Abstract. Cyanobacteria and plastids harbor a putative NAD(P)H-or ferredoxin-plastoquinone oxidoreductase that is homologous to the NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) of mitochondria and eubacteria. The enzyme is a multimeric protein complex that consists of at least 11 subunits (NDH-A-K) and is localized in the stroma lamellae of the thylakoid membrane system. We investigated the expression of the different subunits of the enzyme in mesophyll and bundle-sheath chloroplasts of Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench, a C4 plant of the NADPmalic enzyme type. The relative amounts of the subunits NDH-H, -J and -K were strongly increased in bundlesheath plastids as compared to mesophyll plastids. This increase was accompanied by enhanced transcript levels for all subunits except NDH-I. Because the main function of the protein complexes in the thylakoid membranes of bundle-sheath chloroplasts (photosystem I, cytochrome b6/J:complex and ATPase) is the generation of ATP for C02 fixation via cyclic electron transport, we conclude that the NAD(P)H/ferredoxin-plastoquinone oxidoreductase is an essential component of the cyclic electrontransport pathway in chloroplasts.
The transcription of plastome-encoded genes in mesophyll and bundle-sheath chloroplasts of the monocotyledonous NADP-malic enzyme-type C4 species Zea mays L. (maize) and Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench. was investigated. RNA accumulation and transcription were assayed starting from isolated mesophyll and bundle-sheath chloroplasts and using quantitative northern and run-on transcription analysis. Determination of the mesophyll to bundle-sheath ratios of transcript abundance in maize and Sorghum chloroplasts showed that the mRNAs of the plastome-encoded photosystem II genes analysed (psbA, psbB, psbD, psbH and psbE/F) varied from 2.5- to 4.0-fold (maize) and 3.1- to 5.2-fold (Sorghum), respectively. The rbcL transcript, in contrast, was more abundant in bundle-sheath chloroplasts of both species, about 3-fold in maize and more than 10-fold in Sorghum. On the other hand, transcripts of genes encoding the 16S ribosomal RNA (r16) and subunits of photosystem I (psaA) and the cytochrome b/f complex (petB, petA) accumulated to similar levels in both types of chloroplasts. Determination of absolute transcript levels for rbcL and psbA in chloroplasts from maize and Sorghum demonstrated that for both genes, the mesophyll to bundle-sheath differences in transcript abundance were more pronounced in Sorghum. Measurements of the transcriptional activities of rbcL and psbA showed that the transcription rate of rbcL is higher in bundle-sheath chloroplasts while psbA is more actively transcribed in mesophyll chloroplasts. The differences in the transcription rates between the two chloroplast types were again more pronounced in Sorghum, thus reflecting the differences between maize and Sorghum in the relative levels of the rbcL and psbA transcripts. However, although transcription rate and mRNA abundance are correlated, they did not exactly match one another. This indicates additional regulation of transcript abundance at the level of RNA stability.
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