The family of Deg/HtrA proteases: from Escherichia coli to Arabidopsis

• In the genomic era, an increasing number of protease genes have been identified in various organisms. During the last few years, many of these proteases have been characterized using biochemical as well as molecular biological techniques. However, neither the precise location nor the physiological substrates of these enzymes has been identified in many cases, including the Deg/HtrA proteases, a family of serine-type ATP-independent proteases. This family has become especially interesting for many researchers following the determination of the crystal structures of an Escherichia coli and a human Deg/HtrA protease. A breakthrough in photosynthesis research has revealed that a Deg/HtrA protease of Arabidopsis thaliana is involved in the degradation of the D1 protein of photosystem II following photoinhibition. In this review, the available data on Deg/HtrAs of different organisms are compared with those from the photoautotroph cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and the plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

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