COMPARATIVE STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF PL ANT CHLOROPLAST AND MITOCHONDRIAL GENOMES

Several characteristic features of the structural organization of chlo roplast and mitochondrial genomes of higher plants are compared. The f actors that determine the size of chloroplast and mitochondrial genome s (the presence of repeated sequences, promiscuous DNA, gene content, and the occurrence of introns) are discussed. The mode of genome evolu tion in chloroplasts and mitochondria are reviewed. In a separate chap ter, the available data on the structural organization of algal genome s are presented.