K. Shinohara et al., BIOGENESIS PATHWAY OF PINE CHLOROPLAST PROTEINS ENCODED IN THE NUCLEUS - IMPORT OF PINE PROTEINS INTO SPINACH-CHLOROPLASTS, Canadian journal of forest research, 24(2), 1994, pp. 419-423
Precursors to small subunits (SSU) of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carbox
ylase/oxygenase (Rubisco, EC 4.1.1.39) and apoproteins of light-harves
ting chlorophyll alb binding protein (LHCPII) in photosystem II were s
ynthesized in vitro by expressing pine (Pinus thunbergii Parl.) cDNA c
lones encoding these proteins. The precursors to pine SSU and LHCPII w
ere post-translationally transported into spinach chloroplasts, proces
sed into mature size, and localized in only stroma and thylakoid membr
anes, respectively. The pine SSU was tightly integrated into spinach R
ubisco; however, the pine LHCPII was not found in the light-harvesting
chlorophyll-protein complex. These results suggest that a common biog
enesis pathway of nuclear-encoded chloroplast proteins is present both
in gymnosperms and in angiosperms.