Transcripts of plant organelle genes are modified by cytidine-to-uridine (C-to-U) RNA editing, often changing the encoded amino acid predicted from the DNA sequence. Members of the PLS subclass of the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) motif-containing family are site-specific recognition factors for either chloroplast or mitochondrial C targets of editing. However, other than PPR proteins and the ...

BACKGROUND Chloroplasts are plant cell organelles of cyanobacterial origin. They perform essential metabolic and biosynthetic functions of global significance, including photosynthesis and amino acid biosynthesis. Most of the proteins that constitute the functional chloroplast are encoded in the nuclear genome and imported into the chloroplast after translation in the cytosol. Since protein tar...

RNA editing is the post-transcriptional conversion from C to U before translation, providing a unique feature in the regulation of gene expression. Here, we used a robust and efficient method based on RNA-seq from non-ribosomal total RNA to simultaneously measure chloroplast-gene expression and RNA editing efficiency in the Greater Duckweed, Spirodela polyrhiza, a species that provides a new re...

UNLABELLED Next-generation sequence analysis of virus-like particles (VLPs) produced during agroinfiltration of cucumber necrosis virus (CNV) coat protein (CP) and of authentic CNV virions was conducted to assess if host RNAs can be encapsidated by CNV CP. VLPs containing host RNAs were found to be produced during agroinfiltration, accumulating to approximately 1/60 the level that CNV virions a...

In contrast to differentiated leaves, the regulatory mechanisms of chloroplast gene expression in darkened cotyledons have not been elucidated. Although some results have been reported indicating accelerated senescence in Arabidopsis upon reillumination, the capacity of cotyledons to recover after dark stress remains unclear. We analysed the effect of two-days dark stress, applied locally or at...

The chloroplast tscA gene from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii encodes a co-factor RNA that is involved in trans-splicing of exons 1 and 2 of the psaA mRNA encoding a core polypeptide of photosystem I. Here we provide molecular and genetic characterization of the trans-splicing mutant TR72, which is defective in the 3'-end processing of the tscA RNA and consequently defective in splicing exons 1 and ...

Chloroplast gene expression is primarily controlled during the translation of plastid mRNAs into proteins, and genetic studies have identified cis-acting RNA elements and trans-acting protein factors required for chloroplast translation. Biochemical analysis has identified both general and specific mRNA-binding proteins as components of the regulation of chloroplast translation, and has reveale...

Zea mays chloroplast DNA-dependent RNA polymerase in vitro preferentially transcribes maize chloroplast DNA sequences incorporated in cloned chimeric bacterial plasmids. Preferential transcription is dependent on the presence of a 27.5-kilodalton polypeptide, the S factor, which has been purified from maize chloroplasts, and also on the template's being in the supercoiled form.

Although reverse genetics has been used to elucidate the function of numerous chloroplast proteins, the characterization of essential plastid genes and their role in chloroplast biogenesis and cell survival has not yet been achieved. Therefore, we developed a robust repressible chloroplast gene expression system in the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii based mainly on a vitamin-repress...

The tertiary structure in the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV) RNA is known to be involved in minus-strand RNA synthesis. Proteins found in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) fraction of BaMV-infected leaves interact with the radio labeled 3'-UTR probe in electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA). Results derived from the ultraviolet (UV) cross-linking compe...