Structural Aspects of Plant Hormone Signal Perception and Regulation by Ubiquitin Ligases

Abstract

Hormonal cues regulate many aspects of plant growth and development, facilitating the plant's ability to systemically respond to environmental changes. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms governing these signaling pathways is crucial to understanding how plants function. Structural and functional biology methods have been essential in decoding plant genetic findings and revealing precise molecular actions at the protein level. Past studies of plant hormone signaling have uncovered mechanisms that involve highly coordinated protein turnover to elicit immediate cellular responses. Many phytohormone signaling pathways rely on the ubiquitin (Ub) proteasome system, specifically E3 Ub ligases, for perception and initiation of signaling transduction. In this review, we highlight structural aspects of plant hormone-sensing mechanisms by Ub ligases and discuss our current understanding of the emerging field of strigolactone signaling.