Team 3 : Metabolism and trafficking of RNA within the plant cell
Team leaders : Laurence DROUARD & Anne-Marie DUCHENE
Research topics
- tRNA import process into plant mitochondria (more)
- mRNA trafficking at the surface of plant mitochondria (more)
- tRNA metabolism within the plant cell
IBMP web site of the team
Role in MitoCross
First goal
The team has recently developed a protein shuttle system to introduce any RNA into isolated mitochondria of various organisms (plant, yeast, human cells). Due to the absence of tools, mostly nothing is known on mitochondrial translation plant and human mitochondria. The possibility to address full-length mRNA into mitochondria opens the door to their potential translation and thus to the study of this important process
Second goal
As compared to mitochondrial protein import, RNA mitochondrial import is still poorly understood. For many years, our team is addressing questions on the tRNA import mechanism in plants, and we will continue to make efforts in a better understanding of several aspects (translocation, regulation) of the process.
Third goal
The vast majority of mitochondrial proteins are encode by the nuclear genome, translated on cytosolic ribosomes and directed to mitochondria. In the majority of proteins, their transfer involves a specific N-terminal extension of the protein (MTS, for Mitochondrial Targeting Sequence). Some mitochondrial imported proteins are also targeted to other cellular compartments. For example some proteins are dual targeted to mitochondria and chloroplasts, but the different targeting signals are not yet deciphered. One of these signals is the targeting of mRNA to mitochondria. Very recently, the team demonstrated that this process occurs in plants. We now want to understand th eprocess involved in mRNA sorting at the surface of mitochondria
Members
Former members
Mickaele Hemono, Thèse de Doctorat soutenue le 19 Avril 2021, chercheur CDD, ATER - Mitocross
Elodie Ubrig, technicienne Unistra
Lauriane Gross, Post Doctoral Researcher, ANR
Guillaume Hummel, Thèse de Doctorat soutenue le 18 Décembre 2019
Stéphanie Lalande, Thèse de Doctorat soutenue le 12 Décembre 2017- Post Doctoral Researcher
Audrey Vingadassalon, Post Doctoral Researcher
Cyrille Megel, Thèse de Doctorat soutenue le 29 Juin 2016
Geoffrey Morelle, Thèse de Doctorat soutenue le 17 Mars 2015
Under the spotlight
Mitochondrial mRNAs in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: C the difference!
RNA modifications play a major role in gene expression. The existence of poly (A) additions at the 3′-end of messenger RNAs is well known and, more recently, poly (U) additions have been studied in some detail. However, by studying mitochondrial gene expression in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the team of Laurence Drouard, in collaboration with Olivier Vallon’s team at the “Institut de biologie physico-chimique“, discovered the addition of poly (C) at the end of mitochondrial messenger RNAs. This new type of post-transcriptional modification of messenger RNAs illustrates a biodiversity that is also reflected at the molecular level. This study was published on October 9, 2017, in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.
Actualités scientifiques de l’INSB
Polycytidylation of mitochondrial mRNAs in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Thalia Salinas-Giegé, Marina Cavaiuolo, Valérie Cognat, Elodie Ubrig, Claire Remacle, Anne-Marie Duchêne, Olivier Vallon, Laurence Maréchal-Drouard
Nucleic Acids Research, Nucleic Acids Res.,45:12963–12973, doi:10.1093/nar/gkx903. Abstract
Useful link
The PlantRNA database compiles tRNA gene sequences retrieved from fully annotated plant nuclear, plastidial and mitochondrial genomes : click here
The MitoCross research cluster wishes to welcome one junior chair in Strasbourg. The chair will be...