Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42665660›Full record

ArticleNature plants2026

Brassinosteroids promote sugar synthesis by inhibiting BIN2 phosphorylation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase.

Hongliang Zhang, Yalikunjiang Aizezi, Kanako Bessho-Uehara, Ajeet Chaudhary, Cao Son Trinh, Shou-Ling Xu, Zhi-Yong Wang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature plants, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Hongliang Zhang *Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA. hzhang10@carnegiescience.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3002-798X
Yalikunjiang Aizezi *Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA.
Kanako Bessho-UeharaDepartment of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0018-9128
Ajeet ChaudharyDepartment of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA.
Cao Son TrinhDepartment of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6200-8399
Shou-Ling XuDepartment of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6741-9506
Zhi-Yong WangDepartment of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA. zywang24@stanford.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4602-3390

Funding

Genetic Biochemical Studies of Signaling in Growth and AcclimationR01GM066258 · NIGMS · CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON, D.C. · PI ZHIYONG WANG · 2002 to 2026
$10.5M
Thermo Orbitrap Eclipse Tribrid with ETD and an Ultimate 3000 RSLCnano SystemS10OD030441 · OD · CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON, D.C. · PI XU, SHOULING · 2022 to 2022
$600k
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM066258NIH HHS S10 OD030441U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) R01GM066258U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) S10OD030441
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sugar is both an essential energy source and the major substrate for cell wall biosynthesis during plant growth, yet how growth-promoting hormones regulate sugar synthesis remains unclear. Here we show that the brassinosteroids (BRs) promote gluconeogenic and photosynthetic sugar synthesis by activating phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK), which catalyses the conversion of oxaloacetate to phosphoenolpyruvate, a central step in primary metabolism. Arabidopsis BR-deficient mutants display reduced PCK1 activity and elevated phosphorylation at conserved Ser-62 and Thr-66 residues. BR treatment induces PCK1 dephosphorylation and activation, whereas the GSK3-like kinase BIN2 phosphorylates these sites, altering quaternary structure and inhibiting PCK1. Phospho-blocking mutations of Ser-62/Thr-66 confer BR-independent PCK1 activity and enhance seedling growth, while phosphomimetic mutations reduce PCK1 activity and impair seedling growth and establishment. BRs also promote PCK dephosphorylation and activation in photosynthetic leaves of maize and sorghum. Our study demonstrates that BRs regulate primary metabolism via GSK3/BIN2-mediated phosphorylation of PCK, thereby promoting gluconeogenesis and photosynthesis.

Indexed as

ArabidopsisArabidopsis ProteinsBrassinosteroidsPhosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (ATP)Plant Growth RegulatorsProtein KinasesPhosphorylationProtein Serine-Threonine KinasesSeedlingsArabidopsis ProteinsAt4g18710 protein, ArabidopsisBrassinosteroidsPhosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (ATP)Plant Growth RegulatorsProtein KinasesProtein Serine-Threonine Kinases

Identifiers

PMID42665660
PMCPMC13585555

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.