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. 2024 Jul 31;36(8):2851-2872.
doi: 10.1093/plcell/koae145.

A prion-like domain is required for phase separation and chloroplast RNA processing during cold acclimation in Arabidopsis

Julia Legen  1 , Benjamin Lenzen  1 , Nitin Kachariya  2   3 , Stephanie Feltgen  1 , Yang Gao  4 , Simon Mergenthal  5 , Willi Weber  5 , Enrico Klotzsch  5 , Reimo Zoschke  4 , Michael Sattler  2   3 , Christian Schmitz-Linneweber  1
Affiliations

A prion-like domain is required for phase separation and chloroplast RNA processing during cold acclimation in Arabidopsis

Julia Legen et al. Plant Cell. .

Abstract

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants can produce photosynthetic tissue with active chloroplasts at temperatures as low as 4°C, and this process depends on the presence of the nuclear-encoded, chloroplast-localized RNA-binding protein CP29A. In this study, we demonstrate that CP29A undergoes phase separation in vitro and in vivo in a temperature-dependent manner, which is mediated by a prion-like domain (PLD) located between the two RNA recognition motif domains of CP29A. The resulting droplets display liquid-like properties and are found near chloroplast nucleoids. The PLD is required to support chloroplast RNA splicing and translation in cold-treated tissue. Together, our findings suggest that plant chloroplast gene expression is compartmentalized by inducible condensation of CP29A at low temperatures, a mechanism that could play a crucial role in plant cold resistance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement. None declared.

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