Loading…
The PPR ‐ SMR protein PPR 53 enhances the stability and translation of specific chloroplast RNA s in maize
Pentatricopeptide repeat ( PPR ) proteins are helical repeat proteins that bind RNA and influence gene expression in mitochondria and chloroplasts. Several PPR proteins in plants harbor a carboxy‐terminal small‐MutS‐related ( SMR ) domain, but the functions of the SMR appendage are unknown. To addre...
Saved in:
Published in: | The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology 2016-03, Vol.85 (5), p.594-606 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | Pentatricopeptide repeat (
PPR
) proteins are helical repeat proteins that bind
RNA
and influence gene expression in mitochondria and chloroplasts. Several
PPR
proteins in plants harbor a carboxy‐terminal small‐MutS‐related (
SMR
) domain, but the functions of the
SMR
appendage are unknown. To address this issue, we studied a maize
PPR
‐
SMR
protein denoted
PPR
53 (
GRMZM
2G438524), which is orthologous to the Arabidopsis protein
SOT
1 (
AT
5G46580). Null
ppr53
alleles condition a chlorotic, seedling‐lethal phenotype and a reduction in plastid ribosome content. Plastome‐wide transcriptome and translatome analyses revealed strong defects in the expression of the
ndhA
and
rrn23
genes, which were superimposed on secondary effects resulting from a decrease in plastid ribosome content. Transcripts with processed 5′‐ends mapping approximately 70 nucleotides upstream of
rrn23
and
ndhA
are absent in
ppr53
mutants, and the translational efficiency of the residual
ndhA
mRNA
s is reduced. Recombinant
PPR
53 binds with high affinity and specificity to the 5′ proximal region of the
PPR
53‐dependent 23S
rRNA
, suggesting that
PPR
53 protects this
RNA
via a barrier mechanism similar to that described for several
PPR
proteins lacking
SMR
motifs. However, recombinant
PPR
53 did not bind with high affinity to the
ndhA
5′ untranslated region, suggesting that
PPR
53's
RNA
‐stabilization and translation‐enhancing effects at the
ndhA
locus involve the participation of other factors.
PPR‐SMR proteins are nucleic acid‐binding proteins found in plant chloroplasts and mitochondria. Members of this protein family have diverse effects on plant physiology, but little is known about their direct molecular activities. Here we show that one PPR‐SMR protein is a sequence‐specific RNA binding protein that promotes the expression of two chloroplast genes by influencing the stability, processing, and translation of their RNAs. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0960-7412 1365-313X |
DOI: | 10.1111/tpj.13093 |