Abstract
In plants, the mitochondrial complex I is the protein complex encompassing the largest number of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters. The whole, membrane-embedded, holo-complex is assembled stepwise from assembly intermediates. The Q and N modules are combined to form a peripheral arm in the matrix, whereas the so-called membrane arm is formed after merging a carbonic anhydrase (CA) module with so-called Pp (proximal) and the Pd (distal) domains. A ferredoxin bridge connects both arms. The eight Fe-S clusters present in the peripheral arm for electron transfer reactions are synthesized via a dedicated protein machinery referred to as the iron-sulfur cluster (ISC) machinery. The de novo assembly occurs on ISCU scaffold proteins from iron, sulfur and electron delivery proteins. In a second step, the preformed Fe-S clusters are transferred, eventually converted and inserted in recipient apo-proteins. Diverse molecular actors, including a chaperone-cochaperone system, assembly factors among which proteins with LYR motifs, and Fe-S cluster carrier/transfer proteins, have been identified as contributors to the second step. This mini-review highlights the recent progresses in our understanding of how specificity is achieved during the delivery of preformed Fe-S clusters to complex I subunits.
Introduction
Complex I, also defined as NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase, is one of the four complexes constituting the mitochondrial electron transport chain. In plants, this enzymatic complex, which catalyzes the NADH-dependent coenzyme Q reduction, is composed of at least 45 subunits including 14 conserved core subunits and additional accessory subunits (; ; ). As in other organisms, this protein complex adopts a L-shape formed by two main arms (). The hydrophobic “membrane arm,” which participates in proton pumping, is embedded in the inner membrane, and is composed of so-called Pp (proximal) and the Pd (distal) domains (Figure 1A). The hydrophilic “peripheral arm” resides in the mitochondrial matrix but is attached to the membrane arm. It is composed of a N module where NADH oxidation takes place, and a Q module where coenzyme Q reduction occurs. Plants, but not yeast or human, have another spherical matrix-exposed domain attached to the membrane arm, known as the carbonic anhydrase (CA) domain (; ). In addition, a protein bridge connects the Q domain of the peripheral arm (B14 subunit) to the membrane arm (ND2 subunit) and CA domain (γCAL2 subunit) (). This protein bridge is formed by the acyl-carrier protein 2 (mtACP2/SDAP2) and a ferredoxin-like subunit or complex 1 ferredoxin (C1-FDX). proposed that this bridge would regulate complex I activity by setting the angle between its two arms, which would be essential to control the different conformational states of complex I (close and open conformations).
FIGURE 1
Modular Assembly of Complex I
The assembly of complex I is a stepwise, precisely orchestrated process. Assembly intermediates (CA, Pd, Pp, Q, and N modules) are initially formed, and then assembled to form the whole holo-complex (
The peripheral arm is assembled from N and Q modules formed independently (Figure 1B). The N module is formed at least by four subunits. The 51-kDa and 24-kDa subunits in combination with an unknown assembly factor form an assembly intermediate of 120 kDa, to which B8 and 75-kDa subunits associate. It releases the assembly factor to form an assembly intermediate of 170 kDa. The Q module is formed at least by five different subunits: Nad7, Nad9, and B13 that form an assembly intermediate of 80 kDa to which PSST and TYKY subunits are subsequently incorporated thus forming a 120 kDa intermediate (
The assembly of the membrane arm also proceeds stepwise. The CA domain (85 kDa intermediate), containing three of the five CAs present in Arabidopsis, i.e., two CAs and one CA-like (CAL) (
Iron-Sulfur Cluster Assembly and Transfer in Plant Mitochondria
The maturation of mitochondrial Fe-S proteins relies on the iron-sulfur cluster (ISC) machinery and is divided in two basic steps, i.e., Fe-S cluster assembly and transfer (
De novo Assembly of Iron-Sulfur Clusters
The NFS1 cysteine desulfurase is the sulfur donor protein catalyzing cysteine desulfurization. It forms a core complex with ISD11 and acyl-carrier protein (ACP) with the following stoichiometry [NFS1]2:[ISD11]2:[ACP]2 (
In the NFS1 reaction mechanism, a conserved Cys becomes persulfidated, and the sulfur atoms are transferred to the ISU/ISCU scaffold protein to be combined with iron atoms to form the Fe-S clusters. Three ISU proteins are present in Arabidopsis and possess the three conserved cysteinyl residues required for Fe-S cluster binding (
Transfer of Preformed Iron-Sulfur Clusters to Acceptor Proteins
A chaperone-cochaperone system is required to transfer the preformed [2Fe-2S] cluster bound to ISCU/ISU scaffold proteins either directly to apoproteins (notably respiratory complex subunits) or to other maturation factors. ISCU interacts both with the heat shock protein 70 (HSP70)-type chaperones known as HSCA1/2 in plants (HSPA9 in human) and with the HSP40-type cochaperone HSCB in plants (HSC20 in human) that stimulates the ATPase activity of HSCAs. ATP reloading is performed by MGE1a/b nucleotide exchange factors. HSCB is a key factor recruiting either acceptor proteins or adaptor proteins with a LYR motif (see below) (
Based on the yeast model for the ISC machinery, the first receiving maturation factor is glutaredoxinS15 (GRXS15) (
Finally, GRXS15 also promotes the formation of [4Fe-4S] clusters onto A-type carrier (ATC) maturation factors referred to as ISCA1a/b and ISCA2 in plants (
Maturation of Iron-Sulfur Cluster-Containing Subunits Present in the N and Q Modules
In complex I, eight Fe-S clusters are bound by five subunits localized in the peripheral arm (Figure 1). In the N module, the 24-kDa subunit binds one [2Fe-2S] cluster, the 51-kDa subunit one [4Fe-4S] cluster and the 75-kDa subunit one [2Fe-2S] cluster and two [4Fe-4S] clusters. In the Q module, PSST binds one [4Fe-4S] cluster and TYKY two [4Fe-4S] clusters (
The Presence of LYR Motifs in Assembly Factors or Acceptor Proteins Seems to Guide the Insertion of Iron-Sulfur Clusters in Complex I Subunits
In a study performed in human, it was demonstrated that the HSCB cochaperone co-immunoprecipitates all complex I subunits (
In Arabidopsis, the LYRM protein family consists of 10 members (
FIGURE 2

LYRM proteins associated with complex I in plants. (A) Structure-based sequence alignment. The alignment was generated with mTM-align (
Additional Candidate Maturation Factors for the Formation and Insertion of [4Fe-4S] Clusters
Since most Fe-S clusters in complex I are of the [4Fe-4S]-type, the question arises whether the reductive coupling of two [2Fe-2S] clusters donated by ISCU operates despite the existence of several specific maturation factors (ISCA, IBA57, BOLA, NFU4/5, and INDH protein families), which are relevant for direct [4Fe-4S] cluster insertion. This possibility is reinforced by the observation that ISCA1, IBA57, and NFU1 co-immunoprecipitates with HSCB in human (
Additional evidence for the contribution of these late-acting maturation factors come from the biochemical phenotypes of human patients or Arabidopsis mutated lines. In human, mutations in NFU1, BOLA3, IBA57, ISCA2, and ISCA1 genes lead to Multiple Mitochondrial Dysfunctions Syndromes 1 to 5 (MMDS1 to MMDS5) respectively (
So far, INDH protein, also referred to as Ind1 or NUBPL in human, is the sole Fe-S cluster maturation factor specifically associated with complex I assembly. The IND1/INDH/NUBPL proteins belong to a subfamily of P-loop NTPases. In vitro reconstitution assays using Yarrowia lipolytica Ind1 and human IND1/NUBPL showed that they bind a [4Fe-4S] cluster using a conserved CxxC motif at the C-terminus (
Conclusion
There are about 40 Fe-S proteins in Arabidopsis mitochondria present either in respiratory complexes or in the matrix (
Publisher’s Note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Statements
Author contributions
All authors have read and approved the manuscript.
Funding
The UMR 1136 was supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche as part of the “Investissements d’Avenir” program (ANR-11-LABX-0002-01, Lab of Excellence ARBRE). The Ph.D. salary of AL-L was provided by a funding from the Lorraine University of Excellence (LUE). OK was supported by an SSF grant (FFF20-008). UPSC was supported by grants from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW 2016.0341 and 2016.0352) and the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA; 2016-00504).
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Claude Didierjean for his help with 3D structure modeling.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
complex I, mitochondria, iron-sulfur cluster, maturation factors, assembly factors, plants
Citation
López-López A, Keech O and Rouhier N (2022) Maturation and Assembly of Iron-Sulfur Cluster-Containing Subunits in the Mitochondrial Complex I From Plants. Front. Plant Sci. 13:916948. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.916948
Received
10 April 2022
Accepted
04 May 2022
Published
23 May 2022
Volume
13 - 2022
Edited by
Anna N. Stepanova, North Carolina State University, United States
Reviewed by
Simone Ciofi Baffoni, University of Florence, Italy; Yan Lu, Western Michigan University, United States
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© 2022 López-López, Keech and Rouhier.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Nicolas Rouhier, Nicolas.Rouhier@univ-lorraine.fr
This article was submitted to Plant Physiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Plant Science
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.