Ampicillin Inhibits Chloroplast Division in Cultured Cells of the Liverwort Marchantia polymorpha

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We studied the effects of the β-lactam antibiotic ampicillin on the morphology and number per cell of chloroplasts using cells of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha in suspension culture. Cells in suspension culture without ampicillin contained a mean±SD of 20.6±9.5 chloroplasts. Those in culture with ampicillin showed a decrease in chloroplast number, reaching 7.5±6.5 after 14 d of treatment. Ampicillin-treated cells contained very large chloroplasts. Following removal of ampicillin on day 6, the chloroplast number recovered to that in untreated controls 8 d after removal. These results demonstrated inhibition of chloroplast division by this β-lactam antibiotic, suggesting that the bacterial peptidoglycan-related system has been conserved in the chloroplasts of liverwort.