COMMENTARY DNA replication in chloroplasts（评论在叶绿体DNA复制）.pdf

Journal of Cell Science 104, 1-9 (1993) 1 Printed in Great Britain © The Company of Biologists Limited 1993 COMMENTARY DNA replication in chloroplasts Sabine Heinhorst and Gordon C. Cannon Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Southern Mississippi, Southern Station Box 5043, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5043, USA SUMMARY Chloroplasts contain multiple copies of a DNA molecule plastome is replicated and the molecular basis for its (the plastome) that encodes many of the gene products regulation is limited. In this commentary we review our required to perform photosynthesis. The plastome is present understanding of chloroplast DNA replication replicated by nuclear-encoded proteins and its copy and examine current efforts to elucidate its mechanism number seems to be highly regulated by the cell in a at a molecular level. tissue-specific and developmental manner. Our under- standing of the biochemical mechanism by which the Key words: chloroplasts, DNA replication, plastome INTRODUCTION RNA and protein synthesis (Leonard and Rose, 1979; Hein- horst et al., 1985a; Rapp and Mullet, 1991) indicate that Of the three compartments in the higher plant cell that con- most, and probably all, genes for proteins involved in tain their own DNA, the chloroplast harbors the least com- ctDNA replication are located in the nucleus. Considering plex genetic material. The chloroplast genome (plastome) this evidence together with