mechanism. We recently identified a fast, proteome-wide phosphorylation response to auxin. Here, we show that this response occurs across 5 land plant and algal species and converges on a core group of shared targets. We found conserved rapid physiological responses to auxin in the same species and identified rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma (RAF)-like protein kinases as central mediators of auxin-triggered phosphorylation across species. Genetic analysis connects this kinase to both auxin-triggered protein phosphorylation and rapid cellular response, thus identifying an ancient mechanism for fast auxin responses in the green lineage.

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