The possible role of an [FeFe]-hydrogenase-like protein in the plant responses to changing atmospheric oxygen levels

The knockdown of a [FeFe]-hydrogenase-like gene in the model plants Medicago truncatula and Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in a mutant with a dwarf phenotype. Surprisingly, the phenotype is undistinguishable from wild type under hypoxic conditions. The heterologous expression of the plant gene in Escherichia coli indicates that the resulting protein probably coordinates two [Fe–S] clusters with different magnetic properties. Sequence alignment analysis indicates that these two clusters would be topologically equivalent to the mesial and proximal [Fe–S] centers of [FeFe]-hydrogenases. A possible role of the gene product in oxygen signaling pathways is discussed.