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Plastid RNA Polymerases

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Abstract

Plastids have an interesting transcription machinery that makes it possible to study the interplay of mono- and multisubunit RNA polymerases (RNAPs) during intricate organelle biogenesis, requiring the concerted expression of genes located in different compartments of the cell. The past decade has been marked by a breakthrough in studies of chloroplast RNAPs. Nucleus-encoded monosubunit RNAP (NEP) was discovered; a nuclear gene family was found to code for σ subunits of plastid-encoded multisubunit RNAP (PEP); mutants knocked-out in PEP subunit genes were obtained; a reorganization of PEP was observed during plastid biogenesis; and a hypothesis was advanced to describe the division of functions between NEP and PEP. The review considers recent data on the organization, functions, and evolution of plastid RNAPs.

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  1. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 127276, Russia

    E. A. Lysenko & V. V. Kuznetsov

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  1. E. A. Lysenko
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Translated from Molekulyarnaya Biologiya, Vol. 39, No. 5, 2005, pp. 762–775.

Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Lysenko, Kuznetsov.

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Lysenko, E.A., Kuznetsov, V.V. Plastid RNA Polymerases. Mol Biol 39, 661–674 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11008-005-0081-1

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