AUTHOR=Wang Ping , Clark Natalie M. , Nolan Trevor M. , Song Gaoyuan , Whitham Olivia G. , Liao Ching-Yi , Montes-Serey Christian , Bassham Diane C. , Walley Justin W. , Yin Yanhai , Guo Hongqing 

TITLE=FERONIA functions through Target of Rapamycin (TOR) to negatively regulate autophagy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.961096

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.961096

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>FERONIA (FER) receptor kinase plays versatile roles in plant growth and development, biotic and abiotic stress responses, and reproduction. Autophagy is a conserved cellular recycling process that is critical for balancing plant growth and stress responses. Target of Rapamycin (TOR) has been shown to be a master regulator of autophagy. Our previous multi-omics analysis with loss-of-function <italic>fer-4</italic> mutant implicated that FER functions in the autophagy pathway. We further demonstrated here that the <italic>fer-4</italic> mutant displayed constitutive autophagy, and FER is required for TOR kinase activity measured by S6K1 phosphorylation and by root growth inhibition assay to TOR kinase inhibitor AZD8055. Taken together, our study provides a previously unknown mechanism by which FER functions through TOR to negatively regulate autophagy.</p>