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JXB Advance Access published online on May 19, 2009
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erp158
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© The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

REVIEW-ARTICLE

The loss of DNA from chloroplasts as leaves mature: fact or artefact?

Beth A. Rowan * and Arnold J. Bendich{dagger}

University of Washington, Department of Biology, Box 355125, Seattle, WA 98195, USA

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed: bendich{at}u.washington.edu

In this review, the controversy regarding the preservation or degradation of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) as chloroplasts develop their photosynthetic capacity and leaves reach maturity is addressed. A constant amount of cpDNA during maturity might be expected in order to support photosynthesis over the lifespan of the leaf. Nevertheless, a decline in cpDNA during leaf development was found for all seven plant species investigated. Initial measurements showed that Arabidopsis was similar to the other seven. The controversy arose with two recent studies concluding that the amount of cpDNA remains constant as Arabidopsis leaves mature. These authors proposed that the observation of Arabidopsis chloroplasts with undetectable levels of DNA was an artefact, although the most recent data support the original findings. If the amount of cpDNA remains constant, then Arabidopsis is atypical and would not serve as a good model for chloroplast development. It is shown that the apparently contradictory data may be attributed to methodology and the choice of leaves to be compared. Thus, it is concluded that the controversy can be resolved, Arabidopsis can serve as a representative model, and cpDNA degradation is a common event in chloroplast development.

Key words: Chloroplast, degradation, DNA, leaf development

* Present address: Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany.

Received 17 March 2009; Revised 21 April 2009 Accepted 22 April 2009


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