Ancient and essential: the assembly of iron–sulfur clusters in plants

Resumo

Nas plantas, as proteínas com ferro-enxofre (Fe-S) são encontradas no
plastídeos, mitocôndrias, citosol e núcleo, onde são essenciais para inúmeros processos fisiológicos e de desenvolvimento.

Abstract

In plants iron–sulfur (Fe–S) proteins are found in the plastids, mitochondria, cytosol and nucleus, where they are essential for numerous physiological and developmental processes. Recent mutant studies, mostly in
Arabidopsis thaliana, have identified three pathways for the assembly of Fe–S clusters. The plastids harbor
the SUF (sulfur mobilization) pathway and operate independently, whereas cluster assembly in the cytosol
depends on the emerging CIA (cytosolic iron–sulfur cluster assembly) pathway and mitochondria. The latter
organelles use the ISC (iron–sulfur cluster) assembly pathway. In all three pathways the assembly process
can be divided into a first stage where S and Fe are combined on a scaffold protein, and a second stage in
which the Fe–S cluster is transferred to a target protein. The second stage might involve different carrier proteins with specialized functions.