Unique opportunities for future research on the alternative oxidase of plants

Alternative oxidase has fascinated biologists for many years, and unique opportunities for research are described and highlighted for the research community to explore in the future. Alternative oxidase (AOX) is a terminal oxidase present in the electron transport system of all plants examined to date that plays an important role in the responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. Due to recent advances in cell and tissue culture, genetic engineering, and bioinformatic resources for nonmodel plants, it is now possible to study AOX in a broader diversity of species to investigate the full taxonomic distribution of AOX in plants. Additional functions of AOX should be investigated in thermogenic, carnivorous, and parasitic plants with atypical life histories. Recent methodological improvements in oxygen sensing, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats technology, and protein biochemistry will allow for considerable advancement on questions that have been long standing in the field due to experimental limitations. The role of AOX in secondary metabolism and mitochondrial metabolic pathways should also be examined due to recent discoveries in analogous systems in other organelles and fungi.

Automated summary

Alternative oxidase (AOX) is a terminal oxidase that plays an important role in plant responses to stress. Recent advances in research techniques allow for the study of AOX in a wider variety of plant species. There is potential to uncover new functions of AOX in plants with atypical life histories, and improvements in experimental methods will facilitate the exploration of long-standing questions. Additionally, the role of AOX in secondary metabolism and mitochondrial pathways should be further investigated.