Mitochondrial VDAC and hexokinase together modulate plant programmed cell death

The voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) and mitochondrially located hexokinase have been implicated both in pathways leading to cell death on the one hand, and immortalization in tumor formation on the other. While both proteins have also been implicated in death processes in plants, their interaction has not been explored. We have examined cell death following heterologous expression of a rice VDAC in the tobacco cell line BY2 and in leaves of tobacco plants and show that it is ameliorated by co-expression of hexokinase. Hexokinase also abrogates death induced by H2O2. We conclude that the ratio of expression of the two proteins and their interaction play a major role in modulating death pathways in plants.