title: DNA-binding proteins in plant mitochondria: implications for transcription.
abstract: The structural complexity of plant mitochondrial genomes correlates with the variety of single-strand DNA-binding proteins found in plant mitochondria. Most of these are plant-specific and have roles in homologous recombination and genome maintenance. Mitochondrial nucleoids thus differ fundamentally between plants and yeast or animals, where the principal nucleoid protein is a DNA-packaging protein that binds double-stranded DNA. Major transcriptional cofactors identified in mitochondria of non-plant species are also seemingly absent from plants. This article reviews current knowledge on plant mitochondrial DNA-binding proteins and discusses that those may affect the accessibility and conformation of transcription start sites, thus functioning as transcriptional modulators without being dedicated transcription factors.
authors.affiliation: Institute de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes-CNRS-UPR2357, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gualberto
authors.affiliation: Molekulare Zellbiologie der Pflanzen, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: Kristina.kuehn@hu-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kühn
mesh_terms: D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010940:Plant Proteins; D024363:Transcription Initiation Site; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Phage-type RNA polymerases; Plant mitochondrial nucleoids; Single-strand DNA-binding proteins; Transcription