Presentation type: Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation (underline the preferred type) AMBRA1 controls plant development and senescence in Physcomitrella patens. Alessandro Alboresi1, Jessica Ceccato1, Tomas Morosinotto1, Luisa Dalla Valle1. The first one should be the presenting/corresponding author (underlined) 1Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35121, Padova (
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[email protected]) Autophagy is a universal mechanism that in plants control development, resistance to stresses and starvation. The role of autophagy is possible thanks to the programmed degradation of cell material that is delivered to the vacuole where hydrolases and proteases are localized. So far, many autophagy-related proteins (ATGs) have been identified. Some of them are universal, some are either specific to animals, plants or yeast. ATG protein complexes govern autophagosome initiation, nucleation, expansion, and maturation. In particular, the regulation of nucleation by the ATG6 (Beclin-1 in mammals) complex has not been well defined in plants. Here we described the study of the Activating Molecule in Beclin 1-Regulated Autophagy (AMBRA1) protein, recently identified in mice and then characterized in our department in zebrafish and in the non-vertebrate chordate Botryllus schlosseri. In animals AMBRA1 is a positive regulator of autophagy that binds Beclin-1 upon autophagic stimuli. AMBRA1 is a large intrinsically disordered protein, able to bind other regulatory partners involved in cell processes such as autophagy, apoptosis, cell proliferation, development and cancer. AMBRA1 sequence was found in plant genomes and we are studying its function in Physcomitrella patens where two lowly expressed genes are present, AMBRA1a and AMBRA1b.