Plant Cells Survive but Stop Dividing upon DNA Damage
Published:12 Oct.2017 Source:Science Daily
The cell cycle is how a cell passes its DNA. It risks passing this damage to daughter cells if the DNA is damaged. Scientists report a new molecular mechanism that explains how this cessation occurs. The study shows that the transcription factor family MYB3R is normally degraded, but accumulates upon DNA damage to prevent cell cycle progression.
MYB3R can be divided into groups of transcription activators (Act-MYB) and transcription repressors (Rep-MYB). In the study, termination of the growth of plants was accompanied by an accumulation of Rep-MYB proteins in these regions and that absent this accumulation, the plants would show signs of growing leaves and flowers.