Plastid genomes contain a conserved set of genes encoding components of the translational apparatus. While knockout of plastid translation is lethal in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), it is not known whether each individual component of the plastid ribosome is essential. Here, we used reverse genetics to test whether several plastid genome-encoded ribosomal proteins are essential. We found that, while ribosomal proteins Rps2, Rps4, and Rpl20 are essential for cell survival, knockout of the gene encoding ribosomal protein Rpl33 did not affect plant viability and growth under standard conditions. However, when plants were exposed to low temperature stress, recovery of Rpl33 knockout plants was severely compromised, indicating that Rpl33 is required for sustaining sufficient plastid translation capacity in the cold. These findings uncover an important role for plastid translation in plant tolerance to chilling stress.

SUMMARYPlastid translation occurs on bacterial-type 70S ribosomes consisting of a large (50S) subunit and a small (30S) subunit. The vast majority of plastid ribosomal proteins have orthologs in bacteria. In addition, plastids also possess a small set of unique ribosomal proteins, so-called plastid-specific ribosomal proteins (PSRPs). The functions of these PSRPs are unknown, but, based on structural studies, it has been proposed that they may represent accessory proteins involved in translational regulation. Here we have investigated the functions of five PSRPs using reverse genetics in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. By analyzing T-DNA insertion mutants and RNAi lines, we show that three PSRPs display characteristics of genuine ribosomal proteins, in that down-regulation of their expression led to decreased accumulation of the 30S or 50S subunit of the plastid ribosomes, resulting in plastid translational deficiency. In contrast, two other PSRPs can be knocked out without visible or measurable phenotypic consequences. Our data suggest that PSRPs fall into two types: (i) PSRPs that have a structural role in the ribosome and are bona fide ribosomal proteins, and (ii) non-essential PSRPs that are not required for stable ribosome accumulation and translation under standard greenhouse conditions.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants strictly adjust the contents of both ATP synthase and cytochrome b 6 f complex to the metabolic demand for ATP and NADPH. While the cytochrome b 6 f complex catalyzes the rate-limiting step of photosynthetic electron flux and thereby controls assimilation, the functional significance of the ATP synthase adjustment is unknown. Here, we reduced ATP synthase accumulation by an antisense approach directed against the essential nuclearencoded g-subunit (AtpC) and by the introduction of point mutations into the translation initiation codon of the plastidencoded atpB gene (encoding the essential b-subunit) via chloroplast transformation. Both strategies yielded transformants with ATP synthase contents ranging from 100 to <10% of wild-type levels. While the accumulation of the components of the linear electron transport chain was largely unaltered, linear electron flux was strongly inhibited due to decreased rates of plastoquinol reoxidation at the cytochrome b 6 f complex (photosynthetic control). Also, nonphotochemical quenching was triggered at very low light intensities, strongly reducing the quantum efficiency of CO 2 fixation. We show evidence that this is due to an increased steady state proton motive force, resulting in strong lumen overacidification, which in turn represses photosynthesis due to photosynthetic control and dissipation of excitation energy in the antenna bed. INTRODUCTIONThe capacity of the photosynthetic light reactions to provide ATP and NADPH must be closely adjusted to their metabolic consumption by the Calvin cycle, the subsequent reactions of dark metabolism such as starch synthesis, and other anabolic pathways within the chloroplast. Upon hyperactivity of the light reactions, the metabolic regeneration of NADP + , ADP, and P i will limit photosynthetic electron transport, resulting in detrimental side reactions. NADP + limitation would result in electron transfer to alternative acceptors, such as O 2 , generating reactive oxygen species. These can damage the photosynthetic apparatus itself and also initiate cell death responses (Kim et al., 2008).Reduced ADP and P i regeneration results in substrate limitation of the thylakoid ATP synthase, reducing proton efflux from the lumen and resulting in an increase of the proton motive force (pmf) across the thylakoid membrane (Takizawa et al., 2008;Kiirats et al., 2009). Under standard growth conditions, the pmf is partitioned into an electrochemical component (DC) and a proton gradient (DpH) in such a way that the pH value of the thylakoid lumen is usually kept between 7.0 and 6.5 (Takizawa et al., 2007). However, in response to short-term imbalances between proton translocation into the lumen by photosynthetic electron transport and use of the pmf for ATP synthesis, the pH of the thylakoid lumen can drop below 6.5. This initiates photoprotective feedback responses such as nonphotochemical quenching (qN), which is the thermal dissipation of excess excitation energy in the photosystem II (PSII) antenna bed in the...

Photosystem biogenesis in the thylakoid membrane is a highly complicated process that requires the coordinated assembly of nucleus-encoded and chloroplast-encoded protein subunits as well as the insertion of hundreds of cofactors, such as chromophores (chlorophylls, carotenoids) and iron-sulfur clusters. The molecular details of the assembly process and the identity and functions of the auxiliary factors involved in it are only poorly understood. In this work, we have characterized the chloroplast genome-encoded ycf4 (for hypothetical chloroplast reading frame no. 4) gene, previously shown to encode a protein involved in photosystem I (PSI) biogenesis in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Using stable transformation of the chloroplast genome, we have generated ycf4 knockout plants in the higher plant tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Although these mutants are severely affected in their photosynthetic performance, they are capable of photoautotrophic growth, demonstrating that, different from Chlamydomonas, the ycf4 gene product is not essential for photosynthesis. We further show that ycf4 knockout plants are specifically deficient in PSI accumulation. Unaltered expression of plastid-encoded PSI genes and biochemical analyses suggest a posttranslational action of the Ycf4 protein in the PSI assembly process. With increasing leaf age, the contents of Ycf4 and Y3IP1, another auxiliary factor involved in PSI assembly, decrease strongly, whereas PSI contents remain constant, suggesting that PSI is highly stable and that its biogenesis is restricted to young leaves.