REVIEW: The Big, Mysterious World of Plant 14-3-3 Proteins

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Ilya A. Sedlov^1,2, Nikolai N. Sluchanko^1,a*

¹Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Federal Research Center of Biotechnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071 Moscow, Russia

²Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: August 28, 2024; Revised: September 6, 2024; Accepted: September 20, 2024

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14-3-3 is a family of small regulatory proteins found exclusively in eukaryotic organisms. They selectively bind to phosphorylated molecules of partner proteins and regulate their functions. 14-3-3 proteins were first characterized in the mammalian brain approximately 60 years ago and then found in plants, 30 years later. The multifunctionality of 14-3-3 proteins is exemplified by their involvement in coordination of protein kinase cascades in animal brain and regulation of flowering, growth, metabolism, and immunity in plants. Despite extensive studies of this diverse and complex world of plant 14-3-3 proteins, our understanding of functions of these enigmatic molecules is fragmentary and unsystematic. The results of studies are often contradictory and many questions remain unanswered, including biochemical properties of 14-3-3 isoforms, structure of protein–protein complexes, and direct mechanisms by which 14-3-3 proteins influence the functions of their partners in plants. Although many plant genes coding for 14-3-3 proteins have been identified, the isoforms for in vivo and in vitro studies are often selected at random. This rather limited approach is partly due to an exceptionally large number and variety of 14-3-3 homologs in plants and erroneous a priori assumptions on the equivalence of certain isoforms. The accumulated results provide an extensive but rather fragmentary picture, which poses serious challenges for making global generalizations. This review is aimed to demonstrate the diversity and scope of studies of the functions of plant 14-3-3 proteins, as well as to identify areas that require further systematic investigation and close scientific attention.

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KEY WORDS: 14-3-3 protein, plant biochemistry, phosphorylation, protein–protein interactions, enzyme regulation, signaling pathways

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297924603319

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