Abstract
Plastids are organelles such as chloroplasts, amyloplasts and leucoplasts, and are responsible for photosynthesis and other metabolic functions. Although it is well known that plastids were generated due to endosymbiosis and have own DNA, relatively little is known about the mechanism of plastidial DNA replication and repair. Recently, we identified a novel DNA polymerase in Oryza Sativa L.(OsPolI-like) that is homologous to prokaryotic DNA polymerase Is (PolIs), and suggested that this polymerase might be involved in plastidial DNA replication and repair. Here, we propose to rename the plant PolI homologs as DNA polymerase π (POLP), and investigate the biochemical properties of full-length OsPOLP1. In addition, we would like to discuss the mode of plastidial DNA replication and repair from these results.
