In order to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the chloroplast and nuclear genomes in controlling the expression of plastid genes and the biosynthesis of chloroplast proteins, maize (Zea mays) Plastids of higher plants can differentiate into a number of forms including photosynthetically active chloroplasts, starchstoring amyloplasts, and carotenoid crystal-containing chloroplasts. Plastid metabolism requires the products of hundreds of genes but the plastid genome encodes many fewer. Most plastid proteins are products of the nuclear-cytoplasmic system; they must be imported from outside of the organelle. Genes for polypeptides of multimeric components of plastids including ribosomes, RuBP3 carboxylase/oxygenase, CF1 (coupling factor one for photophosphorylation), thylakoids, and others are dispersed in the nuclear and plastid genomes. Such dispersal of genes seems to be a feature of eukaryotic cell biology (2). Understanding the mechanisms for integration of nuclear and organelle gene expression, particularly for these multimeric components, is a central problem of eukaryotic cell biology.
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