Protein homeostasis in plant organelles: chloroplast and endoplasmic reticulum

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Plants on the earth absorb solar light energy and fix carbon to organic molecules, thus provide most of the energy resource to other species. Chloroplast and endoplasmic reticulum are two major plant organelles that perform anabolic reactions in biosynthesis pathways. Understanding functions of these two plant organelles, their protein and enzyme homeostasis, and how their functionalities are coordinated together with plant development at the molecular level is fundamental in plant molecular biology and physiology. My research program and long-term goal is to understand the molecular mechanism of protein quality control systems, with an emphasis on those in plant organelles. In this proposal, we will investigate the molecular mechanism of two HSP90 family heat shock proteins that are located in chloroplast and endoplasmic reticulum respectively, and understand how they regulate protein homeostasis and the second messenger calcium signalling. We propose to investigate new roles and mechanism of action of these two organellar HSP90 proteins in facilitating chloroplast maturation, and the biogenesis of example proteins along the cellular secretory pathway. Additionally, we have identified a cohort of interactors for both chloroplast and ER-localized HSP90 proteins, and in-depth analysis of some HSP90 interacting proteins will be another focus of this proposal. We anticipate that our research findings will significantly advance our understanding of the complicated post-translational regulatory mechanism for protein functions, and how plants respond to developmental and environmental cues. Our study will also provide potential targets for breeding researchers to genetically engineer crops for better yield or resistance to environmental stresses.