Even Parasitic Plants Need Plastids

Plants with Transgenic Plastids

Plant genetic engineering will likely contribute to the required continued increase in agricultural productivity during the coming decades. Moreover, plants can potentially provide inexpensive production platforms for pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. With the advent of technologies to alter the genetic information inside plastids (chloroplasts), a new attractive target for genetic engineerin...

Parasitic Plants of the World

Rhizosphere communication of plants, parasitic plants and AM fungi.

Plants use an array of secondary metabolites to defend themselves against harmful organisms and to attract others that are beneficial. However, the attraction of beneficial organisms could also lead to abuse by malevolent organisms. An exciting example of such abuse is the relationship between plants, beneficial mutualistic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and harmful parasitic plants. Signalling m...

Cell-to-cell movement of plastids in plants.

Our objective was to test whether or not plastids and mitochondria, the two DNA-containing organelles, move between cells in plants. As our experimental approach, we grafted two different species of tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana sylvestris. Grafting triggers formation of new cell-to-cell contacts, creating an opportunity to detect cell-to-cell organelle movement between the genetical...

DNA maintenance in plastids and mitochondria of plants

The DNA molecules in plastids and mitochondria of plants have been studied for over 40 years. Here, we review the data on the circular or linear form, replication, repair, and persistence of the organellar DNA (orgDNA) in plants. The bacterial origin of orgDNA appears to have profoundly influenced ideas about the properties of chromosomal DNA molecules in these organelles to the point of dismis...