Abstract
We analyzed disruptants of Synechocystis genes that are homologous to CPR genes (encoding CPRENDOs or chloroplast proteins of endosymbiont origin) in Arabidopsis thaliana. Among the 38 disruptants, 5 were not completely segregated, suggesting that these are essential genes. Various phenotypes, such as growth retardation, light sensitivity, changes in pigment composition, changes in fluorescence induction and PAM pattern, were detected in 22 disruptants. These results demonstrate that these genes are related to photosynthetic growth of the cyanobacterium, which explains why CPRENDOs have been maintained as chloroplast proteins in plants.
