Characterization of the plant mitochondrial twin arginine translocation pathway

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Twin arginine translocation (Tat) pathways have been extensively studied in bacteria and chloroplasts and have essential roles in photosynthesis, energy metabolism and iron and phosphate metabolism. Tat pathways are extremely interesting as they transport fully folded proteins into and across membranes. This is in contrast to other transport pathways which transport proteins in an unfolded state. Our recent data indicate that plant mitochondria also contain a potential Tat pathway. It could be demonstrated that this pathway is essential for plant mitochondrial biogenesis and by extension is essential for plant growth and development. However, to date only one substrate was identified for the pathway and the exact reason as to why the pathway is essential is still an open question. The proposed project seeks to further dissect the exact roles and mechanisms of the plant mitochondrial Tat pathway. Investigations will include identifying the exact substrates of the mitochondrial Tat pathway, what role it plays in plant mitochondrial biogenesis, and finally the subunits required for its activity. One final evolutionary question to answer is why do plant mitochondria require a Tat pathway, while the mitochondria of other organisms like yeast and humans do not contain a Tat pathway.