Plant Proteostasis and its role in
stress adaptation
Proteasome
The proteasome is the central degradation machinery in eukaryotes that eliminates misfolded or defective proteins as well as short-lived regulatory proteins. It is a highly specific process and relies on the ubiquitination of target proteins.
Autophagy
Autophagy is another degradation mechanism to recycle cell content. More and more evidences testify that autophagy is also a highly specific mechanism.
Plant Immunity
Plants have acquired a complex and multi-layered immune system to battle against plant microbes. Both the proteasome and autophagy are involved in plant defense responses and thus exploited by pathogens.
Welcome to the Üstün Lab
Common denominator to the research of our group is a strong interest in plant proteostasis and its role in plant stress responses. We use model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana to address our research questions. Our current and future research will enable a better understanding of how proteostasis shapes the plant response to stress. Building on our previous and ongoing work, we propose that the interconnected processes of protein synthesis, transport, and degradation form a regulatory triangle that governs plant responses to abiotic and biotic stress and ultimately modulates plant metabolism.
