Chloroplast Biogenesis

Chloroplast is the organelle where the life-giving process photosynthesis takes place; it is the site where plants and algae produce food and oxygen that sustain our life. The story of how it originates from proplastids, and how it ultimately dies is beautifully portrayed by three authorities in the field: Basanti Biswal, Udaya Biswal and M. K. Raval. I consider it a great privilege and honor to have been asked to write this foreword. The book ' Chloroplast biogenesis: from proplastid to gerontoplast' goes much beyond photosynthesis. The character of the book is different from that of many currently available books because it provides an integrated approach to cover the entire life span of the organelle including its senescence and death. The books available are mostly confined to the topics relating to the 'build up' or development of chloroplast during greening. The story of organelle biogenesis without description of the events associated with its regulated dismantling during genetically programmed senescence is incomplete. A large volume of literature is available in this area of chloroplast senescence accumulated during the last 20 years. Although some of the findings in this field have been organized in the form of reviews, the data in the book are generalized and integrated with simple text and graphics. This book describes the structural features of prop las tid and its transformation to fully mature chloroplast, which is subsequently transformed into gerontoplast exhibiting senescence syndrome. The book consists of five major chapters.

From July 28 to August 3, 1991, an International Meeting on the REGULATION OF CHLOROPLAST BIOGENESIS was held at the capsis Beach Hotel in Aghia Pelaghia, on the island of crete, Greece. The Meeting (Advanced Research Workshop-Lecture Course) was co-sponsored by NATO, FEBS and IUB, and was held under the auspices of the International society for Chloro plast Development, the Greek Ministry of Industry, Research and Technol ogy, and the National Center for Scientific Research "Demokritos". The Meeting focused on recent advances in the field of chloroplast biogenesis and the regulatory mechanisms underlined, and brought together over 120 experts and students of the field from 22 countries. The subject of chloroplast biogenesis has experienced great progress in recent years mainly thanks to the application of Molecular Biology techniques and methodology. New findings that emerge gradually unravel the regulatory mechanisms involved in the assembly, stabilization and growth of the photosynthetic units in thylakoids, the signal transduction chain leading from photoreception to gene expression, the transport of nuclear-coded proteins into stroma-soluble supramolecular enzyme complexes as well as thylakoid-bound supramolecular complexes, involved in light-energy transduction. It was the aim of this meeting to bring together experts and students coming from diverse disciplines (ranging from Botany and plant physiology to Molecular Biology, Biophysics and Biotechnology), to discuss the recent advances in the field so that thorough exchange of ideas and working hypotheses would be achieved.

From August 10 to August 15, 1998, an international Advanced Research Workshop-Lecture Course on The chloroplast: from Molecular Biology to Biotechnology was held at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, Kolymbari-Chania, on the island of Crete, Greece. After five previous meetings on the chloroplast topic in Marburg (1975), Spetses (1978), Rhodos (1985), Aghia Pelaghia, Crete (1991) and Marburg (1995) this conference proved again that chloroplast research is continuously in the focus of intensive research interest. The meeting, sponsored by NATO and supported by the Federation of the European Societies for Plant Physiology (FESPP) and the Greek Ministry of Development (General Secretariat of Research and Development), was held under the auspices of the International Society for Chloroplast Development and the National Center for Scientific Research "Demokritos", Athens-Greece. Aim of the workshop was to bring together experts and students from different disciplines, coming from various countries around the world, studying chloroplast biogenesis from different perspectives in an effort to propose biotechnological approaches, via genetic manipulation of the organelle, applicable in solving problems of economic importance. Ninety scientists (including observers) coming from 19 countries actively participated and discussed recent advances in the field. During the meeting it became clear that as a result of the progress made in molecular biology, including genomic sequence, and in biochemistry over recent years, this exciting field of chloroplast development is continuously promoted by renewed interest in as yet unsolved but very important questions.

Chloroplast development is a key feature of leaf developmental program. Recent advances in plant biology reveal that chloroplasts also determine the development, the structure and the physiology of the entire plant. The books, published thus far, have emphasized the biogenesis of the organelle, but not the events associated with the transformation of the mature chloroplast to the gerontoplast during senescence. This book, with 28 chapters, is unique because it describes how the chloroplast matures and how it is subsequently transformed to become the gerontoplast during senescence, a process required for nutrient recycling in plants. This book includes a state-of-the-art survey of the current knowledge on the regulation and the mechanisms of chloroplast development. Some of the chapters critically discuss the signaling process, the expression potential of plastid DNA, the interaction of cellular organelles, and the molecular mechanisms associated with the assembly and the disassembly of organellar complexes and finally the modulation of chloroplast development by environmental signals.

There are currently a growing number of laboratories actively studying the mechanism by which various biological membranes are assembled. This area of research is still relatively new to biochemists and molecular biologists, but in view of the rapid progress being made, a review of the field at this time is justified. The present volume focuses on the biogenesis of three related membranes. Mitochondria and chloroplasts are semiautonomous organelles whose biogenesis is carried out partly in the external cytoplasm and partly by the organelles themselves. Both membranes are principally concerned with the energy metabolism of the cell, and this commonality of function is reflected in a considerable degree of similarity in their ul trastructure and enzymatic composition. Although the bacterial cell membrane is a much more diversified structure, it also fulfills the basic energy requirements of the cell, and depending on the organism, this can take the form of photosynthesis or oxidative phosphorylation. The addi tional consideration that prokaryotic organisms may, in fact, be the evolu tionary ancestors of mitochondria and chloroplasts, makes it all the more compelling that those interested in biogenesis be aware of new develop ments in each of these three areas. In organizing this book, I felt that the contributors should summarize and bring up to date their own research and review the literature only in sofar as would be necessary to provide the proper perspective for their work.

The fascinating machinery that life uses to harness energy is the focus of this volume of the Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration series. Experts in the field communicate their insights into the mechanisms that govern biological energy conversion from the atomic scale to the physiological integration within organisms. By leveraging the power of current structural techniques the authors reveal the inner workings of life.

Provides a thorough overview of current research with the green alga Chlamydomonas on chloroplast and mitochondrial biogenesis and function, with an emphasis on the assembly and structure-function relationships of the constituents of the photosynthetic apparatus. Contributions emphasize the multidisciplinary nature of current research in photosynthesis, combining molecular genetics, biochemical, biophysical, and physiological approaches. The 36 articles address topics including nuclear genome organization; RNA stability and processing; splicing; translation; protein targeting in the chloroplast; photosystems; pigments; glycerolipids; the ATP synthase; and ferrodoxin and thioredoxin. Further contributions address new measurements methods for photosynthetic activity in vivo; starch biosynthesis; the responses of Chlamydomonas to various stress conditions; nitrogen assimilation; and mitochondrial genetics. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR