Roles of eIF5A in regulating plant translational elongation and stress adaptation

doi:10.1016/j.jia.2026.09.016

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Roles of eIF5A in regulating plant translational elongation and stress adaptation

Dong Ma^1,², Xin Shen¹, Yunhui Zhang², Weijie Tang^2#, Yunfei Wu^1#

¹Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology/Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops/Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture & Agri-Product Safety, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China

²Institute of Germplasm Resources and Biotechnology, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China

Highlights

Hypusinated eIF5A primarily promotes translation elongation and termination at difficult sequence contexts.

Plant eIF5A paralogues have context-specific roles in growth, senescence, abiotic-stress adaptation and immunity.

A causal plant workflow should integrate ribosome profiling, collision mapping, proteomics and genetic rescue.

Abstract
References

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摘要

真核翻译起始因子5A（eIF5A）通过源自亚精胺的两步hypusine（羟腐胺赖氨酸）修饰而被特异性激活，该过程由脱氧hypusine合酶（DHS）和脱氧hypusine羟化酶（DOHH）依次催化。尽管eIF5A最初被归类为翻译起始因子，但经hypusine修饰的eIF5A主要参与翻译延伸和终止，通过促进动力学受限序列环境中的肽键形成维持核糖体顺利运行。植物基因组通常编码由少数成员组成的eIF5A基因家族，其保守催化核心通过亚型特异性表达、蛋白质周转及组织环境产生不同功能。遗传学研究表明，不同eIF5A旁系同源蛋白参与分生组织活性、维管组织分化、器官生长、衰老、程序性细胞死亡、非生物胁迫适应及免疫调控。近期烟草遗传学和核糖体测序研究提供了新的植物翻译组学证据，表明NtDHS1-NteIF5A1轴可重塑生长及叶绿素相关基因的翻译；然而，目前仍缺乏植物eIF5A亚型在密码子分辨率上解除特定核糖体停顿基序的直接证据。本文按照表达、表型、蛋白质周转和翻译组四个层级，整合拟南芥、水稻、玉米、烟草、番茄和木本植物中的相关证据，并提出“条件性翻译缓冲”模型，即保守的亚精胺-hypusine-eIF5A模块可根据细胞内待翻译mRNA库及细胞状态产生不同生物学输出。本文以哺乳动物研究作为方法学桥梁，提出整合RNA测序、核糖体测序、核糖体碰撞定位、蛋白质组学、基序操纵和遗传挽救的因果验证流程；最后讨论通过多基因通路调控、精准顺式调控编辑，以及泛基因组和人工智能辅助的候选基因优选开发eIF5A调控网络，从而服务于作物改良并尽量降低生长—防御权衡。

Abstract

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is uniquely activated by hypusination, a two-step spermidine-derived modification catalysed by deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH). Although historically classified as an initiation factor, hypusinated eIF5A acts primarily during translation elongation and termination by supporting peptide-bond formation at kinetically difficult sequence contexts. Plant genomes encode small eIF5A families whose conserved catalytic core is deployed through isoform-specific expression, protein turnover and tissue context. Genetic studies connect individual paralogues with meristem activity, vascular differentiation, organ growth, senescence, programmed cell death, abiotic-stress adaptation and immunity. Recent tobacco genetics combined with ribosome profiling provides emerging plant translatomic evidence that the NtDHS1–NteIF5A1 axis remodels translation of growth- and chlorophyll-related genes. However, direct codon-resolved evidence that a plant eIF5A isoform rescues a defined ribosomal pause motif remains lacking. Here, we distinguish expression-, phenotype-, protein-turnover- and translatome-level evidence, integrate results across Arabidopsis, rice, maize, tobacco, tomato and woody species, and propose a conditional translational-buffer model in which a conserved spermidine–hypusination–eIF5A module produces different outputs according to the translated mRNA pool and cellular state. Mammalian studies are used as a methodological bridge to define a causal workflow based on matched RNA sequencing, ribosome profiling, collision mapping, proteomics, motif manipulation and genetic rescue. Finally, we discuss multigene pathway tuning, precision cis-regulatory editing and pangenome- and artificial-intelligence-guided candidate prioritisation as routes to exploit eIF5A networks while minimising growth–defence trade-offs in crops.

Keywords: eIF5A hypusination translational elongation ribosome profiling plant growth development stress responses

Online: 11 September 2026

Fund:

This study was supported by the open funds of the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genomics and Molecular Breeding (NO.PL202302), a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (SJCX25_2394)

About author: #Correspondence Weijie Tang, E-mail: weijiet08@163.com; Yunfei Wu, E-mail: 006949@yzu.edu.cn

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Dong Ma, Xin Shen, Yunhui Zhang, Weijie Tang, Yunfei Wu. 2026.

Roles of eIF5A in regulating plant translational elongation and stress adaptation . Journal of Integrative Agriculture, Doi:10.1016/j.jia.2026.09.016

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