A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Thioredoxin-dependent regulatory networks in chloroplasts under fluctuating light conditions
Authors: Lauri Nikkanen, Eevi Rintamäki
Publisher: ROYAL SOC
Publication year: 2014
Journal: Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences
Journal name in source: PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Journal acronym: PHILOS T R SOC B
Article number: 20130224
Volume: 369
Issue: 1640
Number of pages: 7
ISSN: 0962-8436
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0224
Plants have adopted a number of mechanisms to restore redox homeostasis in the chloroplast under fluctuating light conditions in nature. Chloroplast thioredoxin systems are crucial components of this redox network, mediating environmental signals to chloroplast proteins. In the reduced state, thioredoxins control the structure and function of proteins by reducing disulfide bridges in the redox active site of a protein. Subsequently, an oxidized thioredoxin is reduced by a thioredoxin reductase, the two enzymes together forming a thioredoxin system. Plant chloroplasts have versatile thioredoxin systems, including two reductases dependent on ferredoxin and NADPH as reducing power, respectively, several types of thioredoxins, and the system to deliver thiol redox signals to the thylakoid membrane and lumen. Light controls the activity of chloroplast thioredoxin systems in two ways. First, light reactions activate the thioredoxin systems via donation of electrons to oxidized ferredoxin and NADP(+), and second, light induces production of reactive oxygen species in chloroplasts which deactivate the components of the thiol redox network. The diversity and partial redundancy of chloroplast thioredoxin systems enable chloroplast metabolism to rapidly respond to ever-changing environmental conditions and to raise plant fitness in natural growth conditions.