Deciphering the role of plant mitochondrial alternative oxidase (mtAOX) isoforms by protein carbonylation profiling

Plant cells naturally express enzymes that remove the reactive oxygen species (ROS) or prevent their production to a detrimental level under stress conditions. One such protective enzyme is the alternative oxidase enzyme (AOX) that is unique to plants among all other eukaryotes. There exist five AOX enzyme isoforms, AOX1a, AOX1b, AOX1c, AOX1d and AOX2, in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. While AOX1a was found to be the most abundant and stress-responsive isoform, redundancy in the expression of the AOX isoforms has so far made it difficult to understand the biological function of the other isoforms and to disentangle the functional specificity of each isoform. The proposed research for the internship will leverage the profiling of proteins modified by ROS (by carbonylation) to investigate the function of individual AOX isoforms of A. thaliana. New protein targets could thus be found for breeding crops of high economic importance to Canada, including canola, maize, and wheat, with a focus on enhancing stress tolerance. The internship will also enable the training of a student from India and advance research in the two laboratories, thereby contributing to the research partnerships between India and Canada.

Faculty Supervisor:

Tagnon Missihoun

Student:

Partner:

Central University of Tamil Nadu

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Biotechnology; Life Sciences (not health)

University:

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Program: