PhD Candidate King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) Thuwal, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Body of Abstract: Climate change and weather variability have a significant impact on agricultural production. In response to these environmental challenges, plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to sense and respond to external stimuli. One of such mechanisms is formation of biomolecular condensates.
Biomolecular condensates are dynamic micron-scale foci that consist of proteins, RNA, and metabolites which are concentrated in comparison to their surroundings. Recently, substantial attention has been paid to biomolecular condensates due to their involvement in different molecular responses and pathways. Several studies have found that various environmental stresses such as heat, salt or hypoxia can trigger formation of plant cytoplasmic stress granules (cSG). Contrary to previous belief, SGs are not exclusive to the cytoplasm. Recent discovery shows that in addition to cSGs, heat can induce the formation of stress granules in the chloroplasts (cpSG), suggesting their involvement in stress-induced regulation of plastidial machinery.
The aim of our work is to further extend our knowledge on cpSG by examining their stress specificity, assessing their dynamics and revealing the compositional variation of cpSG under different stresses. Focusing on chloroplastic protein, we demonstrate that cpSGs can be formed not only in response to heat but also in response to various abiotic stresses. Gaining insights into the molecular mechanisms of cpSG formation and dynamics will contribute to strengthening plants' resilience.