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Review
. 2022 Oct 6:13:1032045.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1032045. eCollection 2022.

Landscape of biomolecular condensates in heat stress responses

Violeta Londoño Vélez  1 , Fatema Alquraish  1 , Ibrahim Tarbiyyah  1 , Fareena Rafique  1 , Duruo Mao  1 , Monika Chodasiewicz  1
Affiliations
Review

Landscape of biomolecular condensates in heat stress responses

Violeta Londoño Vélez et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

High temperature is one of the abiotic stresses that plants face and acts as a major constraint on crop production and food security. Plants have evolved several mechanisms to overcome challenging environments and respond to internal and external stimuli. One significant mechanism is the formation of biomolecular condensates driven by liquid-liquid phase separation. Biomolecular condensates have received much attention in the past decade, especially with regard to how plants perceive temperature fluctuations and their involvement in stress response and tolerance. In this review, we compile and discuss examples of plant biomolecular condensates regarding their composition, localization, and functions triggered by exposure to heat. Bioinformatic tools can be exploited to predict heat-induced biomolecular condensates. As the field of biomolecular condensates has emerged in the study of plants, many intriguing questions have arisen that have yet to be solved. Increased knowledge of biomolecular condensates will help in securing crop production and overcoming limitations caused by heat stress.

Keywords: LLPS; biomolecular condensates; heat stress response; signaling; stress granules.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of condensates formed in Arabidopsis thaliana under heat. (A) ELF3 nuclear condensate: Under normal conditions, ELF3, ELF4, and LUX ARRHYTHMO (LUX) form the EVENING COMPLEX (EC), a repressor of various genes. In response to high temperatures (warming, 35°C), ELF3 condensation causes EC disassociation, target gene activation, and subsequent early flowering. (B) ALBA-SGs: Under normal conditions, ALBA4, ALBA5, and ALBA6 can interact with Rbp47 and DCP5. Under heat shock (39°C), ALBA acts as a scaffold to stress granule and P-body assembly. At the same time, ALBA binds and stabilizes HSF mRNAs to protect them from degradation. (C) VOZ2-SGs: VOZ2 is dispersed throughout the cytosol under normal conditions. During heat stress (42°C), VOZ2 is transferred to the nucleus, inhibiting certain genes (e.g., DREB2). Meanwhile, in the cytoplasm, VOZ2 colocalizes with SGs and partially with P-bodies. However, nuclear VOZ2 is degraded after two hours. (D) cpSGs: Heat stress (42°C) can induce cpSG formation. The proteomics/sequence analysis revealed the presence of 88 proteins in cpSGs (e.g., FNR1, PORC, and CHLI2).
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