FPU2025 - Oxidative Cysteine Post-Translational Modifications

New targets of oxidative cysteine post-translational modifications (PTMs) involved in the regulation of autophagy, ABA signalling and the circadian clock in Arabidopsis: role of thioredoxins. Protein PTMs are attracting the interest of the research community because they are able to modulate the structure, localization, protein interaction and function of enzymes involved in diverse metabolic routes in all organisms. More than 450 unique PTMs have been identified, being the majority of them reversible and mediated by specific enzymes or by non-enzymatic metabolites. Protein PTMs modulate stress response in animals during several diseases and the knowledge of specific targets of PTMs is allowing the development of new therapeutic solutions. In plants, the knowledge of the involvement of PTMs in cell metabolism is scarcer than in other systems. Cysteine residues are low abundant amino acids. There are increasing evidences that Cys modifications regulate protein function and participate in the reactive oxygen/nitrogen/sulfur species sensing and transduction pathways. The main goal of this project is to identify novel PTMs affecting Cys residues of plant proteins involved in processes that play a fundamental role under stress, such as: autophagy, abcisic acid signalling and the circadian clock. Additionally, the project aims to identify those Cys PTMs that are modulated by thioredoxins, small oxidoreductases able to catalyse the reduction of oxidised thiols of specific target