APG8A — Arabidopsis thaliana

Summary

AT4G21980, also known as APG8A or ATG8A, encodes an autophagy-related protein with ubiquitin-like domains and Atg8-specific protease and ligase activities. In Arabidopsis thaliana, this gene is associated with multiple autophagy pathways including macroautophagy, microautophagy, mitophagy, ER-phagy, aggrephagy, and proteaphagy. It is linked to stamen formation, reproductive and vegetative growth time, leaf and stem senescence, seed development, and embryo development traits. The gene is associated with stress responses including salt, drought, high temperature, and oxidative stress, as well as disease tolerance, herbicide sensitivity, and ABA sensitivity. Associations with seed oil content, oleic acid content, triacylglycerol content, and cuticular wax accumulation have been observed. The protein localizes to the phagophore, vacuole, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi stack, and microtubules. Studies of related genes in other species link the family to bacterial resistance.