Roles of Tetratricopeptide Repeat Proteins in Biogenesis of the Photosynthetic Apparatus

Abstract

Biosynthesis of the photosynthetic apparatus is a complex operation, which includes the concerted synthesis and assembly of lipids, pigments and metal cofactors, and dozens of proteins. Research conducted in recent years has shown that these processes, as well as the stabilization and repair of this molecular machinery, are facilitated by transiently acting regulatory proteins, many of which belong to the superfamily of helical repeat proteins. Here, we focus on one of its families in photoautotrophic model organisms, the tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) proteins, which participate in almost all of these steps and are crucial for biogenesis of the thylakoid membrane.

Keywords: HAT; TPR; chlorophyll synthesis; chloroplast; gene expression; helical repeat proteins; photosystems; protein import.