Advances in Plant Nucleoporins

WEI Zhaoxin¹, PANG Qiuying¹, ZHANG Aiqin^1*, YAN Xiufeng^2*

(¹Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; ²College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China)

Abstract:

NPC (nuclear pore complex), embedding in the nuclear envelope, is the sole gateway channel that controls the trafficking of macromolecules such as proteins and mRNA between nucleus and cytoplasm. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the NPC consists of approximately 30 NUPs (nucleoporins) with multiple copies, which can be divided into outer ring, inner ring, linker, transmembrane, central FG (phenylalanine-glycine) and nuclear basket NUPs according to the sub-complex they formed. The NUPs not only modulate nucleocytoplasmic transport, but also play important roles in various biological processes. This review summarized the biological functions of plant NUPs involved in nucleocytoplasmic transport, hormone signaling, growth and development, responses to the environmental stress, plant immunity, which would lay the foundation for systematic cognition and further study on the biological functions of plant NUPs.