How very-long-chain fatty acids could signal stressful conditions in plants?

• Main Authors: Antoine de Bigault du Granrut, Jean-Luc Cacas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-10-01
• Series: Frontiers in Plant Science
• Subjects: Endoplasmic Reticulum; Membrane Microdomains; Secretory Pathway; Sphingolipids; plasma membrane; signaling cascades
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpls.2016.01490/full

Although encountered in minor amounts in plant cells, very-long-chain fatty acids exert crucial functions in developmental processes. When their levels is perturbed by means of genetic approaches, marked phenotypic consequences that range from severe growth retardation to embryo lethality was indeed reported. More recently, a growing body of findings has also accumulated that points to a potential role for these lipids as signals in governing both biotic and abiotic stress outcomes. In the present work, we discuss the latter theory and explore the ins and outs of very-long-chain fatty acid-based signaling in response to stress, with an attempt to reconcile two supposedly antagonistic parameters: the insoluble nature of fatty acids and their signaling function. To explain this apparent dilemma, we provide new interpretations of pre-existing data based on the fact that sphingolipids are the main reservoir of very-long-chain fatty acids in leaves. Thus, three non-exclusive, molecular scenarii that involves these lipids as membrane-embedded and free entities are proposed.