title: Chloroplast tubules visualized in transplastomic plants expressing green fluorescent protein.
abstract: A fusion between the plastid psbA promoter and the green fluorescent protein gene (gfp) was introduced into the tobacco chloroplast genome by stable plastid transformation. GFP was synthesized actively and exclusively in the chloroplasts. Tubular projections filled with GFP but containing no chlorophyll were visualized for the first time in chloroplasts of these transplastomic plants. Occasionally, the tubules connect chloroplasts with each other, suggesting the possibility of the exchange of endogenous proteins. However, the fusion of protoplasts between the transplastomic and wild-type plants showed that such chloroplast connections might be rare in mesophyll protoplasts.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiina
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Toyoshima
mesh_terms: D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins