Project description:Retrograde signaling from the chloroplast to the nucleus is necessary to regulate the chloroplast proteome during development and fluctuating environmental conditions. Although the specific chloroplast process(es) that must occur and the nature of the signal(s) that exits the chloroplast are not well understood, previous studies using drug inhibitors of chloroplast biogenesis have revealed that normal chloroplast development is required to express Photosynthesis Associated Nuclear Genes (PhANGs). In an attempt to determine which specific steps in chloroplast development are involved in retrograde signaling, we analyzed Arabidopsis mutants defective in the six genes encoding sigma factor (Sig) proteins that are utilized by the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase to transcribe specific sets of plastid genes. Here, we demonstrate that both Sig2 and Sig6 have partially redundant roles in not only plastid transcription, but also tetrapyrrole synthesis and retrograde signaling to control PhANG expression. Normal PhANG expression can be partly restored in the sig2 mutant by increasing heme synthesis. Furthermore, there is a genetic interaction between Sig and GUN (genomes uncoupled) genes to generate chloroplast-retrograde signals. These results demonstrate that defective plastid transcription is the source of at least two retrograde signals to the nucleus; one involving tetrapyrrole synthesis and the other involving the accumulation of an unknown plastid transcript. We also propose that the study of sig mutants (with defects in the expression of specific plastid genes) provides a new genetic system, which avoids the use of harsh inhibitors and their potential side effects, to monitor developmental retrograde signaling and to elucidate its mechanisms.
Project description:Retrograde signals emanate from the DNA-containing cell organelles (plastids and mitochondria) and control the expression of a large number of nuclear genes in response to environmental and developmental cues. Previous studies on retrograde signaling mainly analyzed the regulation of nuclear gene expression at the transcriptional level. To determine the contribution of post-transcriptional regulation to plastid retrograde signaling, we combined label-free proteomics with transcriptomic analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings and studied the response in whichto interference with the plastid gene expression (PGE) pathway of retrograde signaling.
Project description:The CHLD and CHLM genes encode proteins involved in tetrapyrrole biosynthesis pathway. It was proposed that intermediates like magnesium protoporphyrin might play a role in retrograde plastid-to-nucleus signaling. In the present work we provide evidence that altered enzymes activity of the tetrapyrrole biosynthesis pathway are causing changes in gene expression of over 200 nuclear genes.
Project description:Photoacclimation of unicellular algae allows for reversible changes in the number and/or effective absorption cross section of photosynthetic units on time scales of hours to days in response to changes in irradiance. The process involves an enigmatic signaling pathway from the plastid to the nucleus.Our results reveal, for the first time, a fundamental pathway of retrograde signal transduction in a eukaryotic photosynthetic alga.
Project description:The CHLD and CHLM genes encode proteins involved in tetrapyrrole biosynthesis pathway. It was proposed that intermediates like magnesium protoporphyrin might play a role in retrograde plastid-to-nucleus signaling. In the present work we provide evidence that altered enzymes activity of the tetrapyrrole biosynthesis pathway are causing changes in gene expression of over 200 nuclear genes. The expression of the CHLD gene was diminished after inducing the RNAi system by spraying dexamethasone. The expression of the CHLM gene was increased after inducing the overexpressor system by spraying ß-estradiol.
Project description:Shortly after the release of singlet oxygen (1O2), drastic changes in nuclear gene expression occur in the conditional flu mutant of Arabidopsis that reveal a rapid transfer of signals from the plastid to the nucleus. In contrast to retrograde control of nuclear gene expression by plastid signals described earlier, the primary effect of 1O2 generation in the flu mutant is not the control of chloroplast biogenesis but the activation of a broad range of signaling pathways known to be involved in biotic and abiotic stress responses. This activity of a plastid-derived signal suggests a new function of the chloroplast, namely that of a sensor of environmental changes that activates a broad range of stress responses. Inactivation of the plastid protein EXECUTER1 attenuates the extent of 1O2-induced up-regulation of nuclear gene expression, but it does not fully eliminate these changes. A second related nuclear-encoded protein, dubbed EXECUTER2, has been identified that is also implicated with the signaling of 1O2-dependent nuclear gene expression changes. Like EXECUTER1, EXECUTER2 is confined to the plastid. Inactivation of both EXECUTER proteins in the ex1/ex2/flu triple mutant is sufficient to suppress the up-regulation of almost all 1O2-responsive genes. Retrograde control of 1O2-responsive genes requires the concerted action of both EXECUTER proteins within the plastid compartment. Keywords: biotic and abiotic stress response, nuclear gene expression, plastid-derived signal, Col-0 ecotype, continuous light and then dark-incubated plants
Project description:Signals originating within plastids modulate organelle differentiation by transcriptionally regulating nuclear-encoded genes. These retrograde signals are also integral regulators of plant development, including leaf morphology. The clb5 mutant displays severe leaf morphology defects due to Apocarotenoid Signal 1 (ACS1) accumulation in the developmentally arrested plastid. Transcriptomic analysis of clb5 validates ACS1 as a true retrograde signal impacting expression of hundreds of nuclear genes, including suppression of most genes encoding plastid ribosomal proteins.
Project description:The chloroplast proteome is a dynamic mosaic of plastid- and nuclear-encoded proteins, and plastid protein homeostasis is maintained through the balance between de novo protein synthesis and proteolysis. Intracellular communication pathways, including the pastid-to-nucleus retrograde communication, and the protein homeostasis machinery shape the chloroplast proteome based on developmental and physiological needs. However, the maintenance of fully functional chloroplasts is costly and under specific stress conditions the degradation of damaged chloroplasts is functional to the maintenance of a heathy population of photosynthesising organelles while promoting nutrient redistribution to sink tissues. In this study, we have addressed this complex regulatory chloroplast quality-control pathway by modulating the expression of two nuclear genes encoding the plastid ribosomal proteins PRPS1 and PRPL4. By transcriptomics, proteomics and transmission electron microscopy analyses, we show that the increased expression of PRPS1 gene leads to chloroplast degradation and early flowering, as an escaping strategy from stress conditions. On the contrary, the overaccumulation of PRPL4 protein is kept under control by the increased accumulation of plastid chaperones and other components of the unfolded protein response (cpUPR) regulatory mechanism. This study advances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying chloroplast retrograde communication and provides new insight into cellular responses to impaired plastid protein homeostasis.
Project description:Plastids communicate with the nucleus by means of retrograde plastid signals. The far-red (FR) light insensitive Arabidopsis mutant laf6 disrupted in a plastid-localised ABC-like protein (atABC1) accumulates the plastid signal protoporphyrin IX (proto IX) and has attenuated nuclear gene expression (Moller et al.2001 Genes Dev. 15:90-103). Our data suggests that proto IX accumulation results in hypocotyl elongation in response to FR light and we have demonstrated that by inhibiting the plastid localised protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase (PPO) using flumioxazin wild-type plants phenocopy laf6 by accumulating proto IX with a concomitant loss of hypocotyl growth inhibition in a dose-dependent manner. It is at present unclear what effect increased proto IX has on nuclear gene expression and how this is integrated with photomorphogenic responses such as hypocotyl elongation.