Projects per year
Abstract
Spatial relocalization of proteins is crucial for the correct functioning of living cells. An interesting example of spatial ordering is the light-induced clustering of plant photoreceptor proteins. Upon irradiation by white or red light, the red light-active phytochrome, phytochrome B, enters the nucleus and accumulates in large nuclear bodies (NBs). The underlying physical process of nuclear body formation remains unclear, but phytochrome B is thought to coagulate via a simple protein-protein binding process. We measure, for the first time, the distribution of the number of phytochrome B-containing NBs as well as their volume distribution. We show that the experimental data cannot be explained by a stochastic model of nuclear body formation via simple protein-protein binding processes using physically meaningful parameter values. Rather modelling suggests that the data is consistent with a two step process: a fast nucleation step leading to macroparticles followed by a subsequent slow step in which the macroparticles bind to form the nuclear body. An alternative explanation for the observed nuclear body distribution is that the phytochromes bind to a so far unknown molecular structure. We believe it is likely this result holds more generally for other nuclear body-forming plant photoreceptors and proteins.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 056003 |
Journal | Physical Biology |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 18 May 2018 |
Keywords
- biological physics
- nuclear bodies
- phytochrome signaling
- plant biology
- stochastic modelling
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Dive into the research topics of 'Insight into nuclear body formation of phytochromes through stochastic modelling and experiment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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MycoSynVac: Engineering of Mycoplasma pneumoniae as a broad-spectrum animal vaccine
1/04/15 → 31/03/20
Project: EU research project