Lee Jae-Hyung, Doan Thu Minh, Bruzual Abigail, Senthilkumar Sandhya, Yoo Chan Yul
School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Plant Physiol. 2025 Jun 30. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiaf289.
Interorganellar communication is essential for maintaining cellular and organellar functions and adapting to dynamic environmental changes in eukaryotic cells. In angiosperms, light initiates photomorphogenesis, a developmental program characterized by chloroplast biogenesis and inhibition of hypocotyl elongation, through photoreceptors such as the red/far-red-sensing phytochromes and their downstream signaling pathways. However, the mechanisms underlying nucleus-chloroplast crosstalk during photomorphogenesis remain elusive. Here, we show that light-regulated dual-targeting of NUCLEAR CONTROL OF PEP ACTIVITY (NCP) mediates bidirectional communication between the nucleus and chloroplasts via alternative promoter selection and retrograde translocation. Light promotes transcription from an upstream canonical transcription start site, producing a long NCP isoform (NCP-L) containing an N-terminal chloroplast transit peptide that directs chloroplast localization. In contrast, darkness or low red-light conditions favor transcription from a downstream alternative start site, producing a shorter cytoplasmic isoform (NCP-S) that is rapidly degraded via the 26S proteasome. This light-regulated alternative transcription initiation depends on PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTORS (PIFs), key repressors of photomorphogenesis. Upon chloroplast import, NCP-L is processed into its mature form (NCPm), which promotes assembly and nucleoid localization of the PEP complex to initiate chloroplast biogenesis. Notably, NCP's nuclear function requires its prior localization to chloroplasts, supporting a model in which NCP mediates chloroplast-to-nucleus retrograde signaling. Consistent with this, NCP promotes stromule formation in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) hypocotyls, linking chloroplast dynamics to phytochrome-dependent nuclear pathways that restrict hypocotyl elongation. Our findings uncover an interorganellar communication mechanism in which light-dependent alternative promoter usage and retrotranslocation regulate photomorphogenesis, integrating nuclear and plastid signals to coordinate organ-specific developmental programs.
细胞器间通讯对于维持真核细胞的细胞及细胞器功能以及适应动态环境变化至关重要。在被子植物中,光通过诸如感受红光/远红光的光敏色素及其下游信号通路等光感受器启动光形态建成,这是一个以叶绿体生物发生和下胚轴伸长受抑制为特征的发育程序。然而,光形态建成过程中细胞核与叶绿体间相互作用的机制仍不清楚。在此,我们表明光调控的核控制PEP活性(NCP)的双靶向通过选择性启动子选择和逆向转运介导细胞核与叶绿体之间的双向通讯。光促进从上游典型转录起始位点的转录,产生一种长的NCP异构体(NCP-L),其包含一个引导叶绿体定位的N端叶绿体转运肽。相反,黑暗或低红光条件有利于从下游选择性起始位点转录,产生一种较短的细胞质异构体(NCP-S),其通过26S蛋白酶体迅速降解。这种光调控的选择性转录起始依赖于光形态建成的关键抑制因子——光敏色素相互作用因子(PIFs)。导入叶绿体后,NCP-L被加工成其成熟形式(NCPm),后者促进PEP复合物的组装和类核定位以启动叶绿体生物发生。值得注意的是,NCP的核功能需要其先定位到叶绿体,这支持了一种模型,即NCP介导叶绿体到细胞核的逆向信号传导。与此一致,NCP促进拟南芥下胚轴中叶绿体小管的形成,将叶绿体动态与限制下胚轴伸长的光敏色素依赖性核途径联系起来。我们的发现揭示了一种细胞器间通讯机制,其中光依赖的选择性启动子使用和逆向转运调节光形态建成,整合核和质体信号以协调器官特异性发育程序。