A plant split-ubiquitin system and TAP-tagging to study in vivo protein interactions in the chloroplast protein import machinery

TL;DRAbstract

Most chloroplast proteins are synthesized as precursor proteins in the cytosol. The import of these precursor proteins is mediated by molecular complexes located at the outer and inner membrane of the chloroplast. These complexes are called Toc (translocon at the outer envelope membrane) and Tic (translocon at the inner envelope membrane) respectively. In <i>Arabidopsis</i>, the Toc complex consists of three principle components: two homologous receptor GTPases, atToc159 and atToc33 and a protein-import channel: atToc75. During import, the two GTPases undergo complex interactions with precursor proteins and amongst themselves although precise mechanisms remain unknown. <i>In vitro</i> studies revealed that Toc159 and Toc33 interact with each other via the dimerization of their GTP-binding domain (G-domain). Moreover, the crystal structure of the pea Toc33 ortholog, psToc34 indicates that it can stably homodimerize via its G-domain. However, neither Toc159/Toc33 heterodimers nor Toc33 h

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