title: Uniparental inheritance of cpDNA and the genetic control of sexual differentiation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
abstract: An intriguing feature of most eukaryotes is that chloroplast (cp) and mitochondrial (mt) genomes are inherited almost exclusively from one parent. Uniparental inheritance of cp/mt genomes was long thought to be a passive outcome, based on the fact that eggs contain multiple numbers of organelles, while male gametes contribute,at best, only a few cp/mtDNA. However, the process is likely to be more dynamic because uniparental inheritance occurs in organisms that produce gametes of identical sizes (isogamous). In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii,the uniparental inheritance of cp/mt genomes is achieved by a series of mating type-controlled events that actively eliminate the mating type minus (mt-) cpDNA.The method by which Chlamydomonas selectively degrades mt- cpDNA has long fascinated researchers, and is the subject of this review.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Graduate School of Sciences, Kyoto University, Oiwake-cho, Kita-shirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japane. yoshiki@pmg.bot.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
mesh_terms: D016825:Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018742:DNA, Chloroplast / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005111:Extrachromosomal Inheritance; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D012733:Sex Differentiation
chemical_list: D018742:DNA, Chloroplast