National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India.
Plant Cell Rep. 2022 Jan;41(1):33-51. doi: 10.1007/s00299-021-02773-7. Epub 2021 Aug 17.
Plants strive for phosphorus (P), which is an essential mineral for their life. Since P availability is limiting in most of the world's soils, plants have evolved with a complex network of genes and their regulatory mechanisms to cope with soil P deficiency. Among them, purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) are predominantly associated with P remobilization within the plant and acquisition from the soil by hydrolyzing organic P compounds. P in such compounds remains otherwise unavailable to plants for assimilation. PAPs are ubiquitous in plants, and similar enzymes exist in bacteria, fungi, mammals, and unicellular eukaryotes, but having some differences in their catalytic center. In the recent past, PAPs' roles have been extended to multiple plant processes like flowering, seed development, senescence, carbon metabolism, response to biotic and abiotic stresses, signaling, and root development. While new functions have been assigned to PAPs, the underlying mechanisms remained understood poorly. Here, we review the known functions of PAPs, the regulatory mechanisms, and their relevance in crop improvement for P-use-efficiency. We then discuss the mechanisms behind their functions and propose areas worthy of future research. Finally, we argue that PAPs could be a potential target for improving P utilization in crops. In turn, this is essential for sustainable agriculture.
植物努力获取磷（P），这是其生命所必需的矿物质。由于 P 在世界上大多数土壤中都是有限的，因此植物进化出了一套复杂的基因网络及其调控机制，以应对土壤 P 缺乏。其中，紫色酸性磷酸酶（PAPs）主要与植物体内 P 的再动员以及通过水解有机 P 化合物从土壤中获取 P 有关。否则，这些化合物中的 P 对植物来说是无法同化的。PAPs 在植物中无处不在，类似的酶也存在于细菌、真菌、哺乳动物和单细胞真核生物中，但它们的催化中心存在一些差异。在最近的过去，PAPs 的作用已经扩展到了多个植物过程，如开花、种子发育、衰老、碳代谢、对生物和非生物胁迫的反应、信号转导和根系发育。虽然 PAPs 被赋予了新的功能，但它们的潜在机制仍知之甚少。在这里，我们综述了 PAPs 的已知功能、调控机制及其在提高作物 P 利用效率方面的应用。然后，我们讨论了它们功能背后的机制，并提出了值得未来研究的领域。最后，我们认为 PAPs 可能是提高作物 P 利用效率的一个潜在目标。反过来，这对可持续农业至关重要。
