Rewiring the unfolded protein response for plant growth recovery from stress

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a highly coordinated signaling network that mitigates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, a condition induced by diverse environmental challenges in plants. Over the past two decades, substantial progress has been made in elucidating the molecular and genetic mechanisms of ER stress sensing and signal transduction in plants, largely through studies in the model Arabidopsis thaliana. These advances have established the UPR as a central regulator of proteostasis and underscored its broader relevance to plant growth, development, and crop productivity under stress conditions. Despite this progress, critical knowledge gaps remain, particularly concerning the downstream biological processes required for growth recovery once ER stress is subsided and how these processes are coordinated by UPR regulators. Recent systems-level and integrative studies have begun to reveal critical roles of UPR signaling in pathways governing growth re-establishment and homeostasis of nutrient allocation and energy metabolism. In this review, we highlight recent findings on the functional roles of the plant UPR in recovery from ER stress, with a focus on mechanisms mediated by the UPR regulators and downstream biological pathways that enable the transition from stress mitigation to growth restoration. Although this research area is still emerging, accumulating evidence supports a model in which the UPR functions as a dynamic regulatory network that actively coordinates post-stress physiological recovery and plant fitness.