Abstract
Plant peroxisomes are known to differentiate into at least three classes, namely glyoxysomes, leaf peroxisomes and unspecialized peroxisomes. These different peroxisomes possess a different set of enzymes that is related to special function in various developmental stages of higher plants. In the early germination, glyoxysomes are developed in storage tissues of oilseeds, which contain enzymes for fatty acids β-oxidation and the glyoxylate cycle that implicate to lipid metabolism. After greening, leaf peroxisomes are function in photosynthetic organs, which contain glycorate pathway in the photorespiration. Interestingly, these peroxisomes are known to be transformed into one another. In recent study from other organism, peroxisomal biogenesis factors are identified by mutant analysis and designated peroxins. We found 21 Arabidopsis peroxins in the genome using homology search and analyzed them in detail by employing various strategy. Based on these results, we discuss functional roles of these factors in the plant peroxisomal biogenesis and differentiation.
