At the subcellular level, the cytoskeleton regulates cell structure, organelle movement, and cytoplasmic streaming. Autophagy is a process to remove unwanted biomaterials or damaged organelles through double membrane compartments known as autophagosomes. Autophagosome biogenesis requires vesicle trafficking between donor and acceptor compartments, membrane expansion, and fusion, which is very likely to be regulated by the cytoskeleton. Recent studies have demonstrated that by knocking out key actin-regulating proteins, autophagosome biogenesis is inhibited. However, the formation of ATG8 positive structures are not affected when the entire actin network is disrupted. Here, we discuss this paradox and propose the function of the actin cytoskeleton in plant autophagy.

Department of Biosciences Durham University South Road Durham DH1 3LE UK; Department of Experimental Plant Biology Charles University Faculty of Science Viničná 5 CZ 128 43 Praha 2 Czechia

Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences Huazhong Agricultural University Wuhan 430070 Hubei Province PR China

References provided by Crossref.org