ATP synthase can be thought of as a complex of two motors--the ATP-driven F1 motor and the proton-driven Fo motor--that rotate in opposite directions. The mechanisms by which rotation and catalysis are coupled in the working enzyme are now being unravelled on a molecular scale.

Possible target proteins of chloroplast thioredoxin (Trx) have been investigated in the stroma lysate of spinach chloroplasts. For that purpose, we immobilized a mutant of m-type Trx in which an internal cysteine at the active site was substituted with serine, on cyanogen bromide-activated resin. By using this resin, the target proteins in chloroplast were efficiently acquired when they formed the mixed-disulfide intermediates with the immobilized Trxs. We could acquire Rubisco activase (45 kDa) and 2-Cys-type peroxiredoxin (Prx), which were recently identified as targets of chloroplast Trxs. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and sedoheputulose 1,7-bisphosphatase, well-known thiol enzymes in the Calvin cycle, also were recognized among the collected proteins, suggesting the method is applicable for our purpose. Furthermore, four proteins were identified from a homology search of the NH 2-terminal sequence of the acquired proteins: glutamine synthetase, a protein homologous to chloroplast cyclophilin, a homolog of Prx-Q, and the Rubisco small subunit. The Trx susceptibilities of the recombinant cyclophilin and Prx-Q of Arabidopsis thaliana were then examined. The method developed in the present study is thus applicable to investigate the various redox networks via Trxs and the related enzymes in the cell.

The thiol-based redox regulation system is believed to adjust chloroplast functions in response to changes in light environments. A redox cascade via the ferredoxin-thioredoxin reductase (FTR)/thioredoxin (Trx) pathway has been traditionally considered to serve as a transmitter of light signals to target enzymes. However, emerging data indicate that chloroplasts have a complex redox network composed of diverse redox-mediator proteins and target enzymes. Despite extensive research addressing this system, two fundamental questions are still unresolved: How are redox pathways orchestrated within chloroplasts, and why are chloroplasts endowed with a complicated redox network? In this report, we show that NADPH-Trx reductase C (NTRC) is a key redox-mediator protein responsible for regulatory functions distinct from those of the classically known FTR/Trx system. Target screening and subsequent biochemical assays indicated that NTRC and the Trx family differentially recognize their target proteins. In addition, we found that NTRC is an electron donor to Trx-z, which is a key regulator of gene expression in chloroplasts. We further demonstrate that cooperative control of chloroplast functions via the FTR/Trx and NTRC pathways is essential for plant viability. Arabidopsis double mutants impaired in FTR and NTRC expression displayed lethal phenotypes under autotrophic growth conditions. This severe growth phenotype was related to a drastic loss of photosynthetic performance. These combined results provide an expanded map of the chloroplast redox network and its biological functions.T o preserve the integrity and efficiency of photosynthesis and other metabolic reactions, chloroplast enzymes need to be flexibly and appropriately controlled in response to changes in light environments. The photosynthetic electron transport chain in the chloroplast thylakoid membrane converts light energy into chemical energy, which is captured and stored in ATP and NADPH. These molecules are primarily consumed by the Calvin-Benson cycle in the stroma, but part of the reducing power is used for other metabolic reactions in chloroplasts (e.g., nitrogen and sulfur metabolism). One pathway for the reducing power is the redox cascade, mediated by ferredoxin-thioredoxin reductase (FTR) and thioredoxin (Trx). In this system, FTR receives reducing power from the light-driven photosynthetic electron transport chain via ferredoxin and then donates the reducing power to Trx. A reduced form of Trx subsequently transfers reducing power to target proteins through a dithiol-disulfide exchange reaction, allowing the targets to modulate the enzymatic activities. The redox cascade via the FTR/Trx pathway provides the basis for thiol-based redox regulation in chloroplasts and ensures light-responsive control of chloroplast functions (1, 2).The FTR/Trx pathway has been considered the only pathway regulating redox reactions in chloroplasts. Information about its target proteins has also been limited to a specific set of lightactivated enzymes, such as some enzy...

Possible target proteins of cytosolic thioredoxin in higher plants have been investigated in the cell lysate of dark-grown Arabidopsis thaliana whole tissues. We immobilized a mutant of cytosolic thioredoxin, in which an internal cysteine at the active site was substituted with serine, on CNBr activated resin, and used the resin for the thioredoxin-affinity chromatography. By using this resin, the target proteins for thioredoxin in the higher plant cytosol were efficiently acquired. The obtained proteins were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Thus we have identified proteins of the anti-oxidative stress system proteins (ascorbate peroxidase, germin-like protein, and monomeric type II peroxiredoxin), proteins involved in protein biosynthesis (elongation factor-2 and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A), proteins involved in protein degradation (the regulatory subunit of 26S proteasome), and several metabolic enzymes (alcohol dehydrogenase, fructose 1,6-bis phosphate aldolase-like protein, cytosolic glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, cytosolic malate dehydrogenase, and vitamin B(12)-independent methionine synthase) together with some chloroplast proteins (chaperonin 60-alpha and 60-beta, heat shock protein 70, and glutamine synthase). The results in this study and recent proteomics studies on the target proteins of chloroplast thioredoxin indicate the versatility and the physiological significance of thioredoxin as reductant in plant cell.

HCF164 is a membrane-anchored thioredoxin-like protein known to be indispensable for assembly of cytochrome b 6 f in the thylakoid membranes. In this study, we report the finding that chloroplast stroma m-type thioredoxin is the source of reducing equivalents for reduction of HCF164 in the thylakoid lumen, providing strong evidence that higher plant chloroplasts possess a trans-membrane reducing equivalent transfer system similar to that found in bacteria. To probe the function of HCF164 in the lumen, a screen to identify the reducing equivalent acceptor proteins of HCF164 was carried out by using a resin-immobilized HCF164 single cysteine mutant, leading to the isolation of putative target thylakoid proteins. Among the newly identified target proteins, the reduction of the PSI-N subunit of photosystem I by HCF164 was confirmed both in vitro and in isolated thylakoids. Two components of the cytochrome b 6 f complex, the cytochrome f and Rieske FeS proteins, were also identified as novel potential target proteins. The data presented here suggest that HCF164 serves as an important transducer of reducing equivalents to proteins in the thylakoid lumen.The redox state of higher plant chloroplasts undergoes significant fluctuations in both light and dark conditions. In the light, photosynthetic electron transport via ferredoxin and ferredoxin-NADP ϩ reductase (FNR) 2 results in the synthesis of NADPH, which is used as a source of reducing equivalents for carbon fixation. However, a portion of the electrons produced by the photosynthetic electron transport is transferred to thioredoxin (Trx) through ferredoxin and ferredoxin-thioredoxin reductase (1-3). The two stromal thioredoxin isoforms Trx-f and Trx-m were originally identified for this pathway (4, 5); they have been extensively characterized and are known to regulate the activity of a number of thiol enzymes by alteration of their redox state. Completion of the Arabidopsis genomic data base showed that higher plants possess a number of Trx isoforms in chloroplasts, mitochondria, and in the cytosol (6 -8), although their specific localization and function within these cellular compartments have yet to be determined (9, 10).In recent years, highly effective screening methods have been developed that have lead to the isolation of a large number and variety of higher plant Trx-target protein candidates (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). This has allowed the characterization of a wide variety of previously unknown Trx-regulated enzymes in the chloroplast stroma, for example (6 -8, 12, 17, 18). In contrast, our knowledge of the thiol-disulfide redox control system in the thylakoid lumen has been limited so far (19). Meurer et al. identified mutants of Arabidopsis that displayed a high chlorophyll fluorescence phenotype (hcf mutants) under standard photosynthetic conditions (20, 21), suggesting a defect in photosynthetic electron transport. Among these, the hcf164 mutant was found to be impaired in the stable assembly of the cytochrome b 6 f complex within thylakoid membranes (22...

Thiol-based redox regulation is central to adjusting chloroplast functions under varying light conditions. A redox cascade via the ferredoxin-thioredoxin reductase (FTR)/thioredoxin (Trx) pathway has been well recognized to mediate the light-responsive reductive control of target proteins; however, the molecular basis for reoxidizing its targets in the dark remains unidentified. Here, we report a mechanism of oxidative thiol modulation in chloroplasts. We biochemically characterized a chloroplast stroma-localized atypical Trx from , designated as Trx-like2 (TrxL2). TrxL2 had redox-active properties with an unusually less negative redox potential. By an affinity chromatography-based method, TrxL2 was shown to interact with a range of chloroplast redox-regulated proteins. The direct discrimination of thiol status indicated that TrxL2 can efficiently oxidize, but not reduce, these proteins. A notable exception was found in 2-Cys peroxiredoxin (2CP); TrxL2 was able to reduce 2CP with high efficiency. We achieved a complete in vitro reconstitution of the TrxL2/2CP redox cascade for oxidizing redox-regulated proteins and draining reducing power to hydrogen peroxide (HO). We further addressed the physiological relevance of this system by analyzing protein-oxidation dynamics. In plants, a decreased level of 2CP led to the impairment of the reoxidation of redox-regulated proteins during light-dark transitions. A delayed response of protein reoxidation was concomitant with the prolonged accumulation of reducing power in TrxL2. These results suggest an in vivo function of the TrxL2/2CP redox cascade for driving oxidative thiol modulation in chloroplasts.

Background: Thioredoxin (Trx) plays a pivotal role in the redox regulation of target proteins. Results: Functional diversity of chloroplast Trxs was determined by observing Trx-dependent redox shifts of several thiolmodulated enzymes in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Novel insights into the chloroplast redox network were provided. Significance: Our results shed light on the molecular basis of the light-responsive adjustment of chloroplast functions.

A 38-bp pollen-specific cis-acting region of the AVP1 gene is involved in the expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana V-PPase during pollen development. Here, we report the isolation and structural characterization of AtVOZ1 and AtVOZ2, novel transcription factors that bind to the 38-bp cis-acting region of A. thaliana V-PPase gene, AVP1. AtVOZ1 and AtVOZ2 show 53% amino acid sequence similarity. Homologs of AtVOZ1 and AtVOZ2 are found in various vascular plants as well as a moss, Physcomitrella patens. Promoter-beta-glucuronidase reporter analysis shows that AtVOZ1 is specifically expressed in the phloem tissue and AtVOZ2 is strongly expressed in the root. In vivo transient effector-reporter analysis in A. thaliana suspension-cultured cells demonstrates that AtVOZ1 and AtVOZ2 function as transcriptional activators in the Arabidopsis cell. Two conserved regions termed Domain-A and Domain-B were identified from an alignment of AtVOZ proteins and their homologs of O. sativa and P. patens. AtVOZ2 binds as a dimer to the specific palindromic sequence, GCGTNx7ACGC, with Domain-B, which is comprised of a functional novel zinc coordinating motif and a conserved basic region. Domain-B is shown to function as both the DNA-binding and the dimerization domains of AtVOZ2. From highly the conservative nature among all identified VOZ proteins, we conclude that Domain-B is responsible for the DNA binding and dimerization of all VOZ-family proteins and designate it as the VOZ-domain.