Membrane contacts with the endoplasmic reticulum modulate plastid morphology and behaviour

Jaideep Mathur; Thomas Kadanthottu Kunjumon; Alena Mammone; Neeta Mathur

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1293906

Membrane contacts with the endoplasmic reticulum modulate plastid morphology and behaviour

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Dec 4:14:1293906. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1293906. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jaideep Mathur¹, Thomas Kadanthottu Kunjumon¹, Alena Mammone¹, Neeta Mathur¹

Affiliation

¹ Laboratory of Plant Development and Interactions, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Plastid behaviour often occurs in tandem with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) dynamics. In order to understand the underlying basis for such linked behaviour we have used time-lapse imaging-based analysis of plastid movement and pleomorphy, including the extension and retraction of stromules. Stable transgenic plants that simultaneously express fluorescent fusion proteins targeted to the plastid stroma, and the ER along with BnCLIP1-eGFP, an independent plastid envelope localized membrane contact site (MCS) marker were utilized. Our experiments strongly suggest that transient MCS formed between the plastid envelope and the ER are responsible for their concomitant behaviour.

Keywords: BnCLIP1; chloroplasts; endoplasmic reticulum; lipases; membrane-contact-sites; stromules.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The study was funded by a Discovery grant to JM by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).