Unravelling retrograde signalling

 

Mitochondria and chloroplasts are emerging as key environmental sensors. Upon perturbation of their metabolic functions and alteration of their redox status by stress, they communicate to the nucleus to regulate stress-responsive gene expression. We previously identified one of the first mechanisms of retrograde signaling in which organellar stress signals are communicated to the nucleus via the release of ER-membrane-bound ARABIDOPSIS NAC DOMAIN CONTAINING PROTEIN 13 and 17 transcription factors. Using ANAC013 and 17 as a model system, we aim to further deepen our understanding of the still poorly understood organelle-ER and organelle-to-nucleus signalling mechanisms using high-end interactomics and chemical proteomics.