A non-canonical role of ATG8 in Golgi recovery from heat stress in plants

Above-optimal growth temperatures, usually referred to as heat stress (HS), pose a challenge to organisms’ survival as they interfere with essential physiological functions and disrupt cellular organization. Previous studies have elucidated the complex transcriptional regulatory networks involved in plant HS responses, but the mechanisms of organellar remodelling and homeostasis during plant HS adaptations remain elusive. Here we report a non-canonical function of ATG8 in regulating the restoration of plant Golgi damaged by HS. Short-term acute HS causes vacuolation of the Golgi apparatus and translocation of ATG8 to the dilated Golgi membrane. The inactivation of the ATG conjugation system, but not of the upstream autophagic initiators, abolishes the targeting of ATG8 to the swollen Golgi, causing a delay in Golgi recovery after HS. Using TurboID-based proximity labelling, we identified CLATHRIN LIGHT CHAIN 2 (CLC2) as an interacting partner of ATG8 via the AIM–LDS interface. CLC2 is recruited to the cisternal membrane by ATG8 to facilitate Golgi reassembly. Collectively, our study reveals a hitherto unanticipated process of Golgi stack recovery from HS in plant cells and uncovers a previously unknown mechanism of organelle resilience involving ATG8.