Mitochondria and Cell Death

AbstractThis chapter discusses the current body of evidence that supports a role for mitochondria in plant cell death. In plants, a reduction of mitochondrial function and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels by suppression of autophagy triggered necrosis instead of developmental programmed cell death (PCD). PCD is found to be closely associated with mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) production in plants. A key mechanism of PCD in animal systems is the excessive swelling of mitochondria; a phenomenon termed the mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT). Mitochondria are known to trigger nuclear gene expression of stress‐related genes and significant evidence points towards a role for ROS in getting signals out of the mitochondria. Many pro‐ and antiapoptotic proteins that are associated with mitochondria were identified in non‐plant systems, and a push in the plant field was initiated to find out how much of this mitochondrial pathway is conserved. Plant mitochondria become an increasingly important metabolic hub during developmental leaf senescence.