Heat stress induces ferroptosis-like cell death in plants

DISTÉFANO, AYELÉN MARIANA; MARTIN, MARÍA VICTORIA; CÓRDOBA, JUAN PABLO; BELLIDO, ANDRÉS MARTÍN; D´IPPOLITO, SEBASTIÁN; COLMAN, SILVANA LORENA; SOTO, DÉBORA; ROLDÁN JUAN ALFREDO; BARTOLI CARLOS GUILLERMO; ZABALETA EDUARDO; FIOL, DIEGO FERNANDO; STOCKWELL, BRENT R; DIXON, SCOTT J; PAGNUSSAT, GABRIELA C

JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY

ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS

Lugar: New York; Año: 2017

0021-9525

In plants, regulated cell death (RCD) plays critical roles during development and is essential for plant-specific responsesto abiotic and biotic stresses. Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent, oxidative, nonapoptotic form of cell death recently describedin animal cells. In animal cells, this process can be triggered by depletion of glutathione (GSH) and accumulationof lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS). We investigated whether a similar process could be relevant to cell death inplants. Remarkably, heat shock (HS)?induced RCD, but not reproductive or vascular development, was found to involvea ferroptosis-like cell death process. In root cells, HS triggered an iron-dependent cell death pathway that was characterizedby depletion of GSH and ascorbic acid and accumulation of cytosolic and lipid ROS. These results suggest aphysiological role for this lethal pathway in response to heat stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. The similarity of ferroptosisin animal cells and ferroptosis-like death in plants suggests that oxidative, iron-dependent cell death programs may beevolutionarily ancient.