Plastid division: evidence for a prokaryotically derived mechanism

Plastid division is a critical process in plant cell biology but it is poor ly understood, Recent studies combining mutant analysis, gene cloning, and exploitation of genomic resources have revealed that the molecular machiner y associated with plastid division is derived evolutionarily from the bacte rial cell division apparatus. Comparison of the two processes provides a ba sis for identifying new components of the plastid division mechanism, but a lso serves to highlight the differences, not least of which is the nuclear control of the plastid division process.