Post-Transcriptional Control of Chloroplast Gene Expression

Eva M Del Campo

doi:10.4137/grsb.s2080

Abstract

Chloroplasts contain their own genome, organized as operons, which are generally transcribed as polycistronic transcriptional units. These primary transcripts are processed into smaller RNAs, which are further modified to produce functional RNAs. The RNA processing mechanisms remain largely unknown and represent an important step in the control of chloroplast gene expression. Such mechanisms include RNA cleavage of pre-existing RNAs, RNA stabilization, intron splicing, and RNA editing. Recently, several nuclear-encoded proteins that participate in diverse plastid RNA processing events have been characterised. Many of them seem to belong to the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein family that is implicated in many crucial functions including organelle biogenesis and plant development. This review will provide an overview of current knowledge of the post-transcriptional processing in chloroplasts.

Highlights

Since the discovery of the existence of DNA1 and ribosomes[2] in chloroplasts, many studies have been published about the structure of the chloroplast genome and its expression
The first physical map of plastid DNA was obtained from maize[3] and the first plastid gene was cloned in 1977.4 A decade later, the complete chloroplast genome of tobacco,[5] Marchantia polymorpha[6] and rice[7] was sequenced
Many of them seem to belong to the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein family that is implicated in many crucial functions including organelle biogenesis and plant development.[172]

Summary

Introduction

Since the discovery of the existence of DNA1 and ribosomes[2] in chloroplasts, many studies have been published about the structure of the chloroplast genome and its expression.

Results

Conclusion