Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Visualizing Yeast Organelles with Fluorescent Protein Markers
Published on: April 20, 2022
PPR proteins - orchestrators of organelle RNA metabolism
Aleix Gorchs Rovira1, Alison G Smith1
1Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK.
Abstract:
Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins are important RNA regulators in chloroplasts and mitochondria, aiding in RNA editing, maturation, stabilisation or intron splicing, and in transcription and translation of organellar genes. In this review, we summarise all PPR proteins documented so far in plants and the green alga Chlamydomonas. By further analysis of the known target RNAs from Arabidopsis thaliana PPR proteins, we find that all organellar-encoded complexes are regulated by these proteins, although to differing extents. In particular, the orthologous complexes of NADH dehydrogenase (Complex I) in the mitochondria and NADH dehydrogenase-like (NDH) complex in the chloroplast were the most regulated, with respectively 60 and 28% of all characterised A. thaliana PPR proteins targeting their genes.
Related Concept Videos
RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins
RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins
Overview of Protein Metabolism
Amino acids play various roles in the body once they are absorbed into cells. They are restructured...
What is Metabolism?
The Movement of Organelles and Vesicles
RNA Interference
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...

