植物生理

The regulation of gene expression is still one of the major issues in modern plant molecular biology. The amount of RNA in a cell is regulated by both transcriptional and posttranscriptional events. Methods to determine these steady-state levels of RNAs, such as Northern analysis, ribonucl ...

Many areas of chloroplast research require methods that can assess the quality and quantity of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA). The study of chloroplast functions that depend on the proper maintenance and expression of the chloroplast genome, understanding cpDNA replication and repair, and t ...

In plant organelles, specific C residues are modified to U by RNA editing. Short RNA sequences surrounding the target site (i.e., cis-elements) are recognized by trans-factors, which were recently shown to be pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins. PPR proteins consist of tandem arrays of a ...

Most chloroplast genes in land plants are represented by multiple transcript isoforms that arise via differential splicing, endo- and exo-nucleolytic processing, and/or RNA editing. Exploration of the functional significance and mechanisms of these processing events is an acti ...

Chloroplasts as descendents of a cyanobacterial endosymbiont have retained, during evolution, their own genome together with the gene expression machinery, including the translation apparatus. Therefore, chloroplast protein synthesis is not only a key process in organello b ...

Proteolysis is a key process for maintaining homeostasis in all living cells. The ability to degrade specific metabolic enzymes and regulatory proteins is essential for both cellular integrity and function. Equally important is the efficient removal of damaged or otherwise inactive ...

Numerous experimental and in silico approaches have been developed for attempting to identify the �subcellular localisation of proteins. Approximately 2,000–4,000 proteins are thought to be targeted to plastids in plants, but a complete and unambiguous catalogue has yet to be drawn up. ...

In vitro chloroplast protein import assays have been performed since the late 1970s, initially with plant species (e.g., pea and spinach) that readily provide an abundant source of starting material and also, subsequently, a good yield of chloroplasts for import assays. However, the sequen ...

This chapter focuses on the techniques of chloroplast isolation; their fractionation into envelopes, stroma, and thylakoids; and their further use for in vitro protein transport assays. In addition to the isolation of thylakoids, this chapter also describes the experimental steps of b ...

Most chloroplast proteins are synthesized in the cytosol as preproteins with N-terminal cleavable transit peptides and are imported into the organelle through the TOC–TIC translocon system. Import involves a complex set of recognition and membrane translocation steps that ensu ...

Chloroplasts have one of the most complicated structures among organelles. They have three membrane systems, the outer and inner envelope membranes and the thylakoid membrane, which enclose three aqueous spaces: the intermembrane space between the two envelope membranes, the stro ...

The identification of phosphorylation on proteins has become practicable for many laboratories in recent years, largely due to improvements in mass spectrometry (MS) and the development of methods to selectively enrich for phosphorylated peptides and proteins. However, phosph ...

Protein phosphorylation is a dynamic process of widespread regulatory significance. Phosphoproteomics attempts to provide a global view of this process during biological processes, but the approach is generally limited by the low relative amounts of phosphoproteins in biolog ...

Identification of protein kinase targets and specific inhibition of individual kinase isoforms on the protein level in planta are important techniques to elucidate signal transduction pathways. The use of ATP-binding pocket mutants, the so-called gatekeeper mutants, that acco ...

Enzyme–substrate interactions are weak and occur only transiently and thus, a faithful analysis of these interactions typically requires elaborated biochemical methodology. The bimolecular-fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay, also referred to as split YFP assay, ...

Plasma-membrane-localized receptor kinases are essential for cell–cell communication and as sensors for the extracellular environment. Receptor function is dependent on their distribution in the membrane and interaction with other proteins that are either membrane-loc ...

Signal transduction through mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades regulates many cellular responses. One example of a stimulus-mediated MAPK signaling network in plants is the self-incompatibility (SI) response in Papaver rhoeas, which represents an important ...

Transmembrane receptor-kinases are widespread throughout eukaryotes and their activities are known to regulate all kinds of cellular responses in diverse organs and cell types. In order to guarantee the correct amplitude and duration of signals, receptor levels at the cellular sur ...

The highly conserved nature of the protein kinase catalytic domain and the low permeability of plant cell membranes pose a challenge to the development of specific inhibitors that target individual protein kinases in vivo. Here, we describe a chemical-genetic approach to specifically ...

Receptor kinases are essential for the cellular perception of signals. The classical model for activation of the receptor kinase involves dimerization, induced by the binding of the ligand. The mechanisms by which plant receptors transduce signals across the cell surface are largely u ...