title: Roles of autophagy in chloroplast recycling.
abstract: Chloroplasts are the primary energy suppliers for plants, and much of the total leaf nitrogen is distributed to these organelles. During growth and reproduction, chloroplasts in turn represent a major source of nitrogen to be recovered from senescing leaves and used in newly-forming and storage organs. Chloroplast proteins also can be an alternative substrate for respiration under suboptimal conditions. Autophagy is a process of bulk degradation and nutrient sequestration that is conserved in all eukaryotes. Autophagy can selectively target chloroplasts as whole organelles and or as Rubisco-containing bodies that are enclosed by the envelope and specifically contain the stromal portion of the chloroplast. Although information is still limited, recent work indicates that chloroplast recycling via autophagy plays important roles not only in developmental processes but also in organelle quality control and adaptation to changing environments. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Dynamic and ultrastructure of bioenergetic membranes and their components.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tohoku University, Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8555, Japan. Electronic address: hiroyuki@biochem.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Life Sciences, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tohoku University, Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tohoku University, Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8555, Japan; Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Agency, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.
authors.forename: Amane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makino
mesh_terms: D001343:Autophagy; D060365:Chloroplast Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000378:metabolism*; D022162:Cytoplasmic Vesicles / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism*; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D060365:Chloroplast Proteins; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Autophagy; Chloroplast; Leaf senescence; Nutrient recycling; Rubisco