Project Details
Projekt
Auxiliary factors required for the accumulation and functioning of the thylakoid ATP Synthase
Subject Area
Plant Biochemistry and Biophysics
Term
from 2017 to 2022
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 239484859
F1Fo-ATP synthases in thylakoids couple ATP synthesis to the light-driven electrochemical proton gradient. F1Fo-ATP synthases are cofactor-free multiprotein complexes and consist of a membrane-spanning (CFo) and a peripheral domain (CF1). Relatively little is known about thylakoid ATP synthase formation and only few assembly factors have been characterized so far. In previous work we could identify the thylakoid integral protein CGL160 in Arabidopsis (AtCGL160), which is required for efficient CFo assembly. AtCGL160 contains two domains; a plant-specific domain and a second domain which is distantly related to the cyanobacterial protein Atp1. Moreover, we could identify an additional novel putative thylakoid ATP synthase assembly factor in Arabidopsis: AtHTN1. The objective of this subproject is to decipher the function of AtHTN1 and of the plant-specific AtCGL160 domain in ATP synthase assembly at the molecular level. We will also extend our study to the functional characterization of Atp1 in Synechocystis and analyze its role in the cyanobacterial ATP synthase assembly process by genetic, biochemical and electron microscopy approaches. Our long-term goal is to elucidate the interplay of the entire ensemble of auxiliary factors necessary to construct a functional thylakoid ATP synthase, to determine their mode of action and to unravel the evolution of their function(s).
DFG Programme
Research Units
