How Do Plants Cope with DNA Damage? A Concise Review on the DDR Pathway in Plants

DNA damage is induced by many factors, some of which naturally occur in the environment. Because of their sessile nature, plants are especially exposed to unfavorable conditions causing DNA damage. In response to this damage, the DDR (DNA damage response) pathway is activated. This pathway is highly conserved between eukaryotes; however, there are some plant-specific DDR elements, such as SOG1—a transcription factor that is a central DDR regulator in plants. In general, DDR signaling activates transcriptional and epigenetic regulators that orchestrate the cell cycle arrest and DNA repair mechanisms upon DNA damage. The cell cycle halts to give the cell time to repair damaged DNA before replication. If the repair is successful, the cell cycle is reactivated. However, if the DNA repair mechanisms fail and DNA lesions accumulate, the cell enters the apoptotic pathway. Thereby the proper maintenance of DDR is crucial for plants to survive. It is particularly important for agronomically important species because exposure to environmental stresses causing DNA damage leads to growth inhibition and yield reduction. Thereby, gaining knowledge regarding the DDR pathway in crops may have a huge agronomic impact—it may be useful in breeding new cultivars more tolerant to such stresses. In this review, we characterize different genotoxic agents and their mode of action, describe DDR activation and signaling and summarize DNA repair mechanisms in plants.