Genome-Wide Analysis of Arabidopsis Pentatricopeptide Repeat Proteins Reveals Their Essential Role in Organelle Biogenesis[W]
Claire Lurin, Charles Andreés, Seébastien Aubourg, Mohammed Bellaoui, Freédeérique Bitton, Cleémence Bruyère, Michel Caboche, Ceédrig Debast, Joseé Gualberto, Beate Hoffmann, Alain Lecharny, Monique Le Ret, Marie-Laure Martin-Magniette, Hakim Mireau, Nemo Peeters, Jean-Pierre Renou, Boris Szurek, Ludivine Taconnat, Ian Small- Cell Biology
- Plant Science
Abstract
The complete sequence of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome revealed thousands of previously unsuspected genes, many of which cannot be ascribed even putative functions. One of the largest and most enigmatic gene families discovered in this way is characterized by tandem arrays of pentatricopeptide repeats (PPRs). We describe a detailed bioinformatic analysis of 441 members of the Arabidopsis PPR family plus genomic and genetic data on the expression (microarray data), localization (green fluorescent protein and red fluorescent protein fusions), and general function (insertion mutants and RNA binding assays) of many family members. The basic picture that arises from these studies is that PPR proteins play constitutive, often essential roles in mitochondria and chloroplasts, probably via binding to organellar transcripts. These results confirm, but massively extend, the very sparse observations previously obtained from detailed characterization of individual mutants in other organisms.