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SUMO conjugation in plants

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Abstract

Covalent attachment of small proteins to substrates can regulate protein activity in eukaryotes. SUMO, the small ubiquitin-related modifier, can be covalently linked to a broad spectrum of substrates. An understanding of SUMO’s role in plant biology is still in its infancy. In this review, we briefly summarize the enzymology of SUMO conjugation (sumoylation), and the current knowledge of SUMO modification in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. and other plants, in comparison to animals and fungi. Furthermore, we assemble a list of potential pathway components in the genome of A. thaliana that have either been functionally defined, or are suggested by similarity to pathway components from other organisms.

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Abbreviations

SAE :

SUMO-activating enzyme

SCE :

SUMO-conjugating enzyme

SUMO :

Small ubiquitin-related modifier

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Acknowledgements

We thank Yong-Fu Fu (MPIZ, Cologne) for comments on the manuscript. The work in A.B.’s laboratory was supported by the Austrian Science Foundation FWF (grant P 13927), and by the Max Planck Society. M.N. and F.E. are grateful for generous support from Boehringer Ingelheim. This project was partly funded by the Austrian Gen-AU bioinformatics integration network sponsored by BM-BWK.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, 50829, Cologne, Germany

    Ruchika Budhiraja, George Coupland & Andreas Bachmair

  2. Institute for Molecular Pathology, 1030, Vienna, Austria

    Maria Novatchkova & Frank Eisenhaber

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  1. Maria Novatchkova
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  2. Ruchika Budhiraja
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  3. George Coupland
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  4. Frank Eisenhaber
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  5. Andreas Bachmair
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Correspondence to Andreas Bachmair.

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Novatchkova, M., Budhiraja, R., Coupland, G. et al. SUMO conjugation in plants. Planta 220, 1–8 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1370-y

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