Stromules: a characteristic cell-specific feature of plastid morphology

Stromules: a characteristic cell-specific feature of plastid morphology.

Stromules (stroma-filled tubules) are highly dynamic structures extending from the surface of all plastid types examined so far, including proplastids, chloroplasts, etioplasts, leucoplasts, amyloplasts, and chromoplasts. Stromules are usually 0.35-0.85 microm in diameter and of variable length, from short beak-like projections to linear or branched structures up to 220 mum long. They are enclo...

Update on Plastid Stromules Stromules: Recent Insights into a Long Neglected Feature of Plastid Morphology and Function

Extensions and protrusions of the plastid envelope had been described a number of times in the pre-1990s literature, including a report in 1888 and a 1908 monograph on plastids (for review, see Gray et al., 2001; Kwok and Hanson, 2004a), but they were never generally accepted features of chloroplasts and nongreen plastids until the era of fluorescent protein technology. The first GFP-labeled pl...

Stromules: recent insights into a long neglected feature of plastid morphology and function.

Stromules Do Not Form Plastid Networks

Plastid-Nucleus Distance Alters the Behavior of Stromules

Plastids send "retrograde" signals to the nucleus to deliver information regarding their physiological status. One open question concerning this signal transfer is how the signal bridges the cytoplasm. Based on individual reports of plastid derived tubular membrane extensions connecting to nuclei, these so-called stromules have been suggested to function as communication routes between plastids...