Of chromoplasts and chaperones.
Chromoplasts are carotenoid-accumulating plastids found in many fruits and flowers. In a new paper, Li and colleagues show that the Or gene of cauliflower induces differentiation of beta-carotene-containing chromoplasts in the (normally non-pigmented) curd tissue. This is the first time that a gene product controlling chromoplast differentiation is described. Or encodes an evolutionarily conserved DnaJ cysteine-rich domain-containing protein that can be used for metabolic engineering in crop plants, such as potato.
Giuliano
Giovanni
G
Italian Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment, Casaccia Research Center, PO Box 2400, 00123 S.M. di Galeria, Roma, Italy. giuliano@casaccia.enea.it
Diretto
Gianfranco
G
D001937:Brassica / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D050956:HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D018087:Plastids / Q000378:metabolism*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
D050956:HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D010940:Plant Proteins