Arabidopsis STAY-GREEN, Mendel’s Green Cotyledon Gene, Encodes Magnesium-Dechelatase

Author Profile

Yousuke Shimoda

Highlighted Paper: Shimoda et al et al. (2016). Arabidopsis STAY-GREEN, Mendel's Green Cotyledon Gene, Encodes Magnesium-Dechelatase. Plant Cell. Advance Publication September 7, 2016; doi:10.1105/tpc.16.00428.

Current Position: Researcher, Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University.

Education: PhD (2014) in Life Science at Hokkaido University (Japan). M.S (2011) and B.S (2009) in Agriculture at Tottori University (Japan).

Non-scientific Interests: Reading and watching movies.

I was first attracted by the beautiful green color of chlorophyll, which plays a central role in photosynthesis. In particular, I got interested in the regulation of chlorophyll metabolism by plant hormones during my Master's course at Tottori University. After completing my Master's course, I joined the group of Prof. Ayumi Tanaka at Hokkaido University working on chlorophyll metabolism as a PhD student. At that time, most of the enzymes involved in chlorophyll degradation had been identified except for the magnesium (Mg)-dechelatase that catalyzes the initial step of chlorophyll degradation, which is the removal of Mg from chlorophyll. Using genetics and biochemical methods, we identified the Mg-dechelatase, as described in this paper. We found that the Mg-dechelatase is encoded by the STAY-GREEN gene, which is alternatively known as Mendel's green cotyledon gene. Interestingly, we also found that Mg-dechelatase regulates the degradation of photosystems. This finding highlights the smart strategy of plants that prevents the formation of free and toxic chlorophyll derivatives by the coordinated degradation of chlorophyll and photosystems.