Abstract
On November 4, 2018, Roland Douce, Professor Emeritus at the University of Grenoble, France, died at the age of 79. In Grenoble, where he spent most of his scientific career, Roland Douce created a world-renowned school of plant science, studying the structure, functions, and interactions of plant organelles involved in photosynthesis, respiration, and photorespiration. His main achievements concern the chemical and functional characterization of chloroplast envelope membranes, the demonstration of the uniqueness of plant mitochondria, and the integration of metabolism within the plant cell, among manifold activities. Roland Douce devoted his whole life to science and research with passion and enthusiasm: he was a true charismatic leader.
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References
Major review articles and books
Alban C, Job D, Douce R (2000) Biotin metabolism in plants. Ann Rev Plant Phys Plant Mol Biol 51:17–47
Bligny R, Douce R (2001) NMR and plant metabolism. Curr Opin Plant Biol 4:191–196
Block MA, Douce R, Joyard J, Rolland N (2007) Chloroplast envelope membranes: a dynamic interface between plastids and the cytosol. Photosynth Res 92:225–244
Douce R (1985) Mitochondria in higher plants: structure, function, and biogenesis. Academic Press, Orlando, p. 327
Douce R, Joyard J (1979) Structure and function of the plastid envelope. Adv Bot Res 7:1–116
Douce R, Joyard J (1980) Plant Galactolipids. In: Stumpf PK (ed) Biochemistry of plants, a comprehensive treatise, vol 4. Academic Press, Davis, pp. 321–362
Douce R, Joyard J (1990) Biochemistry and function of the plastid envelope. Ann Rev Cell Biol 6:173–216
Douce R, Neuburger M (1999) Biochemical dissection of photorespiration. Curr Opin Plant Biol 2:214–222
Douce R, Bourguignon J, Neuburger M, Rébeillé F (2001) The glycine decarboxylase system: a fascinating complex. Trends Plant Sci 6(4):167–176
Douce R, Neuburger M (1989) The uniqueness of plant mitochondria. Ann Rev Plant Phys Plant Mol Biol 40:371–414
Douce R, Block MA, Dorne AJ, Joyard J (1984) The plastid envelope membranes: Their structure, composition, and role in chloroplast biogenesis. Subcell Biochem 10:1–84
Packer L, Douce R (eds) (1987) Plant cell membranes. In: Methods in enzymology, vol 148. Academic Press, New York, p. 762
Ravanel S, Gakière B, Job D, Douce R (1998) The specific features of methionine biosynthesis and metabolism in plants. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95(13):7805–7812
Ravanel S, Douce R, Rebeillé F (2011) Metabolism of folates in plants. Adv Bot Res 59:67–106
Rébeillé F, Douce R (1999) Folate synthesis and compartmentation in higher plants. In: Kruger NJ, Hill SA, Ratcliffe RG (eds) Regulation of primary metabolic pathways in plants. Proceedings of the phytochemical society of Europe, vol 42. Springer, Dordrecht
Rébeillé F, Alban C, Bourguignon J, Ravanel S, Douce R (2007) The role of plant mitochondria in the biosynthesis of coenzymes. Photosynth Res 92(2):149–162
Original research papers
Aubert S, Gout E, Bligny R, Marty-Mazars D, Barrieu F, Alabouvette J, Marty F, Douce R (1996) Ultrastructural and biochemical characterization of autophagy in higher plant cells subjected to carbon deprivation: control by the supply of mitochondria with respiratory substrates. J Cell Biol 133:1251–1263
Biou V, Dumas R, Cohen-Addad C, Douce R, Job D, Pebay-Peyroula E (1997) The crystal structure of plant acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase complexed with NADPH, two magnesium ions and a herbicidal transition state analog determined at 1.65 Å resolution. EMBO J 16:3405–3415
Bligny R, Douce R (1980) A precise localization of cardiolipin in plant cells. Biochim Biophys Acta 617(2):254–263
Block MA, Dorne AJ, Joyard J, Douce R (1983) Preparation and characterization of membrane fractions enriched in outer and inner envelope membranes from spinach chloroplasts. I. Electrophoretic and immunochemical analyses and II. Biochemical characterization. J Biol Chem 258(21):258(21):13273–13280
Buchanan BB, Douce R, Lichtenthaler HK (2007) Andrew A. Benson. Photosynth Res 92:143–144
Cohen-Addad C, Pares S, Sieker L, Neuburger M, Douce R (1995) The lipoamide arm in the glycine decarboxylase complex is not freely swinging. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2(1):63–68
Coulon-Morelec MJ, Douce R (1968) Diphosphatidylglycerol of higher plants. I. The structure of plant diphosphatidylglycerol. Bull Soc Chim Biol (Paris) 50(9):1547–1559
Dorne AJ, Joyard J, Block MA, Douce R (1985) Localization of phosphatidylcholine in outer envelope membrane of spinach chloroplasts. J Cell Biol 100(5):1690–1697
Douce R, Christensen EL, Bonner WD Jr (1972) Preparation of intact plant mitochondria. Biochim et Biophys Acta 275:148–160
Douce R, Holtz RB, Benson AA (1973) Isolation and properties of the envelope of spinach chloroplasts. J Biol Chem 248(20):7215–7222
Douce R (1974) Site of biosynthesis of galactolipids in spinach chloroplasts. Science 183(4127):852–853
Gout E, Rébeillé F, Douce R, Bligny R (2014) Regulation of cell respiration by ADP and Mg2+. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111(43):E4560–E4567
Gout E, Bligny R, Douce R, Boisson A, Rivasseau C (2011) Early response of plant cell to carbon deprivation: in vivo 31P-NMR spectroscopy shows a quasi-instantaneous disruption on cytosolic sugars, phosphorylated intermediates of energy metabolism, phosphate partitioning, and intracellular pHs. New Phytol 189:135–147
Jeffrey SW, Douce R, Benson AA (1974) Carotenoid transformations in the chloroplast envelope. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 71(3):807–810
Journet EP, Bligny R, Douce R (1986) Biochemical changes during sucrose deprivation in higher plant cells. J Biol Chem 261:3193–3199
Joyard J, Douce R (1977) Site of synthesis of phospatidic acid and diacylglycerol in spinach chloroplasts. Biochim Biophys Acta 486:273–285
Joyard J, Grossman A, Bartlett SG, Douce R, Chua NH (1982) Characterization of envelope membrane polypeptides from spinach chloroplasts. J Biol Chem 257(2):1095–1101
Lichtenthaler HK (2004) Thirty years of international symposia on plant lipids. In: Biacs P and Gerely P (eds) Proceedings of the 16th plant lipid symposium. Mete Publisher, Budapest, pp. I–XXXI
Lichtenthaler HK, Buchanan BB, Douce R (2008) Honoring Andrew Benson in Paris: a tribute on his 90th birthday. Photosynth Res 96:181–183
Lichtenthaler HK, Buchanan BB, Douce R, Govindjee (2015) Andrew A. Benson, 1917–2015. Photosynth Res 124:131–135
Lichtenthaler HK, Prenzel U, Douce R, Joyard J (1981) Localization of prenylquinones in the envelope of spinach chloroplasts. Biochim Biophys Acta 641:99–105
Maréchal E, Block MA, Joyard J, Douce R (1994) Kinetic properties of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol synthase from spinach chloroplast envelope membranes. J Biol Chem 269:5788–5798
Martin JB, Bligny R, Rébeillé F, Douce R, Leguay JJ, Mathieu Y, Guern J (1982) A 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study of intracellular pH of plant cells cultivated in liquid medium. Plant Physiol 70:1156–1161
Miège C, Maréchal E, Shimojima M, Awai K, Block MA, Ohta H, Takamiya K, Douce R, Joyard J (1999) Biochemical and topological properties of type A MGDG synthase, a spinach chloroplast envelope enzyme catalyzing the synthesis of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic MGDG. Eur J Biochem 265:990–1001
Neuburger M, Douce R (1980) Slow passive diffusion of NAD + between intact isolated plant mitochondria and suspending medium. Biochem J 216:443–450
Neuburger M, Journet EP, Bligny R, Carde JP, Douce R (1982) Purification of plant mitochondria by isopycnic centrifugation in density gradients of Percoll. Arch Biochem Biophys 217:312–323
Rébeillé F, Bligny R, Martin JB, Douce R (1985) Effect of sucrose starvation on sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) cell carbohydrate and Pi status. Biochem l 226:679–684
Roby C, Martin JB, Bligny R, Douce R (1987) Biochemical changes during sucrose deprivation in higher plant cells. Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance studies. J Biol Chem 262:5000–5007
Sato N, Albrieux C, Joyard J, Douce R, Kuroiwa T (1993) Detection and characterization of plastid envelope DNA-binding protein that may anchors plastid nucleoids. EMBO J 12:555–561
Siebertz HP, Heinz E, Joyard J, Douce R (1979) Characterization of lipids from chloroplast envelopes. Eur J Biochem 101:429–438
Acknowledgements
We deeply thank all friends and colleagues who expressed their wishes to pay tribute to Roland Douce. We also thank Marie-France Joyard, Ian Max Møller, Arthur Nonomura, and HP Siebertz for providing photos. Our special thanks go to Michel Neuburger and Richard Bligny for their invaluable contribution to this article. They were the first members (together with JJ) of the group set up in 1974 by Roland Douce in Grenoble.
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Joyard, J., Lichtenthaler, H.K. Tribute Roland Douce, 1939–2018. Photosynth Res 141, 131–142 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-019-00634-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-019-00634-9