Publications by authors named "Anne-Marie Labandera"

Chloroplast function requires the coordinated action of nuclear- and chloroplast-derived proteins, including several hundred nuclear-encoded pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins that regulate plastid mRNA metabolism. Despite their large number and importance, regulatory mechanisms controlling PPR expression are poorly understood. Here we show that the Arabidopsis NOT4A ubiquitin-ligase positively regulates the expression of PROTON GRADIENT REGULATION 3 (PGR3), a PPR protein required for translating several thylakoid-localised photosynthetic components and ribosome subunits within chloroplasts.

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  • VERNALIZATION2 (VRN2) is a key protein in plant development that is regulated by oxygen and is part of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), impacting how plants respond to environmental factors.
  • In Arabidopsis thaliana, VRN2 affects flowering time based on light conditions and shapes root architecture by negatively influencing root growth.
  • Its activity is enhanced in cold conditions, allowing it to function effectively outside of growth regions, where it interacts with other proteins for proper developmental processes.
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  • The study explores how the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) regulates gene repression in flowering plants and identifies a new mechanism for its control related to oxygen levels.
  • Researchers discovered that the plant PRC2 subunit VRN2 has an N-terminal degron that triggers its degradation, shaped by early angiosperm evolution through gene duplication.
  • The findings suggest that environmental factors like hypoxia and cold exposure increase VRN2 levels by interfering with its degradation, potentially linking environmental signals to the epigenetic regulation of plant growth and development.
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  • RLPH2, part of the phosphatase family, primarily targets phosphorylated tyrosine residues instead of its usual phosphoserine and phosphothreonine substrates.
  • Researchers determined the structure of RLPH2 with and without sodium tungstate, revealing a central domain that binds metal ions similar to other phosphatases, along with unique features aiding its specificity.
  • Cocrystallization with tungstate indicated how conserved positively charged residues form an additional site for nearby phosphothreonine residues, enhancing the enzyme's ability to bind dual-phosphorylated substrates.
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Reversible protein phosphorylation catalyzed by protein kinases and phosphatases represents the most prolific and well-characterized posttranslational modification known. Here, we demonstrate that Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) Shewanella-like protein phosphatase 2 (AtSLP2) is a bona fide Ser/Thr protein phosphatase that is targeted to the mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS) where it interacts with the mitochondrial oxidoreductase import and assembly protein 40 (AtMIA40), forming a protein complex. Interaction with AtMIA40 is necessary for the phosphatase activity of AtSLP2 and is dependent on the formation of disulfide bridges on AtSLP2.

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Cellular signaling through protein tyrosine phosphorylation is well established in mammalian cells. Although lacking the classic tyrosine kinases present in humans, plants have a tyrosine phospho-proteome that rivals human cells. Here we report a novel plant tyrosine phosphatase from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtRLPH2) that, surprisingly, has the sequence hallmarks of a phospho-serine/threonine phosphatase belonging to the PPP family.

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The bacterial protein tyrosine phosphatase PtpA is a key virulence factor released by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the cytosol of infected macrophages. So far only two unrelated macrophage components (VPS33B, GSK3α) have been identified as PtpA substrates. As tyrosine phosphatases are capable of using multiple substrates, we developed an improved methodology to pull down novel PtpA substrates from an enriched P-Y macrophage extract using the mutant PtpA D126A.

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Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a major serine/threonine phosphatase of eukaryotes. PP2A containing the B55 subunit is a key regulator of mitosis and must be inhibited by phosphorylated α-endosulfine (ENSA) or cyclic AMP-regulated 19 kDa phosphoprotein (ARPP-19) to allow passage through mitosis. Exit from mitosis then requires dephosphorylation of ENSA/ARPP-19 to relieve inhibition of PP2A/B55.

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The major plant serine/threonine protein phosphatases belong to the phosphoprotein phosphatase (PPP) family. Over the past few years the complement of Arabidopsis thaliana PPP family of catalytic subunits has been cataloged and many regulatory subunits identified. Specific roles for PPPs have been characterized, including roles in auxin and brassinosteroid signaling, in phototropism, in regulating the target of rapamycin pathway, and in cell stress responses.

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