Abstract
In order to study chloroplast biogenesis, we chose natural variegated Epipremnum aureum (golden pothos) and regenerated pale yellow, variegated and green plants from all three types of tissue explants. The percentage of three types of regenerated shoots from three different explants was very close. Regenerated plants have been maintained for a year and show no sign of a colour switch. By comparing their protein profiles, two major differences between pale yellow and green plants were observed at the 15 and 40 to 50 kDa proteins. Moreover, pale yellow plants had unexpected high molecular mass proteins (greater than 60 kDa). Both variegated and green plants had more chlorophyll (Chl) a than Chl b, the ratios were about 1.46 and 1.93, respectively. In contrast, the pale yellow plants not only had less total Chl, but also the reduction of Chl a was much greater than Chl b, resulting in a higher content of Chl b than Chl a. Microscopic analysis revealed that pale yellow plants contained predominantly undeveloped chloroplasts with low Chl contents, even though their mesophyll cells were similar to green and variegated plants. PCR amplification of chloroplast DNA with 14 universal chloroplast primers did not reveal any difference among these regenerated plants.
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Abbreviations
- CPPU:
-
N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N′-phenylurea
- MS:
-
Murashige and Skoog’s medium
- NAA:
-
naphthaleneacetic acid
- PCR:
-
polymerase chain reaction
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Acknowledgments: This work was supported by startup fund from the Golden LEAF Foundation to the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE). We thank Drs. Imara Y. Perera and Tiffany L. Graves for their helpful discussion in manuscript preparation. We also thank Dr. E.M. Johannes from CIMF at North Carolina State University for microscopic photographs.
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Hung, C.Y., Xie, J.H. A comparison of plants regenerated from a variegated Epipremnum aureum . Biol Plant 53, 610–616 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-009-0112-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-009-0112-1