N-Glycosylation of Plant Proteins

Abstract

N-glycosylation is one of the most common and most complex posttranslational modifications of proteins, playing a key role in their folding, quality control, and degradation, and it also influences activity, transport, localization, and interaction with other proteins. Moreover, N-glycosylation modulates many important biological processes, including growth, development, and morphogenesis and is involved in stress signaling processes. Moreover, while the role of N-glycosylation in general and the functions of individual N‑glycans in mammalian cells have been well studied, the studies of this process in plants lag significantly behind. The review summarizes the available information about the N-glycosylation process of proteins, the biosynthetic pathway and functions of various N-glycans in plants in the context of growth, development, and the influence of external factors. Emphasis is placed on the main points that must be taken into account when studying this process in plants, and the possibilities of practical use of the acquired knowledge for glycoengineering of plant proteins are discussed.