Ferroptosis in plants: Triggers, proposed mechanisms, and the role of iron in modulating cell death

DISTÉFANO, AYELÉN MARIANA; MARCHETTI, FERNANDA; ZABALETA, EDUARDO; LÓPEZ, GABRIEL ALEJANDRO; CAINZOS, MAXIMILIANO; PAGNUSSAT, GABRIELA CAROLINA; SETZES, NICOLÁS; CASCALLARES, MILAGROS

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Año: 2021 vol. 72 p. 2125 - 2135

0022-0957

Regulated cell death plays key roles during essential processes throughout the plant life cycle. It takes part in specific developmental programs and maintains homeostasis of the organism in response to unfavorable environments. Ferroptosis is a recently discovered iron-dependent cell death pathway characterized by the accumulation of lipid reactive oxygen species. In plants, ferroptosis shares all the main hallmarks described in other systems. Those specific features include biochemical and morphological signatures that seem to be conserved among species. However, plant cells have specific metabolic pathways and a high degree of metabolic compartmentalization. Together with their particular morphology, these features add more complexity to the plant ferroptosis pathway. In this review, we summarize the most recent advances in elucidating the roles of ferroptosis in plants, focusing on specific triggers, the main players, and underlying pathways.