A reference-grade genome of the xerophyte Ammopiptanthus mongolicus sheds light on its evolution history in legumes and drought-tolerance mechanisms.

Plants that grow in extreme environments represent unique sources of stress-resistance genes and mechanisms. Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Leguminosae) is a xerophytic evergreen broadleaf shrub native to semi-arid and desert regions; however, its drought-tolerance mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we report the assembly of a reference-grade genome for A. mongolicus, describe its evolutionary history within the legume family, and examine its drought-tolerance mechanisms. The assembled genome is 843.07 Mb in length, with 98.7% of the sequences successfully anchored to the nine chromosomes of A. mongolicus. The genome is predicted to contain 47 611 protein-coding genes, and 70.71% of the genome is composed of repetitive sequences; these are dominated by transposable elements, particularly long-terminal-repeat retrotransposons. Evolutionary analyses revealed two whole-genome duplication (WGD) events at 130 and 58 million years ago (mya) that are shared by the genus Ammopiptanthus and other legumes, but no species-specific WGDs were found within this genus. Ancestral genome reconstruction revealed that the A. mongolicus genome has undergone fewer rearrangements than other genomes in the legume family, confirming its status as a "relict plant". Transcriptomic analyses demonstrated that genes involved in cuticular wax biosynthesis and transport are highly expressed, both under normal conditions and in response to polyethylene glycol-induced dehydration. Significant induction of genes related to ethylene biosynthesis and signaling was also observed in leaves under dehydration stress, suggesting that enhanced ethylene response and formation of thick waxy cuticles are two major mechanisms of drought tolerance in A. mongolicus. Ectopic expression of AmERF2, an ethylene response factor unique to A. mongolicus, can markedly increase the drought tolerance of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants, demonstrating the potential for application of A. mongolicus genes in crop improvement.

FREE1 regulates phagophore closure in plants.

Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the central energy sensor in more complex eukaryotes, can activate macroautophagy/autophagy upon cellular energy deficiency. However, the regulatory role of nutrient sensing in mediating phagophore closure to generate an autophagosome remains unknown. The evolutionarily conserved endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) machinery has been postulated to regulate phagophore sealing, yet the signaling pathway modulating the ESCRT complex relocation from multivesicular body (MVB) to phagophore for closure remains unknown. We recently identified a plant unique pleiotropic protein FREE1 (FYVE DOMAIN PROTEIN REQUIRED FOR ENDOSOMAL SORTING 1), which is phosphorylated by the plant energy sensor SnRK1 (SNF1-related kinase 1) and bridges the ATG conjugation system and ESCRT machinery to regulate phagophore sealing upon nutrient starvation. This study elucidated the bona fide roles and underlying mechanism of cellular energy-sensing pathways in regulating compartment sealing.

A natural gene drive system confers reproductive isolation in rice.

Hybrid sterility restricts the utilization of superior heterosis of indica-japonica inter-subspecific hybrids. In this study, we report the identification of RHS12, a major locus controlling male gamete sterility in indica-japonica hybrid rice. We show that RHS12 consists of two genes (iORF3/DUYAO and iORF4/JIEYAO) that confer preferential transmission of the RHS12-i type male gamete into the progeny, thereby forming a natural gene drive. DUYAO encodes a mitochondrion-targeted protein that interacts with OsCOX11 to trigger cytotoxicity and cell death, whereas JIEYAO encodes a protein that reroutes DUYAO to the autophagosome for degradation via direct physical interaction, thereby detoxifying DUYAO. Evolutionary trajectory analysis reveals that this system likely formed de novo in the AA genome Oryza clade and contributed to reproductive isolation (RI) between different lineages of rice. Our combined results provide mechanistic insights into the genetic basis of RI as well as insights for strategic designs of hybrid rice breeding.

Recent advances in plant endomembrane research and new microscopical techniques.

The endomembrane system consists of various membrane-bound organelles including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi apparatus, trans-Golgi network (TGN), endosomes, and the lysosome/vacuole. Membrane trafficking between distinct compartments is mainly achieved by vesicular transport. As the endomembrane compartments and the machineries regulating the membrane trafficking are largely conserved across all eukaryotes, our current knowledge on organelle biogenesis and endomembrane trafficking in plants has mainly been shaped by corresponding studies in mammals and yeast. However, unique perspectives have emerged from plant cell biology research through the characterization of plant-specific regulators as well as the development and application of the state-of-the-art microscopical techniques. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge on the plant endomembrane system, with a focus on several distinct pathways: ER-to-Golgi transport, protein sorting at the TGN, endosomal sorting on multivesicular bodies, vacuolar trafficking/vacuole biogenesis, and the autophagy pathway. We also give an update on advanced imaging techniques for the plant cell biology research.

The plant unique ESCRT component FREE1 regulates autophagosome closure.

The energy sensor AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) can activate autophagy when cellular energy production becomes compromised. However, the degree to which nutrient sensing impinges on the autophagosome closure remains unknown. Here, we provide the mechanism underlying a plant unique protein FREE1, upon autophagy-induced SnRK1α1-mediated phosphorylation, functions as a linkage between ATG conjugation system and ESCRT machinery to regulate the autophagosome closure upon nutrient deprivation. Using high-resolution microscopy, 3D-electron tomography, and protease protection assay, we showed that unclosed autophagosomes accumulated in free1 mutants. Proteomic, cellular and biochemical analysis revealed the mechanistic connection between FREE1 and the ATG conjugation system/ESCRT-III complex in regulating autophagosome closure. Mass spectrometry analysis showed that the evolutionary conserved plant energy sensor SnRK1α1 phosphorylates FREE1 and recruits it to the autophagosomes to promote closure. Mutagenesis of the phosphorylation site on FREE1 caused the autophagosome closure failure. Our findings unveil how cellular energy sensing pathways regulate autophagosome closure to maintain cellular homeostasis.

In vitro reconstitution of COPII vesicles from Arabidopsis thaliana suspension-cultured cells.

Transport vesicles mediate protein traffic between endomembrane organelles in a highly selective and efficient manner. In vitro reconstitution systems have been widely used for studying mechanisms of vesicle formation, polar trafficking, and cargo specificity in mammals and yeast. However, this technique has not yet been applied to plants because of the large lytic vacuoles and rigid cell walls. Here, we describe an Arabidopsis-derived in vitro vesicle formation system to reconstitute, purify and characterize plant-derived coat protein complex II (COPII) vesicles. In this protocol, we provide a detailed method for the isolation of microsomes and cytosol from Arabidopsis thaliana suspension-cultured cells (7-8 h), in vitro COPII vesicle reconstitution and purification (4-5 h) and biochemical and microscopic analysis using specific antibodies against COPII cargo molecules for reconstitution efficiency evaluation (2 h). We also include detailed sample-preparation steps for analyzing vesicle morphology by cryogenic electron microscopy (1 h) and vesicle cargoes by quantitative proteomics (4 h). Routinely, the whole procedure takes ~18-20 h of operation time and enables plant researchers without specific expertise to achieve organelle purification or vesicle reconstitution for further characterization.

Ufmylation reconciles salt stress-induced unfolded protein responses via ER-phagy in Arabidopsis.

In plants, the endomembrane system is tightly regulated in response to environmental stresses for maintaining cellular homeostasis. Autophagosomes, the double membrane organelles forming upon nutrient deprivation or stress induction, degrade bulky cytosolic materials for nutrient turnover. Though abiotic stresses have been reported to induce plant autophagy, few receptors or regulators for selective autophagy have been characterized for specific stresses. Here, we have applied immunoprecipitation followed by tandem mass spectrometry using the autophagosome marker protein ATG8 as bait and have identified the E3 ligase of the ufmylation system Ufl1 as a bona fide ATG8 interactor under salt stress. Notably, core components in the ufmylation cascade, Ufl1 and Ufm1, interact with the autophagy kinase complexes proteins ATG1 and ATG6. Cellular and genetic analysis showed that Ufl1 is important for endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-phagy under persisting salt stress. Loss-of-function mutants of Ufl1 display a salt stress hypersensitive phenotype and abnormal ER morphology. Prolonged ER stress responses are detected in ufl1 mutants that phenocopy the autophagy dysfunction atg5 mutants. Consistently, expression of ufmylation cascade components is up-regulated by salt stress. Taken together, our study demonstrates the role of ufmylation in regulating ER homeostasis under salt stress through ER-phagy.

A plant-unique protein BLISTER coordinates with core retromer to modulate endosomal sorting of plasma membrane and vacuolar proteins.

The retromer is a heteromeric protein complex that localizes to endosomal membranes and drives the formation of endosomal tubules that recycle membrane protein cargoes. In plants, the retromer plays essential and canonical functions in regulating the transport of vacuolar storage proteins and the recycle of endocytosed plasma membrane proteins (PM); however, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of assembly, protein stability, and membrane recruitment of the plant retromer complex remain to be elucidated. In this study, we identify a plant-unique endosomal regulator termed BLISTER (BLI), which colocalizes and associates with the retromer complex by interacting with the retromer core subunits VPS35 and VPS29. Depletion of BLI perturbs the assembly and membrane recruitment of the retromer core VPS26-VPS35-VPS29 trimer. Consequently, depletion of BLI disrupts retromer-regulated endosomal trafficking function, including transport of soluble vacuolar proteins and recycling of endocytosed PIN-FORMED (PIN) proteins from the endosomes back to the PM. Moreover, genetic analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana mutants reveals BLI and core retromer interact genetically in the regulation of endosomal trafficking. Taken together, we identified BLI as a plant-specific endosomal regulator, which functions in retromer pathway to modulate the recycling of endocytosed PM proteins and the trafficking of soluble vacuolar cargoes.

ADP-ribosylation factor D1 modulates Golgi morphology, cell plate formation, and plant growth in Arabidopsis.

ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) family proteins, one type of small guanine-nucleotide-binding (G) proteins, play a central role in regulating vesicular traffic and organelle structures in eukaryotes. The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genome contains more than 21 ARF proteins, but relatively little is known about the functional heterogeneity of ARF homologs in plants. Here, we characterized the function of a unique ARF protein, ARFD1B, in Arabidopsis. ARFD1B exhibited both cytosol and punctate localization patterns, colocalizing with a Golgi marker in protoplasts and transgenic plants. Distinct from other ARF1 homologs, overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant form of ARFD1B did not alter the localization of the Golgi marker mannosidase I (ManI)-RFP in Arabidopsis cells. Interestingly, the ARFD1 artificial microRNA knockdown mutant arfd1 displayed a deleterious growth phenotype, while this phenotype was restored in complemented plants. Further, confocal imaging and transmission electron microscopy analyses of the arfd1 mutant revealed defective cell plate formation and abnormal Golgi morphology. Pull-down and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analyses identified Coat Protein I (COPI) components as interacting partners of ARFD1B, and subsequent bimolecular fluorescence complementation, yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) two-hybrid, and co-immunoprecipitation assays further confirmed these interactions. These results demonstrate that ARFD1 is required for cell plate formation, maintenance of Golgi morphology, and plant growth in Arabidopsis.

COPII vesicles in plant autophagy and endomembrane trafficking.

In eukaryotes, the endomembrane system allows for spatiotemporal compartmentation of complicated cellular processes. The plant endomembrane system consists of the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, the trans-Golgi network, the multivesicular body and the vacuole. Anterograde traffic from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus is mediated by coat protein complex II (COPII) vesicles. Autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process that turns over cellular materials upon nutrient deprivation or in adverse environments, exploits double-membrane autophagosomes to recycle unwanted constituents in the lysosome/vacuole. Accumulating evidence reveals novel functions of plant COPII vesicles in autophagy and their regulation by abiotic stresses. Here, we summarize current knowledge about plant COPII vesicles in endomembrane trafficking and then highlight recent findings showing their distinct roles in modulating the autophagic flux and stress responses.

A distinct giant coat protein complex II vesicle population in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Plants live as sessile organisms with large-scale gene duplication events and subsequent paralogue divergence during evolution. Notably, plant paralogues are expressed tissue-specifically and fine-tuned by phytohormones during various developmental processes. The coat protein complex II (COPII) is a highly conserved vesiculation machinery mediating protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus in eukaryotes1. Intriguingly, Arabidopsis COPII paralogues greatly outnumber those in yeast and mammals2-6. However, the functional diversity and underlying mechanism of distinct COPII paralogues in regulating protein endoplasmic reticulum export and coping with various adverse environmental stresses are poorly understood. Here we characterize a novel population of COPII vesicles produced in response to abscisic acid, a key phytohormone regulating abiotic stress responses in plants. These hormone-induced giant COPII vesicles are regulated by an Arabidopsis-specific COPII paralogue and carry stress-related channels/transporters for alleviating stresses. This study thus provides a new mechanism underlying abscisic acid-induced stress responses via the giant COPII vesicles and answers a long-standing question on the evolutionary significance of gene duplications in Arabidopsis.

A unique COPII population in plant autophagy.

Increasing evidence supports the bona fide function of the coat protein complex II (COPII) machinery in regulating autophagosomes biogenesis during macroautophagy/autophagy induced by nutrient starvation. However, the participation of the COPII machinery in the plant autophagy pathway remains elusive. We recently identified a unique population of COPII vesicles containing AT3G62560/AtSar1d-AT1G02130/AtRabD2a that functions in modulating autuphagosome biogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proteomic analysis identified the mechanistic connection between autophagy-related (ATG) proteins and a subset of specific COPII paralogs, including AtSar1d. Mutants of AtSar1d affect autophagosome progression and display starvation-related phenotypes. AtSar1d interacts with ATG8 by a non-canonical motif. Cellular and genetic analysis demonstrated that a plant-unique RAB1/Ypt1 homolog AtRabD2a coordinates with AtSar1d to mediate the specific COPII functions in the autophagy pathway. This study identified a plant-specific nexus in regulating autophagosome biogenesis.

A unique AtSar1D-AtRabD2a nexus modulates autophagosome biogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana.

In eukaryotes, secretory proteins traffic from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus via coat protein complex II (COPII) vesicles. Intriguingly, during nutrient starvation, the COPII machinery acts constructively as a membrane source for autophagosomes during autophagy to maintain cellular homeostasis by recycling intermediate metabolites. In higher plants, essential roles of autophagy have been implicated in plant development and stress responses. Nonetheless, the membrane sources of autophagosomes, especially the participation of the COPII machinery in the autophagic pathway and autophagosome biogenesis, remains elusive in plants. Here, we provided evidence in support of a novel role of a specific Sar1 homolog AtSar1d in plant autophagy in concert with a unique Rab1/Ypt1 homolog AtRabD2a. First, proteomic analysis of the plant ATG (autophagy-related gene) interactome uncovered the mechanistic connections between ATG machinery and specific COPII components including AtSar1d and Sec23s, while a dominant negative mutant of AtSar1d exhibited distinct inhibition on YFP-ATG8 vacuolar degradation upon autophagic induction. Second, a transfer DNA insertion mutant of AtSar1d displayed starvation-related phenotypes. Third, AtSar1d regulated autophagosome progression through specific recognition of ATG8e by a noncanonical motif. Fourth, we demonstrated that a plant-unique Rab1/Ypt1 homolog AtRabD2a coordinates with AtSar1d to function as the molecular switch in mediating the COPII functions in the autophagy pathway. AtRabD2a appears to be essential for bridging the specific AtSar1d-positive COPII vesicles to the autophagy initiation complex and therefore contributes to autophagosome formation in plants. Taken together, we identified a plant-specific nexus of AtSar1d-AtRabD2a in regulating autophagosome biogenesis.

Plant Rho GTPase signaling promotes autophagy.

The roles of Rho family guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) of plants (ROPs) in modulating plant growth and development have been well characterized. However, little is known about the roles of ROP signaling pathways in regulating plant autophagy and autophagosome formation. In this study, we identify a unique ROP signaling mechanism, which mediates developmental to autophagic transition under stress conditions in the model plant Arabidopsis. Loss-of-function mutants of ROP8 showed stress-induced hypersensitive phenotypes and compromised autophagic flux. Similar to other ROPs in the ROP/RAC family, ROP8 exhibits both plasma membrane and cytosolic punctate localization patterns. Upon autophagic induction, active ROP8 puncta colocalize with autophagosomal markers and are degraded inside the vacuole. In human cells, RalB, an RAS subfamily GTPase, engages its effector Exo84 for autophagosome assembly. However, a RalB counterpart is missing in the plant lineage. Intriguingly, we discovered that plant ROP8 promotes autophagy via its downstream effector Sec5. Live-cell super-resolution imaging showed that ROP8 and Sec5 reside on phagophores for autophagosome formation. Taken together, our findings highlight a previously unappreciated role of an ROP8-Sec5 signaling axis in autophagy promotion, providing new insights into how plants utilize versatile ROP signaling networks to coordinate developmental and autophagic responses depending on environmental changes.

A plant-unique ESCRT component, FYVE4, regulates multivesicular endosome biogenesis and plant growth.

During evolution, land plants generated unique proteins that participate in endosomal sorting and multivesicular endosome (MVE) biogenesis, many of them with specific phosphoinositide-binding capabilities. Nonetheless, the function of most plant phosphoinositide-binding proteins in endosomal trafficking remains elusive. Here, we analysed several Arabidopsis mutants lacking predicted phosphoinositide-binding proteins and first identified fyve4-1 as a mutant with a hypersensitive response to high-boron conditions and defects in degradative vacuolar sorting of membrane proteins such as the borate exporter BOR1-GFP. FYVE4 encodes a plant-unique, FYVE domain-containing protein that interacts with SNF7, a core component of ESCRT-III (Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport III). FYVE4 affects the membrane association of the late-acting ESCRT components SNF7 and VPS4, and modulates the formation of intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) inside MVEs. The critical function of FYVE4 in the ESCRT pathway was further demonstrated by the strong genetic interactions with SNF7B and LIP5. Although the fyve4-1, snf7b and lip5 single mutants were viable, the fyve4-1 snf7b and fyve4-1 lip5 double mutants were seedling lethal, with strong defects in MVE biogenesis and vacuolar sorting of ubiquitinated membrane proteins. Taken together, we identified FYVE4 as a novel plant endosomal regulator, which functions in ESCRTing pathway to regulate MVE biogenesis.

Friendly mediates membrane depolarization-induced mitophagy in Arabidopsis.

The oxidative environment within the mitochondria makes them particularly vulnerable to proteotoxic stress. To maintain a healthy mitochondrial network, eukaryotes have evolved multi-tiered quality control pathways. If the stress cannot be alleviated, defective mitochondria are selectively removed by autophagy via a process termed mitophagy. Despite significant advances in metazoans and yeast, in plants, the molecular underpinnings of mitophagy are largely unknown. Here, using time-lapse imaging, electron tomography, and biochemical assays, we show that uncoupler treatments cause loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and induce autophagy in Arabidopsis. The damaged mitochondria are selectively engulfed by autophagosomes that are labeled by ATG8 proteins in an ATG5-dependent manner. Friendly, a member of the clustered mitochondria protein family, is recruited to the damaged mitochondria to mediate mitophagy. In addition to the stress, mitophagy is also induced during de-etiolation, a major cellular transformation during photomorphogenesis that involves chloroplast biogenesis. De-etiolation-triggered mitophagy is involved in cotyledon greening, pointing toward an inter-organellar crosstalk mechanism. Altogether, our results demonstrate how plants employ mitophagy to recycle damaged mitochondria during stress and development.

Transient Expression of Fluorescent Fusion Proteins in Arabidopsis Protoplasts.

Transient expression using protoplasts isolated from Arabidopsis suspension culture cells is a fast and useful tool for analyzing protein subcellular localization and dynamics in plant cells. Recently, super-resolution imaging techniques such as N-SIM (Nikon, Structured Illumination Microscopy) are widely used in cell biology study, allowing cell biologists to obtain unattainable details and relationships of cell structures and functions by conventional confocal imaging. To facilitate the usage of protoplasts transient expression and super-resolution imaging for protein localization and dynamic analysis in plant cell biology research, here we describe updated protocols of protoplasts isolation from Arabidopsis suspension culture cells and transient expression assay for protein trafficking and localization study. Further, using GFP-tagged ERES (Endoplasmic Reticulum Exit Site) marker proteins and RFP-tagged Golgi marker as examples, we illustrate the major tools and methods for protein localization analysis using super-resolution imaging.

Systematic prediction of autophagy-related proteins using Arabidopsis thaliana interactome data.

Autophagy is a self-degradative process that is crucial for maintaining cellular homeostasis by removing damaged cytoplasmic components and recycling nutrients. Such an evolutionary conserved proteolysis process is regulated by the autophagy-related (Atg) proteins. The incomplete understanding of plant autophagy proteome and the importance of a proteome-wide understanding of the autophagy pathway prompted us to predict Atg proteins and regulators in Arabidopsis. Here, we developed a systems-level algorithm to identify autophagy-related modules (ARMs) based on protein subcellular localization, protein-protein interactions, and known Atg proteins. This generates a detailed landscape of the autophagic modules in Arabidopsis. We found that the newly identified genes in each ARM tend to be upregulated and coexpressed during the senescence stage of Arabidopsis. We also demonstrated that the Golgi apparatus ARM, ARM13, functions in the autophagy process by module clustering and functional analysis. To verify the in silico analysis, the Atg candidates in ARM13 that are functionally similar to the core Atg proteins were selected for experimental validation. Interestingly, two of the previously uncharacterized proteins identified from the ARM analysis, AGD1 and Sec14, exhibited bona fide association with the autophagy protein complex in plant cells, which provides evidence for a cross-talk between intracellular pathways and autophagy. Thus, the computational framework has facilitated the identification and characterization of plant-specific autophagy-related proteins and novel autophagy proteins/regulators in higher eukaryotes.

A cross-kingdom conserved ER-phagy receptor maintains endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis during stress.

Eukaryotes have evolved various quality control mechanisms to promote proteostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Selective removal of certain ER domains via autophagy (termed as ER-phagy) has emerged as a major quality control mechanism. However, the degree to which ER-phagy is employed by other branches of ER-quality control remains largely elusive. Here, we identify a cytosolic protein, C53, that is specifically recruited to autophagosomes during ER-stress, in both plant and mammalian cells. C53 interacts with ATG8 via a distinct binding epitope, featuring a shuffled ATG8 interacting motif (sAIM). C53 senses proteotoxic stress in the ER lumen by forming a tripartite receptor complex with the ER-associated ufmylation ligase UFL1 and its membrane adaptor DDRGK1. The C53/UFL1/DDRGK1 receptor complex is activated by stalled ribosomes and induces the degradation of internal or passenger proteins in the ER. Consistently, the C53 receptor complex and ufmylation mutants are highly susceptible to ER stress. Thus, C53 forms an ancient quality control pathway that bridges selective autophagy with ribosome-associated quality control in the ER.

For cells to survive they need to be able to remove faulty or damaged components. The ability to recycle faulty parts is so crucial that some of the molecular machinery responsible is the same across the plant and animal kingdoms. One of the major recycling pathways cells use is autophagy, which labels damaged proteins with molecular tags that say 'eat-me'. Proteins called receptors then recognize these tags and move the faulty component into vesicles that transport the cargo to a specialized compartment that recycles broken parts. Cells make and fold around 40% of their proteins at a site called the endoplasmic reticulum, or ER for short. However, the process of folding and synthesizing proteins is prone to errors. For example, when a cell is under stress this can cause a 'stall' in production, creating a build-up of faulty, partially constructed proteins that are toxic to the cell. There are several quality control systems which help recognize and correct these errors in production. Yet, it remained unclear how autophagy and these quality control mechanisms are linked together. Here, Stephani, Picchianti et al. screened for receptors that regulate the recycling of faulty proteins by binding to the 'eat-me' tags. This led to the identification of a protein called C53, which is found in both plant and animal cells. Microscopy and protein-protein interaction tests showed that C53 moves into transport vesicles when the ER is under stress and faulty proteins start to build-up. Once there, C53 interacts with two proteins embedded in the wall of the endoplasmic reticulum. These proteins form part of the quality control system that senses stalled protein production, labelling the stuck proteins with 'eat-me' tags. Together with C53, they identify and remove half-finished proteins before they can harm the cell. The fact that C53 works in the same way in both plant and human cells suggests that many species might use this receptor to recycle stalled proteins. This has implications for a wide range of research areas, from agriculture to human health. A better understanding of C53 could be beneficial for developing stress-resilient crops. It could also aid research into human diseases, such as cancer and viral infections, that have been linked to C53 and its associated proteins.