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JXB Advance Access originally published online on February 5, 2009
Journal of Experimental Botany 2009 60(4):1109-1121; doi:10.1093/jxb/ern369
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© The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

REVIEW-ARTICLE

The diversity of plant U-box E3 ubiquitin ligases: from upstream activators to downstream target substrates

Donna Yee1 and Daphne R. Goring1,2,*

1Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada M5S 3B2
2Centre for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada M5S 3B2

* To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: d.goring{at}utoronto.ca

Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis is an integral part of diverse cellular functions, and of the three enzymes involved in linking ubiquitin to protein targets, the E3 ubiquitin ligases are of particular interest as they confer substrate specificity during this process. The E3 ubiquitin ligases can be categorized based on mechanism of action and on the presence of specific domains such as RING, HECT, F-box, and U-box. In plants, the U-box family has undergone a large gene expansion that may be attributable to biological processes unique to the plant life cycle. For example, there are 64 predicted plant U-box (PUB) proteins in Arabidopsis, and the biological roles of many of these have yet to be determined. Research on PUB genes from several different plants has started to elucidate a range of functions for this family, from self-incompatibility and hormone responses to defence and abiotic stress responses. Expression profiling has also been used as a starting point to elucidate PUB function, and has uncovered a strong connection of PUB genes to various stress responses. Finally, some PUB proteins have been linked to receptor kinases as upstream activators, and downstream target substrates are also starting to emerge. The mechanisms of action range from the observation of mono-ubiquitination during non-proteolytic signalling to directed regulation of proteasomal components during stress responses, and cell death appears to be a theme underlying many PUB functions.

Key words: Arabidopsis gene family, substrates, U-box E3 ubiquitin ligases, ubiquitination

Received 28 October 2008; Revised 19 December 2008 Accepted 23 December 2008


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