Journal
EMBO JOURNAL
Volume 30, Issue 6, Pages 1173-1183Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/emboj.2011.14
Keywords
BAX inhibitor 1; caspase-like; embryogenesis; p35
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Funding
- EU EPEN network
- CNRS
- French Ministry for Education and Research
- University of Manchester
- BBSRC
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Programmed cell death (PCD) has a key role in defence and development of all multicellular organisms. In plants, there is a large gap in our knowledge of the molecular machinery involved at the various stages of PCD, especially the early steps. Here, we identify kiss of death (KOD) encoding a 25-amino-acid peptide that activates a PCD pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. Two mutant alleles of KOD exhibited a reduced PCD of the suspensor, a single file of cells that support embryo development, and a reduced PCD of root hairs after a 55 degrees C heat shock. KOD expression was found to be inducible by biotic and abiotic stresses. Furthermore, KOD expression was sufficient to cause death in leaves or seedlings and to activate caspase-like activities. In addition, KOD-induced PCD required light in leaves and was repressed by the PCD-suppressor genes AtBax inhibitor 1 and p35. KOD expression resulted in depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane, placing KOD above mitochondria dysfunction, an early step in plant PCD. A KOD::GFP fusion, however, localized in the cytosol of cells and not mitochondria. The EMBO Journal (2011) 30, 1173-1183. doi:10.1038/emboj.2011.14; Published online 15 February 2011
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