How light helps plants survive in harsh environments

Understanding how plants respond to environmental stress is crucial for improving crop resilience. Now researchers from National Taiwan University have uncovered how light stabilises a key stress-response protein, offering new insights into plant adaptation. Their work has been published in the journal Plant, Cell & Environment.

The research team investigated ERF1, a transcription factor that helps plants tolerate drought and high salinity. While ERF1 is essential for plant survival under stress, its stability fluctuates under different light conditions. The team discovered that two enzymes — SCE1 and COP1 — compete to regulate ERF1’s stability, directly influencing the plant’s ability to withstand harsh environments.

Under light conditions, SCE1 interacts with ERF1 and modifies it through SUMOylation, preventing its degradation. This allows ERF1 to activate stress-response genes and improve plant resilience. However, in darkness, COP1 modifies ERF1 differently, marking it for degradation and weakening the plant’s stress response.

“We were excited to find that these two enzymes compete to determine ERF1’s stability,” said Hui-Hsien Chang, co-first author of the study. “This competition ultimately influences how well plants respond to environmental challenges.”

By altering ERF1’s modification sites, the team demonstrated that ERF1 could be stabilised even in darkness. These findings provide a new approach to engineering stress-tolerant crops by fine-tuning light-responsive pathways, and could thus help guide agricultural strategies aimed at developing climate-resilient crops.

“Our findings provide a clearer understanding of how plants use light to regulate stress responses,” said Professor Mei-Chun Cheng, corresponding author on the study. “This knowledge could be applied to developing crops that are better suited to changing climates.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Sengly Hong