Oxygen sensing in plants is mediated by an N-end rule pathway for protein destabilization

The majority of eukaryotic organisms rely on molecular oxygen for respiratory energy production(1). When the supply of oxygen is compromised, a variety of acclimation responses are activated to reduce the detrimental effects of energy depletion(2-4). Various oxygen-sensing mechanisms have been described that are thought to trigger these responses(5-9), but they each seem to be kingdom specific and no sensing mechanism has been identified in plants until now. Here we show that one branch of the ubiquitin-dependent N-end rule pathway for protein degradation, which is active in both mammals and plants(10,11), functions as an oxygen-sensing mechanism in Arabidopsis thaliana. We identified a conserved amino-terminal amino acid sequence of the ethylene response factor (ERF)-transcription factor RAP2.12 to be dedicated to an oxygen-dependent sequence of post-translational modifications, which ultimately lead to degradation of RAP2.12 under aerobic conditions. When the oxygen concentration is low-as during flooding-RAP2.12 is released from the plasma membrane and accumulates in the nucleus to activate gene expression for hypoxia acclimation. Our discovery of an oxygen-sensing mechanism opens up new possibilities for improving flooding tolerance in crops.