Chloroplasts in seeds and dark-grown seedlings of lotus.
In most higher plants, mature dry seeds have no chloroplasts but etioplasts. Here we show that in a hydrophyte, lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), young chloroplasts already exist in shoots of mature dry seeds and that they give rise to mature chloroplasts during germination, even in darkness. These shoots contain chlorophyll and chlorophyll-binding proteins CP1 and LHCP. The unique features of chloroplast formation in N. nucifera suggest a unique adaptive strategy for seedling development correlated with the plant's habitat.
Ushimaru
Takashi
T
Department of Biology and Geosciences, Faculty of Science, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka 422-8529, Japan. sbtushi@ipc.shizuoka.ac.jp
Hasegawa
Takahiro
T
Amano
Toyoki
T
Katayama
Masao
M
Tanaka
Shigeyasu
S
Tsuji
Hideo
H
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism*; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003624:Darkness; D018525:Germination; D008027:Light; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D031653:Nelumbo / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000528:radiation effects; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000528:radiation effects
D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D002734:Chlorophyll