# Mechanism of nucleus-to-plastid light signaling in controlling plastid transcription

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE · 2021 · $300,636

## Abstract

Abstract
The control of organellar gene expression is critical for cellular programming of all eukaryotic organisms.
While perturbing mitochondrial gene expression leads to human pathologies, including cancer, altering
plastidial gene expression can kill plants. However, the cell signaling mechanisms that control organellar
gene expression remain poorly understood. The long-term goal of the PI’s laboratory is to utilize
photoreceptor-regulated chloroplast biogenesis in Arabidopsis as a genetic model to understand cell
signaling mechanisms controlling organellar gene expression. The current data support the central
hypothesis that the red and far-red photoreceptors, the phytochromes, induce the expression of plastid-
encoded photosynthesis-associated genes through nucleus-to-plastid signaling that activates a bacterial-
type plastidial RNA polymerase. Here the PI propose to utilize a combination of molecular genetics,
biochemistry, structure biology, cell biology, and genomics approaches to (1) determine the activation
mechanism of the bacterial-type RNA polymerase in plastids, (2) identify the nucleus-to-plastid signal that
triggers the activation of the plastidial RNA polymerase, and (3) determine the phytochrome signaling
mechanism that initiates the nucleus-to-plastid signaling in the nucleus. The proposed research is
innovative because it utilizes photoreceptor signaling and chloroplast biogenesis in Arabidopsis as a
genetic model to investigate a previously uncharacterized nucleus-to-organelle signaling pathway. The PI
has developed new forward genetic screens and biochemical assays to identify components in the
nucleus-to-plastid signaling and elucidate their signaling mechanisms. The proposed research is significant,
because it is expected to uncover the photoreceptor signaling mechanisms controlling plastidial transcription -
a long-standing gap in our knowledge of plant light signaling and chloroplast biogenesis. Because the
control of transcription in plastids shares many similarities with that in mitochondria, what we learn in the
plastid model is expected to enhance the understanding of the general principles of cell signaling mechanisms
in controlling organellar gene expression, including the regulation of mitochondrial gene expression, and
therefore, will ultimately contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the misregulations of
mitochondrial gene expression in human diseases.
!

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10102257
- **Project number:** 5R01GM132765-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** Meng Chen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $300,636
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-02-07 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10102257

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10102257, Mechanism of nucleus-to-plastid light signaling in controlling plastid transcription (5R01GM132765-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10102257. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*