Phosphatases are involved in modulating the TCA cycle in plants

Phosphorylation is a reversible posttranslational modification that modulates the activities of numerous proteins.In plants,it is known that several mitochondrial proteins can be phosphory-lated,including enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid(TCA)cycle.The kinases and phosphorylases that mediate reversible phosphorylation of TCA cycle enzymes remain largely elusive,as is the impact of protein phosphorylation on the TCA cycle.In this issue of Molecular Plant,Zhang et al.(2021)demonstrate that two phosphatases play important roles in controlling the phosphorylation status of TCA cycle enzymes,which modulates their activities and influences carbon flux through the TCA cycle.