RETRACTED ARTICLE: The Arabidopsis NOT4A E3 ligase promotes PGR3 expression and regulates chloroplast translation

Mark Bailey, Aiste Ivanauskaite, Julia Grimmer, Oluwatunmise Akintewe, Adrienne C Payne, Rory Osborne, Anne-Marie Labandera, Ross D Etherington, Marjaana Rantala, Sacha Baginsky, Paula Mulo, Daniel J Gibbs*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
165 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Chloroplast function requires the coordinated action of nuclear- and chloroplast-derived proteins, including several hundred nuclear-encoded pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins that regulate plastid mRNA metabolism. Despite their large number and importance, regulatory mechanisms controlling PPR expression are poorly understood. Here we show that the Arabidopsis NOT4A ubiquitin-ligase positively regulates the expression of PROTON GRADIENT REGULATION 3 (PGR3), a PPR protein required for translating several thylakoid-localised photosynthetic components and ribosome subunits within chloroplasts. Loss of NOT4A function leads to a strong depletion of cytochrome b6f and NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (NDH) complexes, as well as plastid 30 S ribosomes, which reduces mRNA translation and photosynthetic capacity, causing pale-yellow and slow-growth phenotypes. Quantitative transcriptome and proteome analysis of the not4a mutant reveal it lacks PGR3 expression, and that its molecular defects resemble those of a pgr3 mutant. Furthermore, we show that normal plastid function is restored to not4a through transgenic PGR3 expression. Our work identifies NOT4A as crucial for ensuring robust photosynthetic function during development and stress-response, through promoting PGR3 production and chloroplast translation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number251
Number of pages15
JournalNature Communications
Volume12
Issue number1
Early online date11 Jan 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council grants [BB/M020568/1 and BB/T004002/1] and a European Research Council grant [ERC Starting Grant 715441-GasPlaNt] to D.J.G., an EMBO Short-Term Fellowship [Grant number 8104] to M.B., Academy of Finland grants [307335 and 321616] for A.I., M.R. and P.M., and the Doctoral Programme in Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Turku (A.I.). We would like to thank Laura Laihonen for her assistance within the PM group. S.B. gratefully acknowledges support from the DFG with grant number BA 1902/ 3-2. Collaboration between D.J.G. and P.M. was facilitated via the European Research Area Network for Coordinating Action in Plant Sciences (ERA-CAPS) project “KatNat”. We thank Dr Alessandro Di Mio and the BALM facility at the University of Birmingham for support with confocal analyses.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Arabidopsis Proteins/chemistry
  • Arabidopsis/genetics
  • Chloroplasts/metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Gene Ontology
  • Mutation/genetics
  • Photosynthesis
  • Protein Biosynthesis
  • Protein Domains
  • RNA, Messenger/genetics
  • RNA-Binding Proteins/chemistry
  • Ribosomes/metabolism
  • Seedlings/growth & development
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases/chemistry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology

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