Mitochondria as a key element on stress response in plants

• Grant number: 14/17634-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2014
• End date: October 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Arruda
• Grantee: Pedro Paulo Augusto Fabiano Arantes Pereira Barreto
• Host Institution: Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética (CBMEG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Company: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética (CBMEG)
• Associated research grant: 16/23218-0 - The Genomics for Climate Change Research Center, AP.PCPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 17/22745-9 - Unravelling the impact of UCP1 overexpression in barley and upon stability of Group VII ethylene response factor transcription factors in Arabidopsis, BE.EP.PD 15/24881-1 - Unraveling the effects of UCP1 overexpression during reproduction and upon stability of Group VII ethylene response factor transcription factors, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The mitochondria plays a central role in aerobic respiration and energy metabolism in complex organisms. The mitochondrial energy metabolism in turn is the main source of reactive oxygen species (ROS). To cope with the significant generation of ROS and its damaging consequences for cellular metabolism, the mitochondria holds a potent antioxidant apparatus with reflections in mitochondria, cytoplasm and other cell organelles. Although during the evolutionary process mitochondria have maintained its own genome, the majority of mitochondrial proteins are encoded by the nuclear genome, while the mitochondrial genome encodes a small number of proteins, including those involved in the complexes of the electron transport chain (ETC). Thus, changes in mitochondrial metabolism dictated by the processes of differentiation and development or adaptation to adverse environmental conditions require close communication between the mitochondria, the nucleus and other cellular compartments. In plants, the regulatory elements involved in this process are still poorly understood. Recently we demonstrated that overexpression of mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum) induces mitochondrial biogenesis, alters mitochondrial morphology and amplifies an extensive anti-stress response. These plants overexpressing UCP1 exhibit significant improvement in biological performance under various abiotic stress conditions. In this project we propose to identify candidate genes that interfere with communication between the mitochondria and other cellular compartments aimed at producing maize plants (Zea mays) more resistant to abiotic stresses. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BARRETO, PEDRO; OKURA, VAGNER; PENA, IZABELLA A.; MAIA, RENATO; MAIA, IVAN G.; ARRUDA, PAULO. Overexpression of mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) induces a hypoxic response in Nicotiana tabacum leaves. Journal of Experimental Botany, v. 67, n. 1, p. 301-313, JAN 2016. (12/00235-5, 14/17634-5, 14/24183-0)

BARRETO, PEDRO; YASSITEPE, JULIANA E. C. T.; WILSON, ZOE A.; ARRUDA, PAULO. Mitochondrial Uncoupling Protein 1 Overexpression Increases Yield in Nicotiana tabacum under Drought Stress by Improving Source and Sink Metabolism. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, v. 8, NOV 1 2017. (14/17634-5)

ARRUDA, PAULO; BARRETO, PEDRO. Lysine Catabolism Through the Saccharopine Pathway: Enzymes and Intermediates Involved in Plant Responses to Abiotic and Biotic Stress. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, v. 11, MAY 21 2020. (16/23218-0, 14/17634-5)

BARRETO, PEDRO; DAMBIRE, CHARLENE; SHARMA, GUNJAN; VICENTE, JORGE; OSBORNE, RORY; YASSITEPE, JULIANA; GIBBS, DANIEL J.; MAIA, IVAN G.; HOLDSWORTH, MICHAEL J.; ARUDA, PAULO. Mitochondrial retrograde signaling through UCP1-mediated inhibition of the plant oxygen-sensing pathway. Current Biology, v. 32, n. 6, p. 14-pg., 2022-03-28. (15/24881-1, 14/17634-5, 16/23218-0, 17/22745-9)