Abstract
The plant nuclear genome has acquired many genes from the cyanobacterial endosymbiont, but most of these genes have not been identified. Gclust program finds out proteins encoded by these genes and conserved among many organisms. We selected proteins acquired from cyanobacterial endosymbiont. Consequently, 73 protein groups were identified and these groups contained 56 unidentified proteins of Arabidopsis. We designated these proteins as Chloroplast Proteins of Endosymbiont Origin (CPRENDO). The SALK T-DNA insertion lines for the genes encoding protein in CPRENDO (cpr mutant) were systematically characterized. Some of The cpr mutants showed high NPQ phenotypes by the analysis of the saturation pulse method. This suggested that these mutants including ycf65 and ycf20 have abnormal thermal dissipation system. The ycf65 and ycf20 mutants had lower Fv/Fm ratios and showed cotyledon-specific pale green phenotype and variegated-leaf phenotype, respectively. The photosynthetic properties of the mutants are being analyzed.
