Chloroplast Protein Import: Reverse Genetic Approaches

Authors: Oreb, Mislav; Reger, Katharina; Schleiff, Enrico

Source: Current Genomics, Volume 7, Number 4, June 2006 , pp. 235-244(10)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

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Abstract:

Most proteins required for chloroplast function are encoded in the nuclear genome and have to be translocated into the organelle upon synthesis on cytosolic ribosomes. The translocation is facilitated by a proteinaceous machinery located in the outer and inner chloroplast membrane, the Toc and Tic complexes (translocon at the outer/inner chloroplast membrane). In the past years, many components of these complexes -including receptors, channels and regulatory proteins - have been isolated and characterized biochemically. Recently, the functional analysis of these proteins was complemented by characterization of corresponding loss of function mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system. Here, we will discuss these in vivo data and the results of expression profiling in the context of current biochemical models.

Keywords: Protein import; Toc components; Tic components; knock out analysis; Arabidopsis thaliana

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: LMU, Department of Biology I, Menzinger Str. 67, 80638 München, Germany.

Publication date: 2006-06-01