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
Abhinav Adhikari, William Kim, Judith Davie
Summary: The skeletal muscle gene expression is regulated by the myogenic regulatory family (MRF) with key factors MyoD and myogenin (MYOG). MYOG is essential for recruiting TBP and RNAPII to muscle gene promoters, while MyoD1 and MYOG act in a feed forward loop to maintain each other's expression. The study demonstrates that MYOG, not MYOD1, is required to activate gene expression on late muscle gene promoters bound by both factors.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Aaron R. D'Souza, Lindsey Van Haute, Christopher A. Powell, Christian D. Mutti, Petra Palenikova, Pedro Rebelo-Guiomar, Joanna Rorbach, Michal Minczuk
Summary: Mitochondria have their own translation apparatus for producing polypeptides, with the protein YbeY playing a crucial role in mitoribosome biogenesis. Loss of YbeY leads to reduced mitochondrial translation and loss of cell viability, indicating its important functions in RNA processing and mitoribosome maturation.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Wei Li, Jiangfan Guo, Xue Han, Xiaowen Da, Kai Wang, Hongfei Zhao, Shi-Tang Huang, Bosheng Li, Hang He, Ruirui Jiang, Shichen Zhou, Peng Yan, Tao Chen, Yi He, Jiming Xu, Yu Liu, Yunrong Wu, Huixia Shou, Zhongchang Wu, Chuanzao Mao, Xiaorong Mo
Summary: We report a new TROL protein, TROL2, which plays an important role in the establishment of photoautotrophy and assembly of photosystem II (PSII) complex. TROL2 forms a complex with LOW PSII ACCUMULATION2 and interacts with small PSII subunits to facilitate PSII complex assembly. Our study reveals the mechanistic role of TROL2 and provides insights into the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms of photoautotrophy and PSII complex assembly.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lin He, Ruorong Yan, Ziran Yang, Yue Zhang, Xinhua Liu, Jianguo Yang, Xujun Liu, Xiaoping Liu, Lu Xia, Yue Wang, Jiajing Wu, Xiaodi Wu, Lin Shan, Xiaohan Yang, Jing Liang, Yongfeng Shang, Luyang Sun
Summary: The F-box protein JFK promotes lipid accumulation in adipose tissue, leading to the development of metabolic syndrome. Knockout of JFK gene in mice can resist diet-induced metabolic dysfunctions. The interaction between JFK and ING5 disrupts AMPK activity and fatty acid beta-oxidation, suppressing hepatic lipid catabolism and contributing to obesity and metabolic syndrome.
Article
Plant Sciences
Megan Overlander-Chen, Craig H. Carlson, Jason D. Fiedler, Shengming Yang
Summary: Chloroplast biogenesis is crucial for crop biomass and yield. In this study, the regulatory machinery for chloroplast biogenesis in barley was explored through map-based cloning of the Gpa1 gene. The PTOX-encoding gene (HORVU.MOREX.r3.2HG0213170) was identified as the causal gene of Gpa1. This finding enhances our understanding of chloroplast biosynthesis and highlights the conservation of PTOX activity in monocots and dicots for photosynthesis.
Article
Biology
Ke Xu, Xianwei Su, Kailun Fang, Yue Lv, Tao Huang, Mengjing Li, Ziqi Wang, Yingying Yin, Tahir Muhammad, Shangming Liu, Xiangfeng Chen, Jing Jiang, Jinsong Li, Wai-Yee Chan, Jinlong Ma, Gang Lu, Zi-Jiang Chen, Hongbin Liu
Summary: This study generated Ssh2 knockout and HA-tagged Ssh2 knock-in mice to investigate the functions of Slingshot phosphatase 2 (SSH2) in spermatogenesis. The results showed that SSH2 acts as a regulator of actin remodeling and is essential for acrosome biogenesis and male fertility. In Ssh2 knockout mice, spermatogenesis was arrested at the early spermatid stage with defective transport/fusion of proacrosomal vesicles and disorganized F-actin structures accompanied by excessive phosphorylation of COFILIN in the testes.
Article
Developmental Biology
Ruidan Zhang, Bingbing Wu, Chao Liu, Zhe Zhang, Xiuge Wang, Liying Wang, Sai Xiao, Yinghong Chen, Huafang Wei, Hui Jiang, Fei Gao, Li Yuan, Wei Li
Summary: The interaction between CCDC38 and CCDC42 is crucial for sperm flagellum biogenesis, and their deficiency leads to abnormalities in sperm flagella and male sterility.
Article
Cell Biology
Natalie J. Foot, Macarena B. Gonzalez, Kelly Gembus, Pamali Fonseka, Jarrod J. Sandow, Thuy Tien Nguyen, Diana Tran, Andrew I. Webb, Suresh Mathivanan, Rebecca L. Robker, Sharad Kumar
Summary: Studies have shown that Arrdc4 is involved in the normal development and maturation of sperm, affecting sperm function by controlling the biogenesis and release of extracellular vesicles.
JOURNAL OF EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ian J. Roney, David Z. Rudner
Summary: Sorting of phospholipids between membrane bilayers is a fundamental problem, and the enzymes that catalyze phospholipid reorientation in bacteria remain unknown. Members of the DedA superfamily have been implicated in lipid carrier transport and lipid scrambling.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Zhenjing Ren, Kaijian Fan, Sihan Zhen, Jie Zhang, Yan Liu, Junjie Fu, Chunlai Qi, Qianhan Wei, Yao Du, Wurinile Tatar, Xiaofeng Zhang, Guoying Wang, Allan G. Rasmusson, Jianhua Wang, Yunjun Liu
Summary: The maize gene SMK11 encodes a mitochondria-localized tetratricopeptide repeat protein, which plays critical roles in the assembly and activity of mitochondrial complex IV, and is essential for seed development.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Francesco Chiuso, Rossella delle Donne, Giuliana Giamundo, Laura Rinaldi, Domenica Borzacchiello, Federica Moraca, Daniela Intartaglia, Rosa Iannucci, Emanuela Senatore, Luca Lignitto, Corrado Garbi, Paolo Conflitti, Bruno Catalanotti, Ivan Conte, Antonio Feliciello
Summary: Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a ciliopathy characterized by retinal degeneration, obesity, renal abnormalities, postaxial polydactyly, and developmental defects. The E3 ubiquitin ligase PJA2 has been identified as a regulator of the BBSome, an octameric complex that controls ciliary trafficking. Ubiquitylation of BBS1 by PJA2 stabilizes the BBSome and promotes its binding to BBS3, leading to proper ciliary membrane targeting. Disruption of PJA2 or expression of a ubiquitylation-defective BBS1 mutant affects GPCR trafficking and gene transcription, recapitulating the BBS phenotype in a medaka fish model.
Article
Plant Sciences
Michela Cecchin, Jooyeon Jeong, Woojae Son, Minjae Kim, Seunghye Park, Luca Zuliani, Stefano Cazzaniga, Andrea Pompa, Chan Young Kang, Sangsu Bae, Matteo Ballottari, EonSeon Jin
Summary: This study generated lpa2 knockout mutants in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using the CRISPR-Cas9 system and found that the absence of LPA2 protein resulted in impaired PSII assembly and function, leading to compromised photoautotrophic growth.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chrysovalantou E. Xirouchaki, Yaoyao Jia, Meagan J. McGrath, Spencer Greatorex, Melanie Tran, Troy L. Merry, Dawn Hong, Matthew J. Eramo, Sophie C. Broome, Jonathan S. T. Woodhead, Randall F. D'souza, Jenny Gallagher, Ekaterina Salimova, Cheng Huang, Ralf B. Schittenhelm, Junichi Sadoshima, Matthew J. Watt, Christina A. Mitchell, Tony Tiganis
Summary: ROS generated by NOX4 in skeletal muscle play a crucial role in promoting muscle function, maintaining redox balance, and preventing the development of insulin resistance. Reductions in NOX4 levels in skeletal muscle contribute to insulin resistance development, affecting exercise capacity and antioxidant defense mechanisms.
Article
Cell Biology
Jianqiu Zou, Wenjuan Wang, Yi Lu, Juan Ayala, Kunzhe Dong, Hongyi Zhou, Jinxi Wang, Weiqin Chen, Neal L. Weintraub, Jiliang Zhou, Jie Li, Huabo Su
Summary: Cardiac maturation is regulated by neddylation, a post-translational modification process. Mosaic deletion of NAE1, a necessary enzyme for neddylation, in neonatal hearts leads to cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Neddylation is involved in transverse tubule formation, physiological hypertrophy, and fetal-to-adult isoform switching, promoting cardiac maturation through oxidative metabolism.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Daniel Wittmann, Neha Sinha, Bernhard Grimm
Summary: Plastids, particularly chloroplasts, are specialized organelles in plants that play a crucial role in photosynthesis. A redox-based regulatory network involving thioredoxins and TRX-like proteins is important for coordinating the metabolic activities of chloroplasts in response to environmental changes.
BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Tatjana Kleine, Thomas Naegele, H. Ekkehard Neuhaus, Christian Schmitz-Linneweber, Alisdair R. Fernie, Peter Geigenberger, Bernhard Grimm, Kerstin Kaufmann, Edda Klipp, Joerg Meurer, Torsten Moehlmann, Timo Muehlhaus, Belen Naranjo, Joerg Nickelsen, Andreas Richter, Hannes Ruwe, Michael Schroda, Serena Schwenkert, Oliver Trentmann, Felix Willmund, Reimo Zoschke, Dario Leister
Summary: Acclimation is the ability of individuals to adapt to environmental changes throughout their lifetime. Enhanced plant acclimation is seen as a promising strategy to mitigate the impact of global warming on crop yields, given the increasing environmental changes and extremes. Chloroplast plays a central role in acclimation responses at the cellular level, acting as both a sensor of environmental change and a target for cellular acclimation responses.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jing Zhang, Zechen Bai, Min Ouyang, Xiumei Xu, Haibo Xiong, Qiang Wang, Bernhard Grimm, Jean-David Rochaix, Lixin Zhang
Summary: Fe-S clusters are ancient and important for life processes. The biogenesis of Fe-S clusters involves iron acquisition, sulfur mobilization, and cluster formation. Two Arabidopsis DnaJ proteins, DJA6 and DJA5, play a crucial role in facilitating iron incorporation into Fe-S clusters during chloroplast Fe-S cluster biogenesis. Loss of these proteins leads to defects in chloroplast Fe-S protein accumulation and photosynthesis dysfunction. Evolutionary analysis shows that DJA6 and DJA5 are highly conserved in photosynthetic organisms and have a strong evolutionary relationship with SUFE1, SUFC, and SUFD.
Article
Plant Sciences
Zhiwei Hou, Xiaoqing Pang, Boris Hedtke, Bernhard Grimm
Summary: In angiosperms, the control of chlorophyll synthesis relies on the light-operating enzyme POR. Darkness-induced interruption of chlorophyll synthesis is prevented by FLU through suppression of ALA synthesis to avoid overaccumulation of Pchlide. The results suggest that all three structural domains of FLU are necessary to repress ALA synthesis and maintain the balance in tetrapyrrole biosynthesis.
Review
Plant Sciences
Peng Wang, Shuiling Ji, Bernhard Grimm
Summary: This article reviews the recently described regulatory factors and their functions at three main checkpoints of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis. It highlights the importance of tetrapyrroles in critical reactions in photosynthetic organisms and the potential for improving plant productivity in the context of global climate change. The post-translational regulation of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis is discussed, with a focus on the regulatory functions of auxiliary factors. The article also explores the metabolic checkpoints and the regulation of protein stability, enzymatic activity, and spatial organization in the pathway.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jiarui Yuan, Tingting Ma, Shuiling Ji, Boris Hedtke, Bernhard Grimm, Rongcheng Lin
Summary: This study uncovers the roles of MORF2 and MORF9 in regulating tetrapyrrole biosynthesis and embryogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. MORF2 and MORF9 interact directly with multiple tetrapyrrole biosynthesis enzymes and regulators, and display holdase chaperone activity, essential for enzyme accumulation and activity.
Article
Plant Sciences
Yao-Pin Lin, Yu-Yen Shen, Yen-Bin Shiu, Yee-Yung Charng, Bernhard Grimm
Summary: This study revealed the importance of chlorophyll in energy harvesting and recycling in plant development. The enzymes CLD1 and CHLG are involved in the dephytylation and rephytylation of chlorophyll, and their interaction with other proteins enables the efficient recycling and utilization of chlorophyll.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Neha Sinha, Juergen Eirich, Iris Finkemeier, Bernhard Grimm
Summary: This study aimed to explore the role of glutamate-1-semialdehyde aminotransferase (GSAAT) in the control of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) synthesis and the formation of a protein complex with glutamyl-tRNA reductase (GluTR). It was found that GSAAT2 plays a major role in ALA synthesis and that GluTR accumulation is higher in gsa2 mutants. A modeled structure of the protein complex indicated that GluTR-binding protein (GBP) mediates the stable association of GluTR and GSAAT, ensuring adequate ALA synthesis.
Article
Plant Sciences
Rudan Geng, Xiaoqing Pang, Xia Li, Shanshan Shi, Boris Hedtke, Bernhard Grimm, Ralph Bock, Jirong Huang, Wenbin Zhou
Summary: This study investigates the role of chloroplast-localized gene PCD8 in tetrapyrrole biosynthesis (TBS) and reveals its interaction with ClpC1 and several TBS enzymes. The findings uncover the function of PCD8 and provide a new perspective for understanding the molecular regulation of TBS in plants.
Article
Plant Sciences
Tingting Fan, Lena Roling, Boris Hedtke, Bernhard Grimm
Summary: During photoperiodic growth, interaction between ferrochelatase 2 (FC2), protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR), and the regulator FLU suppresses 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) synthesis for chlorophyll synthesis, preventing accumulation of potentially deleterious tetrapyrrole intermediates. FC2 stabilizes POR by physical interaction, and disruption of the FC2-POR interaction leads to attenuated ALA suppression and accumulation of photoreactive protochlorophyllide.
Article
Plant Sciences
Peter Schroeder, Bang-Yu Hsu, Nora Gutsche, Jana Barbro Winkler, Boris Hedtke, Bernhard Grimm, Claus Schwechheimer
Summary: GATAs are evolutionarily conserved zinc-finger transcription factors found in eukaryotes. In plants, they are classified into four classes, A-D, based on their DNA-binding domain and further subclasses based on additional protein motifs. B-GATAs with LLM-domain are found in algae, and in angiosperms, the B-GATA family is expanded and subdivided into LLM- or HAN-domain B-GATAs. The liverwort and moss species have a limited number of B-GATA family members, but unlike vascular plants, they contain both HAN- and LLM-domains. Mutants of B-GATA from Marchantia polymorpha display defects in growth and gemma formation, and exhibit a constitutive high-light stress response. Similar phenotypes are observed in mutants of LLM-domain B-GATAs in Arabidopsis thaliana, indicating a protective role of B-GATAs against high-light stress.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Shuiling Ji, Bernhard Grimm, Peng Wang
Summary: This study reveals the distinct roles of cpSRP43 and cpSRP54 in optimizing the function of the major PORB isoform in Arabidopsis, with the former stabilizing the enzyme and providing appropriate amounts of PORB and the latter enhancing its binding to the thylakoid membrane to ensure adequate metabolic flux.
Article
Plant Sciences
Boris Hedtke, Sarah Melissa Straetker, Andrea C. Chiappe Pulido, Bernhard Grimm
Summary: This study investigated the two isoforms of protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) in Arabidopsis, their subcellular localization and functional differences. PPO1 is predominantly expressed in green tissues and its loss is seedling-lethal, while the effects of PPO2 deficiency have not been extensively studied. Both PPO1 and PPO2 have similar functions but are localized in different compartments within the Arabidopsis plastids.
Article
Cell Biology
Daniel Wittmann, Peter Geigenberger, Bernhard Grimm
Summary: Redox regulation plays a crucial role in the expression of plastid genes and different metabolic pathways. In this study, the authors investigated how the redox state of plastids and the contributing reducing enzymes control the enzymes involved in tetrapyrrole biosynthesis (TBS), which is essential for chlorophyll and heme production in higher plants. The researchers found that the content of certain TBS enzymes was light intensity-dependent and decreased under oxidizing conditions. They also demonstrated that a deficiency of thiol-redox transmitters in plastids led to enhanced degradation of TBS enzymes. Additionally, the study showed that the Clp protease plays a role in the degradation of TBS proteins. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the regulation of TBS and its importance in plant metabolism.
Article
Biology
Waeil Al Youssef, Regina Feil, Maureen Saint-Sorny, Xenie Johnson, John E. Lunn, Bernhard Grimm, Pawel Brzezowski
Summary: Using a mutant screen, the functional enzyme trehalose 6-phosphate phosphatase 1 (TSPP1) was identified as responsible for dephosphorylating trehalose 6-phosphate (Tre6P) in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Knocking out the tspp1 gene results in reprogramming of cell metabolism and impairment of O-1(2)-induced chloroplast retrograde signalling. Transcriptomic analysis and metabolite profiling indicate that the accumulation or deficiency of certain metabolites directly affect the O-1(2)-signalling process.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)