Vorster, Barend JuanCullis, Christopher A.Kunert, Karl J.2020-08-192020-08-192019-04-12Vorster BJ, Cullis CA and Kunert KJ (2019) Plant Vacuolar Processing Enzymes. Frontiers in Plant Science 10:479. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.004791664-462X (online)10.3389/fpls.2019.00479http://hdl.handle.net/2263/75794Plant proteomes contain hundreds of proteases divided into different families based on evolutionary and functional relationship. In particular, plant cysteine proteases of the C1 (papain-like) and C13 (legumain-like) families play key roles in many physiological processes. The legumain-like proteases, also called vacuolar processing enzymes (VPEs), perform a multifunctional role in different plant organs and during different stages of plant development and death. VPEs are similar to animal caspases, and although caspase activity was identified in plants almost 40 years ago, there still remains much research to be done to gain a complete understanding of their various roles and functions in plants. Here we not only summarize the current existing knowledge of plant VPEs, including recent developments in the field, but also highlight the future prospective areas to be investigated to obtain a more detailed understanding of the role of VPEs in plants.en© 2019 Vorster, Cullis and Kunert. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).Vacuolar processing enzyme (VPE)LegumainProgrammed cell death (PCD)Cysteine proteasePlant developmentArticle