Article
Plant Sciences
Hiroshi Yamamoto, Nozomi Sato, Toshiharu Shikanai
Summary: The chloroplast NADH dehydrogenase-like (NDH) complex plays a crucial role in the electron transport chain in plants. The assembly and stability of subcomplex A (SubA) is dependent on the biosynthesis of the NdhA protein. Knockout mutants of ndhA in tobacco plants revealed the essential role of NdhA in stabilizing specific subunits of the NDH complex.
PLANT AND CELL PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
F. Vanessa Loiacono, Dirk Walther, Stefanie Seeger, Wolfram Thiele, Ines Gerlach, Daniel Karcher, Mark Aurel Schoettler, Reimo Zoschke, Ralph Bock
Summary: RNA editing is an important process in converting cytidines to uridines in plant organellar transcripts. This study investigates the evolution and recognition of a recently gained editing site, demonstrating that changes in RNA recognition motifs allow an ancient PPR protein, QED1, to specifically target this site. The study also finds that the target specificity of PPR proteins depends on the RNA:protein ratio and the low expression levels of PPR proteins are necessary to ensure editing site selection specificity.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Bing Wang, Dmitri Svetlov, Irina Artsimovitch
Summary: The catalytic subunit of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp contains two active sites, one of which is NiRAN, essential for viral replication. Research has shown that NMPylation process can utilize diverse nucleotide triphosphates, as well as being inhibited by nucleotide analogs and bisphosphonates.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Nina Mencin, Dona Stepec, Alja Margon, Jana Vidic, Darko Dolenc, Tina Simcic, Sara Rotar, Rok Sekirnik, Ales Strancar, Urh Cernigoj
Summary: This study reports the development of an OdT-functionalized chromatographic monolith for the purification of polyadenylated mRNA. A synthetic oligo-deoxyadenylic acid chain was used as a surrogate for polyadenylated mRNA to optimize the affinity column. The hybridization between OdA and OdT correlated with the amount of immobilized OdT, and the hybridization yield was influenced by the size of the target, temperature, and probe surface coverage.
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jeff Gaither, Yi-Hsuan Lin, Ralf Bundschuh
Summary: The study focuses on the interactions of hundreds of RNA binding proteins in the human genome with RNA in cells, introducing RBPBind as a web-based tool for quantitatively predicting the interaction by considering the effect of RNA secondary structure on binding affinity. The tool provides a quick and easy way to obtain reliable predicted binding affinities and locations for single-stranded RNA binding proteins based solely on RNA sequence.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Julita Gumna, Angelika Andrzejewska-Romanowska, David J. Garfinkel, Katarzyna Pachulska-Wieczorek
Summary: A universal feature of retroelement propagation is the formation of distinct nucleoprotein complexes mediated by the Gag capsid protein. Ty1 retrotransposon Gag protein from Saccharomyces cerevisiae lacks sequence homology with retroviral Gag, but is functionally related. Ty1 Gag binds with high affinity to different RNAs, with a preferential interaction observed with Ty1 RNA containing a packaging signal.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Mengmeng Kong, Yaozong Wu, Ziyuan Wang, Wantong Qu, Yixin Lan, Xin Chen, Yanyun Liu, Perveen Shahnaz, Zhongnan Yang, Qingbo Yu, Hualing Mi
Summary: The RP8 gene is crucial for the processing of the rpoA transcript in Arabidopsis chloroplasts, affecting gene expression and chloroplast development.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dan Liu, Zi-Ang Li, Yi Li, David P. Molloy, Chao Huang
Summary: The study found that RARE1 and AtECB2 have divergent roles in RNA editing, with RARE1's DYW domain being more closely related to accD-C794 editing.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Pan P. Li, Roumita Moulick, Hongxuan Feng, Xin Sun, Nicolas Arbez, Jing Jin, Leonard O. Marque, Erin Hedglen, H. Y. Edwin Chan, Christopher A. Ross, Stefan M. Pulst, Russell L. Margolis, Sarah Woodson, Dobrila D. Rudnicki
Summary: The study demonstrates that expATXN2 RNA induces neuronal cell death and interacts abnormally with RNA binding proteins involved in RNA metabolism. The findings suggest a point of convergence in the pathogeneses of repeat expansion diseases, with potential therapeutic implications.
MOVEMENT DISORDERS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ruihua Huang, Mengling Liu, Guanping Gong, Pingzhi Wu, Barunava Patra, Ling Yuan, Hongting Qin, Xiaoxu Wang, Guohe Wang, Huimei Liao, Lu Gao, Chengwei Yang, Hongqing Li, Shengchun Zhang
Summary: APUM24 is a crucial regulator of seed maturation, positively modulating the BPM-WRI1 module to affect seed size, weight, and oil content in plants.
JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE PLANT BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xin Chai, Xiushun Wang, Liwei Rong, Manfei Luo, Li Yuan, Qiuxin Li, Baoye He, Jingjing Jiang, Daili Ji, Min Ouyang, Qingtao Lu, Lixin Zhang, Jean-David Rochaix, Wei Chi
Summary: This study reveals a previously unknown function of the inner envelope membrane-bound AAA-ATPase FtsHi1 in maintaining R-loop homeostasis in chloroplasts of Arabidopsis thaliana. It is shown that FtsHi1 acts as an ATP-dependent helicase and prevents the accumulation of R-loops by unwinding both DNA-DNA and DNA-RNA duplexes. The dual function of FtsHi1 in protein import and chloroplast gene expression suggests a mechanical link between these two processes in higher plant chloroplasts.
Article
Plant Sciences
Fei Wang, Korbinian Dischinger, Lisa Desiree Westrich, Irene Meindl, Felix Egidi, Raphael Troesch, Frederik Sommer, Xenie Johnson, Michael Schroda, Joerg Nickelsen, Felix Willmund, Olivier Vallon, Alexandra-Viola Bohne
Summary: In plants and cyanobacteria, the binding of chlorophyll to the D1 polypeptide of photosystem II (PSII) requires a complex involving HCF244/Ycf39 and OHP1/OHP2 proteins. In a Chlamydomonas mutant lacking the OHP2 protein, core PSII subunits, especially D1, fail to accumulate. However, extragenic suppressors suggest alternative pathways for chlorophyll association to PSII. The data indicate that OHP2 is not required for psbA translation in Chlamydomonas, but is necessary for stabilizing D1.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Baoshuan Shang, Lin Wang, Xingxing Yan, Yanjun Li, Changhao Li, Chaohua Wu, Tian Wang, Xiang Guo, Suk Won Choi, Tianru Zhang, Ziying Wang, Chun-Yip Tong, Taerin Oh, Xiao Zhang, Zhiye Wang, Xu Peng, Xiuren Zhang
Summary: Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) SAID1/2 are potential dentin sialophosphoprotein-like proteins, but their functions are unknown. SAID1/2 were found to be negative regulators of SERRATE (SE), a core factor in miRNA biogenesis complex. They promote SE phosphorylation and degradation, sequester pri-miRNAs from microprocessor, and inhibit pri-miRNA processing.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Editorial Material
Cell Biology
Hui Zhang, Qihua Ling
Summary: This article introduces a significant cellular process, autophagy, which degrades unwanted or damaged macromolecules and organelles through the lysosome or vacuole for recycling. Selective autophagy was found to play a crucial role in regulating chloroplast protein import and enhancing stress tolerance in plants.
Article
Plant Sciences
Yanwei Wang, Zhimin Yang, Meng Zhang, Pengfei Ai
Summary: This study identified the crucial role of the rice SSA1 gene in chloroplast biogenesis. SSA1 regulates early chloroplast development and is involved in RNA editing and intron splicing. These findings contribute to the understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying chloroplast generation.
