Retrograde Signaling: Understanding the Communication between Organelles

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2020-08, Vol.21 (17), p.6173
• Main Authors: Mielecki, Jakub, Gawroński, Piotr, Karpiński, Stanisław
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptability; biogenic control; Cell Communication; Cell death; Cell Nucleus - metabolism; Cellular stress response; Changing environments; Chloroplasts; Chloroplasts - metabolism; Communication; Cyanobacteria; Energy conversion; Environmental conditions; Enzymes; Evolution; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genomes; Hypotheses; Metabolism; Metabolites; Mitochondria; Mitochondria - metabolism; operational control; Organelles; Photosynthesis; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants - metabolism; Plastids; Proteins; retrograde signaling; Retrograde transport; Review; RNA polymerase; Signal Transduction; stress response; Stress, Physiological
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms21176173

Understanding how cell organelles and compartments communicate with each other has always been an important field of knowledge widely explored by many researchers. However, despite years of investigations, one point-and perhaps the only point that many agree on-is that our knowledge about cellular-signaling pathways still requires expanding. Chloroplasts and mitochondria (because of their primary functions in energy conversion) are important cellular sensors of environmental fluctuations and feedback they provide back to the nucleus is important for acclimatory responses. Under stressful conditions, it is important to manage cellular resources more efficiently in order to maintain a proper balance between development, growth and stress responses. For example, it can be achieved through regulation of nuclear and organellar gene expression. If plants are unable to adapt to stressful conditions, they will be unable to efficiently produce energy for growth and development-and ultimately die. In this review, we show the importance of retrograde signaling in stress responses, including the induction of cell death and in organelle biogenesis. The complexity of these pathways demonstrates how challenging it is to expand the existing knowledge. However, understanding this sophisticated communication may be important to develop new strategies of how to improve adaptability of plants in rapidly changing environments.