Abstract
We investigated two genes that encode a homolog of the bacterial cell division site determinant MinD, PpMinD1 and PpMinD2, which were previously identified in the moss Physcomitrella patens. Southern analysis suggested that the P. patens genome does not contain minD genes other than PpMinD1 and PpMinD2. Molecular phylogenetic analysis and the results of a transient expression assay using MinD : green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusions implied that PpMinD1 and PpMinD2 are cyanobacterium-derived, closely related genes encoding chloroplast-targeted MinD proteins. Disruption of the genomic PpMinD1 or PpMinD2 locus had no detectable effects on plastid division. This implies that there is functional redundancy in the two minD genes in P. patens.
