Abstract
Chloroplast division is mediated by the co-ordinated action of a prokaryote-derived division system(s) and a host eukaryote-derived membrane fission system(s). The prokaryotic division system involves two Min proteins, MinD and MinE, which control division site placement in bacterial cells. Recently, it was shown that an Arabidopsis homologue of MinE, AtMinE, is a conserved factor involved in chloroplast division, and that the accumulation and replication of chloroplasts 11 mutant in Arabidopsis is a loss-of-function mutant of AtMinD1, an Arabidopsis homologue of MinD.
In this study, we analysed morphological abnormalities of chloroplasts in developing and matured tissues of both arc11 and AtMinE1 transgenic plants. Both plants grew normally under standard laboratory conditions, but contained abnormal chloroplasts with respect to size and morphology in developing and matured leaf cells. Our recent results as well as previous observations indicated that both MinD and MinE proteins control division site placement in chloroplasts, like in bacteria.
