Since the endosymbiotic origin of chloroplasts from cyanobacteria 2 billion years ago, the evolution of plastids has been characterized by massive loss of genes. Most plants and algae depend on photosynthesis for energy and have retained ∼110 genes in their chloroplast genome that encode components of the gene expression machinery and subunits of the photosystems. However, nonphotosynthetic parasitic plants have retained a reduced plastid genome, showing that plastids have other essential functions besides photosynthesis. We sequenced the complete plastid genome of the underground orchid, Rhizanthella gardneri. This remarkable parasitic subterranean orchid possesses the smallest organelle genome yet described in land plants. With only 20 proteins, 4 rRNAs, and 9 tRNAs encoded in 59,190 bp, it is the least gene-rich plastid genome known to date apart from the fragmented plastid genome of some dinoflagellates. Despite numerous differences, striking similarities with plastid genomes from unrelated parasitic plants identify a minimal set of protein-encoding and tRNA genes required to reside in plant plastids. This prime example of convergent evolution implies shared selective constraints on gene loss or transfer.

In higher plants formate dehydrogenase (FDH, EC 1.2.1.2.) is a mitochondrial, NAD-dependent enzyme. We previously reported that in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) FDH expression is high in tubers but low in green leaves. Here we show that in isolated tuber mitochondria FDH is involved in formate-dependent O2 uptake coupled to ATP synthesis. The effects of various environmental and chemical factors on FDH expression in leaves were tested using the mitochondrial serine hydroxymethyltransferase as a control. The abundance of FDH transcripts is strongly increased under various stresses, whereas serine hydroxymethyltransferase transcripts decline. The application of formate to leaves strongly enhances FDH expression, suggesting that it might be the signal for FDH induction. Our experiments using glycolytic products suggest that glycolysis may play an important role in formate synthesis in leaves in the dark and during hypoxia, and in tubers. Of particular interest is the dramatic accumulation of FDH transcripts after spraying methanol on leaves, as this compound is known to increase the yields of C3 plants. In addition, although the steady-state levels of FDH transcript increase very quickly in response to stress, protein accumulation is much slower, but can eventually reach the same levels in leaves as in tubers.

Group II introns are large catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) which are found in bacteria and organellar genomes of several lower eukaryotes, but are particularly prevalent within the mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) in plants, where they reside in numerous critical genes. Their excision is therefore essential for mitochondria biogenesis and respiratory functions, and is facilitated in vivo by various protein cofactors. Typical group II introns are classified as mobile genetic elements, consisting of the self-splicing ribozyme and its intron-encoded maturase protein. A hallmark of maturases is that they are intron specific, acting as cofactors which bind their own cognate containing pre-mRNAs to facilitate splicing. However, the plant organellar introns have diverged considerably from their bacterial ancestors, such as they lack many regions which are necessary for splicing and also lost their evolutionary related maturase ORFs. In fact, only a single maturase has been retained in the mtDNA of various angiosperms: the matR gene encoded in the fourth intron of the NADH-dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1 intron 4). Their degeneracy and the absence of cognate ORFs suggest that the splicing of plant mitochondria introns is assisted by trans-acting cofactors. Interestingly, in addition to MatR, the nuclear genomes of angiosperms also harbor four genes (nMat 1-4), which are closely related to maturases and contain N-terminal mitochondrial localization signals. Recently, we established the roles of two of these paralogs in Arabidopsis, nMAT1 and nMAT2, in the splicing of mitochondrial introns. In addition to the nMATs, genetic screens led to the identification of other genes encoding various factors, which are required for the splicing and processing of mitochondrial introns in plants. In this review we will summarize recent data on the splicing and processing of mitochondrial introns and their implication in plant development and physiology, with a focus on maturases and their accessory splicing cofactors.

Splicing of plant organellar transcripts is facilitated by members of a large protein family, the pentatricopeptide repeat proteins. We have identified a pentatricopeptide repeat protein in a genetic screen for mutants resistant to inhibition of root growth by buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of glutathione synthesis and consequently named BIR6 (BSO-insensitive roots 6). BIR6 is involved in splicing of intron 1 of the mitochondrial nad7 transcript. Loss-of-function mutations in BIR6 result in a strongly reduced accumulation of fully processed nad7 transcript. This affects assembly of Complex I and results in moderate growth retardation. In agreement with disruption of Complex I function, the genes encoding alternative NADH oxidizing enzymes are induced in the mutant, and the mutant plants are less sensitive to mannitol and salt stress. Mutation in the BIR6 gene allowed normal root growth in presence of BSO and strongly attenuated depletion of glutathione content at these conditions. The same phenotype was observed with other mutants affected in function of Complex I, thus reinforcing the importance of Complex I function for cellular redox homeostasis.

Summary: Mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs) in angiosperms contain numerous group II‐type introns that reside mainly within protein‐coding genes that are required for organellar genome expression and respiration. While splicing of group II introns in non‐plant systems is facilitated by proteins encoded within the introns themselves (maturases), the mitochondrial introns in plants have diverged and have lost the vast majority of their intron‐encoded ORFs. Only a single maturase gene (matR) is retained in plant mtDNAs, but its role(s) in the splicing of mitochondrial introns is currently unknown. In addition to matR, plants also harbor four nuclear maturase genes (nMat 1 to 4) encoding mitochondrial proteins that are expected to act in the splicing of group II introns. Recently, we established the role of one of these proteins, nMAT2, in the splicing of several mitochondrial introns in Arabidopsis. Here, we show that nMAT1 is required for trans‐splicing of nad1 intron 1 and also functions in cis‐splicing of nad2 intron 1 and nad4 intron 2. Homozygous nMat1 plants show retarded growth and developmental phenotypes, modified respiration activities and altered stress responses that are tightly correlated with mitochondrial complex I defects.

Summary: We have identified a mitochondrial protein (RUG3) that is required for accumulation of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I. RUG3 is related to human REGULATOR OF CHROMOSOME CONDENSATION 1 (RCC1) and Arabidopsis UV‐B RESISTANCE 8 (UVR8). Although the family of RCC1‐like proteins in Arabidopsis has over 20 members, UVR8 is the sole plant representative of this family to have been functionally characterized. Mitochondria from Arabidopsis plants lacking a functional RUG3 gene showed greatly reduced complex I abundance and activity. In contrast, accumulation of complexes III, IV and V of the oxidative phosphorylation system and the capacity for succinate‐dependent respiration were unaffected. A comprehensive study of processes contributing to complex I biogenesis in rug3 mutants revealed that RUG3 is required for efficient splicing of the nad2 mRNA, which encodes a complex I subunit. A comparison of the formation of complex I assembly intermediates between rug3 and wild type mitochondria indicated that NAD2 enters the assembly pathway at an early stage. Remarkably, rug3 mutants displayed increased capacities for import of nucleus‐encoded mitochondrial proteins into the organelle and showed moderately increased mitochondrial transcript levels. This observation is consistent with global transcript changes indicating enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis in the rug3 mutant in response to the complex I defect.