Search PubMedSearch

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “chloroplasts”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Cellular content of chloroplast DNA and chloroplast ribosomal RNA genes in Euglena gracilis during chloroplast development.

The cellular content of chloroplast DNA in Euglena gracilis has been quantitatively determined. DNA was extracted from Euglena cells at various stages of chloroplast development and renatured in the presence of trace amounts of 3H-labeled chloroplast DNA. From the kinetics of renaturation of the 3H-labeled chloroplast DNA, compared with the kinetics of renaturation of excess nonradioactive chloroplast DNA, the fraction of cellular DNA represented by chloroplast DNA was calculated. The content of chloroplast DNA was found to increase from 4.9 to 14.6% of cellular DNA during light-induced chloroplast development. Correcting for the change in DNA mass per cell, the number of copies of chloroplast DNA is found to vary from 1400 to 2900 per cell. During this developmental transition, the cellular content of the chloroplast ribosomal RNA genes varies from 1900 to 5200 copies per cell. The ratio of the number of copies of rRNA genes to chloroplast genomes per cell remains in the range of 1-2 throughout chloroplast development, ruling out selective amplification of chloroplast rRNA genes as a means of regulation of rRNA gene expression. Direct measurement of the number of rRNA cistrons per 9.2 X 10(7) dalton genome yields a value of 1 or 2.

Animals

Expression of the chloroplast ribosomal RNA genes of Euglena gracilis during chloroplast development.

The cellular content and transcription program of the chloroplast ribosomal RNA genes of Euglena gracilis Z have been determined during the light-induced development of chloroplasts by hybridization of total cell DNA or RNA to purified 3H-labeled chloroplast ribosomal DNA ([3H]ctrDNA). Pancreatic DNase activated, partially purified chloroplast rDNA was enzymatically labeled in vitro by E. coli DNA polymerase I with [3H]TTP as a substrate. The [3H] DNA was denatured and hybridized with a vast excess of purified chloroplast 16 and 23S rRNA. The rRNA-[3H]ct rCNA hybrid was isolated by chromatography on hydroxylapatite. The [3H]ct rDNA was purified and characterized by the kinetics of its renaturation with chloroplast DNA and rRNA, and by the thermal stability of [3H]DNA-DNA and [3H]DNA-RNA hybrids. [3H]ct rDNA was hybridized in trace amounts to cellular RNA or DNA isolated from Euglena cells 0,4,8,12,24,48, and 72 h after the onset of chloroplast development. From a comparison of the kinetics of hybridization with hybridization of standards of known kinetic complexity quantitative estimates of the cellular rRNA and rDNA gene content were made. Chloroplast rRNA increases from 2 to 26% of the cellular RNA during development, while the percentage of cellular DNA represented by ct rDNA increases two- to threefold. Correcting for the change in cellular RNA and DNA content during development, the number of copies of the rRNA gene increases less than twofold, while the number of copies of rRNA per cell increases sixfold. The results are consistent with either a transcriptional activation of the ribosomal genes or an increased rRNA stability during developmental.

Animals

Isolation of Euglena gracilis chloroplast 5S ribosomal RNA and mapping the 5S rRNA gene on chloroplast DNA.

Ribosomal RNA (5S) from Euglena gracilis chloroplasts was isolated by preparative electrophoresis, labeled in vitro with 125I, and hybridized to restriction nuclease fragments from chloroplast DNA or cloned chloroplast DNA segments. Euglena chloroplast 5S rRNA is encoded in the chloroplast genome. The coding region of 5S rRNA has been positioned within the 5.6 kilobase pair (kbp) repeat which also codes for 16S and 23S rRNA. There are three 5S rRNA genes on the 130-kbp genome. The order of RNAs within a single repeat is 16S-23S-5S. The organization and size of the Euglena chloroplast ribosomal repeat is very similar to the ribosomal RNA operons of Escherichia coli.

Chloroplasts

Light/dark labeling differences in chloroplast membrane polypeptides associated with chloroplast coupling factor o.

The fluorogenic reagent fluorescamine has been used to determine the labeling patterns of Type C spinach chloroplast membrane polypeptides. Membrane polypeptides labeled with fluorescamine were detected by scanning high resolution sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gradient slab gels for fluorescence emission. Three membrane polypeptides show a decrease in the extent of labeling when chloroplast membranes are labeled in the light compared to when they are labeled in the dark. These polypeptides have apparent molecular weights 0f 32 000, 23 000 and 15 000. The decrease in labeling observed in the light is abolished or reduced by treatments which inactivate the light-generated transmembrane pH gradient. CF1-depleted chloroplasts show neither a light-activated pH gradient nor a light/dark difference in labeling of these three polypeptides. Both a light-activated pH gradient and light/dark difference in labeling are observed in CF1-depleted chloroplasts which have been treated with N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. The same ammonium sulfate fractions of a 2% sodium cholate extract, which are believed to be enriched in the membrane-bound sector of the chloroplast ATPase (CFo) are also found to be enriched in the 32 000, 23 000 and 15 000 molecular weight polypeptides. The three polypeptides are believed to be components of CFo, and the light/dark labeling differences may indicate conformational changes within CFo. Such conformational changes may reflect a mechanism which couples light-generated proton gradients to ATP synthesis.

Cell Membrane

Removal of Mn from spinach chloroplasts by sodium cyanide and the binding of Mn2+ to Mn-depleted chloroplasts.

Manganese and copper were released from spinach chloroplasts by NaCN-treatment, though iron was not affected. The Hill reaction activity was also inhibited by this treatment, but was partially recovered by the addition of either Mn2+ or Cu2+, but not of Fe3+. The interaction of Mn2+ with manganese-depleted chloroplasts by NaCN-treatment was studied using 54Mn2+. A Scatchard plot shows the high and low affinity binding sites of Mn2+ on NaCN-treated chloroplast membrane; high affinity binding being specific for NaCN-treated chloroplast with a binding constant, KH, of 1.9 X 10(5) M-1, and a maximum binding number, NH, of 0.0016 g-atom per mole of chlorophyll. The low binding site was also found on untreated chloroplasts; its binding constant, KL, being 1.2 X 10(4) M-1, and its maximum binding number, NL, of 0.0112 g-atom per mole oc chlorophyll at pH 8.2 NH was proportional to the degree of the removal of Mn by NaCN-treatment and was constant at pH 4--9. NL markedly increased at a high pH with a midpoint of pH 7.9 indicating the exposure of a new, similar binding site. Light illumination partially inhibited the binding of Mn2+. Within 1 min in the dark the binding reaction reached equilibrium in the absence of pyrophosphate, however, 20 min were required to transform into pyrophosphate-resistant form. The pH dependence of the binding of Mn2+ with pKa 7.2 and the ineffectiveness of p-chloromercuribenzoate suggest the possible ligand of Mn2+ is the imidazole nitrogen of the histidine residue.

2,6-Dichloroindophenol

[Chloroplast DNA cloning in Escherichia coli. II. The properties of the recombinant plasmids bearing the EcoRI fragments of pea chloroplast DNA and the cloning of the DNA sequences with rRNA genes].

Previously a method of selection of colicine-defective recombinant plasmids by mitomycin C was described. A series of recombinant plasmids (CPS) with various EcoRI-fragments of pea chloroplast DNA has been obtained. This paper describes some properties of cloned fragments replicated in Escherichia coli. The alkali stability of recombinant plasmid DNAs has been demonstrated, indicating the absence of ribonucleotides in their structure. Heterogeneity of chloroplast DNA in nucleotide composition was demonstrated using ultracentrifugation analysis of CPS-plasmid DNAs in CsCl-actinomycin D density gradient. Pea chloroplast rDNA was cloned in recombinant plasmids.

Base Sequence

The effect of 1-ethyl-3(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide on calcium binding and associated changes in chloroplast structure and chlorophyll a fluorescence in spinach chloroplasts.

1. Chemical modification of carboxyl groups on the chloroplast membrane with a water-soluble carbodiimide plus a nucleophile caused inhibition of Ca-2plus binding. 2. Both binding sites were affected and showed a decrease in the number of binding sites and an increase in the dissociation constant. 3. Cation-induced changes in chlorophyll a fluorescence and structural changes (deltaA540) were inhibited at the same carbodiimide concentrations as Ca-2plus binding, emphasizing the relationship between these processes. 4. Chloroplasts that were illuminated with high intensity light for short time periods showed a decrease in the carbodiimide-mediated inhibition of Ca-2plus binding.

Calcium

Chloroplast elongation factors are synthesized in the chloroplast.

The elongation factor G (EF-Gchl) and elongation factor Tu (EF-Tuchl) present in spinach chloroplasts become labelled when isolated chloroplasts are incubated in the light with radioactive methionine. EF-Gchl and EF-Tuchl account for approximately 0.04% and 0.2% respectively of the total radioactivity incorporated by isolated organelles.

Chloroplasts

ATP synthesis and hydrolysis in chloroplast membranes. Differential inhibition by antibodies to chloroplast coupling factor 1.

1. Divalent antibodies against chloroplast coupling factor 1 inhibited the factor ATPase, ATP synthesis, hydrolysis and Pi-ATP exchange in chloroplasts. These antibodies also inhibited coupled electron flow rates but not the basal or uncoupled rates. 2. Several types of non-precipitating, modified antibodies prepared from the original antibody preparation strongly inhibited the ATPase and Pi-ATP exchange reaction but had little effect on ATP formation. 3. It is suggested that the inhibition of ATP synthesis by the divalent antibodies is probably due to an indirect blocking of the active site, while the inhibition of ATP-utilizing reactions by the modified antibodies is related to their effect on the transfer of ATP from a non-catalytic to a catalytic site on coupling factor 1, via an energy-dependent conformational change.

Adenosine Triphosphate

[Cloning chloroplast DNA in escherichia coli. I. Construction and selection of recombinant plasmids containing fragments of pea chloroplast DNA].

Fragments produced by digestion of Pisum sativum chloroplast DNA with EcoRI were examined by agarose gel electrophoresis. These EcoRI-fragments were joined in vitro to Apr-ColE1 RSF2124 plasmid and cloned in Escherichia coli. Methods of molecular cloning of plasmid chimeras by success gradient centrifugation and repeated transformation and selection of recombinant plasmids using mytomicin C were used for cloning hybrid plasmids with various EcoRI fragments of pea chloroplast DNA has been obtained.

Chloroplasts

Investigation of electron transport in the chloroplasts and their fragments by the ESR method. II. Light-induced interaction of water-soluble nitroxide radical with chloroplasts and chlorophyll containing protein-lipid micelles.

A light-induced reduction of the water-soluble nitroxide radical by chlorophyll in lipid and protein--lipid micelles was demonstrated. In contrast to model systems, in whole chloroplasts the NR is photoreduced by the electrons of the noncyclic electron transport chain. The initiation of cyclic electron transport in light particles, containing only photosystem I, does not lead to photoreduction of NR. When exogenous protein -- human serum albumin -- is added to the light particles, the nitroxide radicals are intensively reduced. The specific role of protein in electron transport from P700 to the exogenous acceptor is discussed.

Binding Sites

Chloroplast genes in Chlamydomonas affecting organelle ribosomes. Genetic and biochemical analysis of analysis of antibiotic-resistant mutants at several gene loci.

Six chloroplast gene mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii resistant to spectinomycin, erythromycin, or streptomycin have been assessed for antibiotic resistance of their chloroplast ribosomes. Four of these mutations clearly confer high levels of antibiotic resistance on the chloroplast ribosomes both in vivo. Although one mutant resistant to streptomycin and one resistant to spectinomycin have chloroplast ribosomes as sensitive to antibiotics as those of wild type in vivo, these mutations can be shown to alter the wildtype sensitivity of chloroplast ribosomes in polynucleotide-directed amino acid incorporation in vitro. Genetic analysis of these six chloroplast mutants and three similar mutants (Sager, 1972), two of which have been shown to affect chloroplast ribosomes (Mets and Bogorad, 1972; Schlanger and Sager, 1974), indicates that in Chlamydomonas at least three chloroplast gene loci can affect streptomycin resistance of chloroplast ribosomes and that two can affect erythromycin resistance. The three spectinomycin-resistant mutants examined appear to be alleles at a single chloroplast gene locus, but may represent mutations at two different sites within the same gene. Unlike wild type, the streptomycin and spectinomycin resistant mutants which have chloroplast ribosomes sensitive to antibiotics in vivo, grow well in the presence of antibiotic by respiring exogenously supplied acetate as a carbon source, and have normal levels of cytochrome oxidase activity and cyanide-sensitive respiration. We conclude that mitochondrial protein synthesis in these mutants is resistant to these antibiotics, whereas in wild type it is sensitive. To explain the behavior of these two chloroplast gene mutants as well as other one-step mutants which are resistant both photosynthetically and when respiring acetate in the dark, we have postulated that a mutation in a single chloroplast gene may result in alteration of both chloroplast and mitochondrial ribosomes. Mitochondrial resistance would appear to be the minimal necessary condition for survival of all such mutants, and antibiotic-resistant chloroplast ribosomes would be necessary for survival only under photosynthetic conditions.

Chlamydomonas

Use of the fluorochrome 4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole in genetic and developmental studies of chloroplast DNA.

Use of the DNA-specific fluorochrome 4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) makes it possible to examine in situ the structure of chloroplast DNA (chDNA) with the fluorescence microscope. This simplifies the study of genetic and developmental changes in chloroplast DNA. Three examples are presented. (a) Wild-type Euglena gracilis B contains several chloroplast DNA nucleoids per chloroplast. A yellow mutant lacking functional chloroplasts is similar, but such nucleoids are absent in an aplastidic mutant strain known from biochemical studies to have lost its chDNA. (b) In vegetative cells of the giant-celled marine algae Acetabularia and Batophora, only about a quarter of the chloroplasts have even one discernible chloroplast DNA particle, and such particles vary in size, showing a 30-fold variation in the amount of DNA-bound DAPI fluorescence detected per chloroplast. By contrast, 98% of chloroplasts in developing Acetabularia cysts contain chDNA, with as many as nine nucleoids per chloroplast. (c) DAPI-stained chloroplasts of chromophyte algae display the peripheral ring of DNA expected from electron microscope studies. However, these rings are not uniform in thickness, but are necklace-like, with the appearance of beads on a string. Since the multiple nucleoids in plastids of chlorophyte algae also appear to be interconnected throughout the chloroplast, a common structural plan may underlie chDNA morphology in both groups of algae.

Acetabularia

Factors affecting the ADP/O ratio in isolated chloroplasts.

(1) The effect of gradual disruption of the outer membrane of intact chloroplasts on CO2 fixation, electron transport and phosphorylation was investigated. The results suggested that whilst ferricyanide and substrate amounts of ADP enter intact chloroplasts only very slowly, methyl viologen rapidly penetrates the outer membrane. (2) Preparatwons of intact pea chloroplasts had an ATP-consuming reaction which resulted in decreased ADP/O ratios when noncyclic electron transport was measured after disruption of the outer membrane. The ATP-consuming reaction was removed into the supernatant after washing the disrupted chloroplasts. The resulting washed chloroplasts gave ADP/O ratios of 1.5-1.6 for ferricyanide and 1.9-2.0 for methyl viologen. (3) Preparations of intact spinach chloroplasts had lower activity of the ATP-consuming reaction and gave similar ADP/O ratios to washed pea chloroplasts. The ADP/O ratios of spinach chloroplasts did not alter significantly after washing. (4) An investigation of the effect of various assay conditions on the ADP/O ratio showed that the phosphate concentration was critical in obtaining optimal values for ADP/O ratio. Decreasing the phosphate concentration below 10 mM decreased the ADP/O ratio significantly. (5) It is suggested that the maximum ADP/O ratio of chloroplasts is 2.0 but that lower values can be obtained in the presence of an ATP-consuming reaction, under suboptimal assay conditions or where the chloroplasts are structurally damaged.

Adenosine Diphosphate

Synthesis and hydrolysis of ATP by intact chloroplasts under flash illumination and in darkness.

ATP concentrations were measured in isolated intact spinach chloroplasts under various light and dark conditions. The following results were obtained: (1) Even in darkened chloroplasts and in the absence of exogenous substrates, ATP levels in the chloroplast stroma were significant. They decreased on addition of glycerate, phosphoglycerate or dihydroxyacetone phosphate. When dihydroxyacetone phosphate and oxaloacetate were added together, ATP levels increased in darkened chloroplasts owing to substrate level phosphorylation. (2) Under illumination with saturating single turnover flashes, oxygen evolution in the presence of phosphoglycerate, whose reduction requires ATP, was no lower on a unit flash basis at the low flash frequency of 2 Hz than at higher frequencies. Quenching of 9-aminoacridine fluorescence, which indicates the formation of a proton gradient in intact chloroplasts, decreased with decreasing flash frequencies, until there was no significant fluorescence quenching at a flash frequency of about 2 Hz. In contrast to intact chloroplasts, broken chloroplasts did not phosphorylate much ADP at the low flash frequency of 2 Hz. (3) Flashing at extremely low frequencies (0.2 Hz) caused ATP hydrolysis rather than ATP synthesis in intact chloroplasts. At higher flash frequencies, synthesis replaced hydrolysis. Still, even at high frequencies (10 Hz), the first flashes of a series of flashes given after a long dark time always decreased chloroplast ATP levels. From these results, it is concluded that the enzyme, which mediates ATP synthesis in the light, is inactive in darkened intact chloroplasts. Its light activation can be separated from the formation of the high energy condition, which results in ATP synthesis. After its activation, the enzyme catalyzes a reversible reaction.

Adenosine Diphosphate