The Role of Plant Bax Inhibitor-1 in Suppressing H2O2 -Induced Cell Death 

 -  Methods in enzymology, 527, p.239-256, 2013 .
<br/><br/> Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)is known to be a typical endogenous signaling molecule that triggers programmed cell death in plants and metazoan. In this respect, they seem to share the mechanism of cell death caused by H 2O and other reactive oxygen species (ROS). Bax inhibitor-1 (BI-1)is a well-conserved protein in plants and animals that serves as the inhibitor of mammalian proapoptotic proteins as well as plant ROS-induced cell death. As a target of H2O2 , mitochondrion is considered to be an organelle of the primary ROS generation and perception. Thus, analysis of mitochondrial behavior in relation to functional roles of regulatory proteins (e.g., BI-1)will lead us to understand the core mechanisms of cell death regulation conserved in eukaryotes. In this chapter, we first introduce techniques of analyzing H2O2- (and ROS-)mediated changes in mitochondrial behavior. Next, we describe our understanding of the functions of plant BI-1 in regulation of ROS-induced cell death, with a technical basis for assessment of tolerance to ROS-mediated cell death in model plant systems.