Plant lipid phosphate phosphatases: current advances and future outlooks

Abstract

Lipids are widely distributed in various tissues of an organism, mainly in plant storage organs (e.g., fruits, seeds, etc.). Lipids are vital biological substances that are involved in: signal transduction, membrane biogenesis, energy storage, and the formation of transmembrane fat-soluble substances. Some lipids and related lipid derivatives could be changed in their: content, location, or physiological activity by the external environment, such as biotic or abiotic stresses. Lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPPs) play important roles in regulating intermediary lipid metabolism and cellular signal response. LPPs can dephosphorylate lipid phosphates containing phosphate monolipid bonds such as: phosphatidic acid, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), and diacylglycerol pyrophosphate, etc. These processes can change the contents of some important lipid signal mediation such as diacylglycerol and LPA, affecting lipid signal transmission. Here, we summarize the research progress of LPPs in plants, emphasizing the structural and biochemical characteristics of LPPs and their role in spatio-temporal regulation. In the future, more in-depth studies are required to boost our understanding of the key role of plant LPPs and lipid metabolism in: signal regulation, stress tolerance pathway, and plant growth and development.

Keywords:

• Abiotic stress
• biochemistry
• diacylglycerol
• enzymes
• plant lipids
• lipid metabolism

Acknowledgements

We thank all the members of The Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China, for their support throughout the study. WS wants to thank the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for providing Ph.D. scholarship and research environment.

Authors contributions

WS and XZ conceived the idea. WS, AR, AG, LZ, and XD contributed to wiring the manuscript and literature research. XZ, YL, and YC proofread and edited the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32171960) and the Science and Technology Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.