Facile methods of genetic transformation are of outstanding importance for both basic and applied research. For many years, transgenic technologies for plants were restricted to manipulations of the nuclear genome. More recently, a second genome of the plant cell has become amenable to genetic engineering: the prokaryotically organized circular genome of the chloroplast. The possibility to dire...

The plastid genome of higher plants is an attractive target for engineering because it provides readily obtainable high protein levels, the feasibility of expressing multiple proteins from polycistronic mRNAs and gene containment through the lack of pollen transmission. A chloroplast-based expression system that is suitable for the commercial production of recombinant proteins in tobacco leaves...

During the evolution of the eukaryotic cell, plastids, and mitochondria arose from an endosymbiotic process, which determined the presence of three genetic compartments into the incipient plant cell. After that, these three genetic materials from host and symbiont suffered several rearrangements, bringing on a complex interaction between nuclear and organellar gene products. Nowadays, plastids ...

Limonene synthase (LS) catalyses the stereo-specific cyclization of geranyl diphosphate (GPP) to form a monocyclic monoterpene, limonene. In an attempt to engineer monoterpene biosynthesis, three expression constructs of LS cDNA of Perilla frutescens, which were designed to be localized in either the plastid, the cytosol or the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), were introduced into tobacco in order t...

continuous labelling of callus with h-thymidine results in intermittent peaks of h-dna per chloroplast, showing synchrony of division. the increase in h-dna could be due to several replication rounds, and the drop to successive plastid divisions without intervening dna synthesis. the level of dna-binding proteins in the chloroplast parallels the peaks of plastidal dna synthesis; such proteins c...

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...

Continuous labelling of callus with H-thymidine results in intermittent peaks of H-DNA per chloroplast, showing synchrony of division. The increase in H-DNA could be due to several replication rounds, and the drop to successive plastid divisions without intervening DNA synthesis. The level of DNA-binding proteins in the chloroplast parallels the peaks of plastidal DNA synthesis; such pro...