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Projekt Druckansicht

Entschlüsselung der dualen Funktion des NAD-Malatenzyms: von der universellen Rolle in der Malat-Respiration zur spezifischen Funktion in der C4-Photosynthese

Fachliche Zuordnung Biochemie und Biophysik der Pflanzen
Förderung Förderung von 2018 bis 2022
Projektkennung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 392217267
 
Erstellungsjahr 2021

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

In summary, we found that a duplication of the NAD-ME gene during the evolution of vascular plants resulted in two paralogs lineages, α- and β-NAD-ME, which were retained during seed plant evolution and diversification. We propose that the heteromeric assembly of NAD-ME was established by subfunctionalization of the duplicated NAD-ME genes. Later, neofunctionalization optimized the α- and β-NAD-ME functions and changes in the subunitspecific duplications provided the basis for the recruitment of NAD-ME in C4 biochemistry. We found that in Cleomaceae all NAD-ME genes were affected by C4 evolution, where one of the β-NAD-ME gene copies was co-opted for its function in the C4 pathway. We found that in bundle sheath cell mitochondria of C4 species, the functions of NAD-ME as C4 photosynthetic decarboxylase and as a housekeeping enzyme coexist and are performed by isoforms that combine the same α subunit with differentially adapted β subunits. We described how the neofunctionalization of a heteromeric enzyme can occur through the duplication and subsequent adaptation of one subunit, while the other subunit is shared between the original and new enzyme. Our work paves the way to elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying protein recruitment for novel functions, especially for proteins with heteromeric composition. Specifically, our work shows that a C4-exclusive NAD-ME isoform exists in plant cell mitochondria, which is formed through the differential assembly of protein subunits that accumulated adaptive mutations during evolution. This discovery will now aid in introducing C4 traits into C3 plants. Ongoing projects can now rationally design the incorporation of a NAD-ME with C4 characteristics by introducing the NAD-MEβ1 of C4 Cleome or modifying a preexisting extra NADMEβ copy.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

 
 

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