Research Advances In Heterotrimeric G-Protein Alpha Subunits And Uncanonical G-Protein Coupled Receptors In Plants

As crucial signal transducers, G-proteins and G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have attracted increasing attention in the field of signal transduction. Research on G-proteins and GPCRs has mainly focused on animals, while research on plants is relatively rare. The mode of action of G-proteins is quite different from that in animals. The G-protein alpha (G alpha) subunit is the most essential member of the G-protein signal cycle in animals and plants. The G-protein is activated when G alpha releases GDP and binds to GTP, and the relationships with the GPCR and the downstream signal are also achieved by G alpha coupling. It is important to study the role of G alpha in the signaling pathway to explore the regulatory mechanism of G-proteins. The existence of a self-activated G alpha in plants makes it unnecessary for the canonical GPCR to activate the G-protein by exchanging GDP with GTP. However, putative GPCRs have been found and proven to play important roles in G-protein signal transduction. The unique mode of action of G-proteins and the function of putative GPCRs in plants suggest that the same definition used in animal research cannot be used to study uncanonical GPCRs in plants. This review focuses on the different functions of the G alpha and the mode of action between plants and animals as well as the functions of the uncanonical GPCR. This review employs a new perspective to define uncanonical GPCRs in plants and emphasizes the role of uncanonical GPCRs and G alpha subunits in plant stress resistance and agricultural production.