PLANT PHYSIOLOGY , Vol 106, Issue 1 367-373, Copyright © 1994 by American Society of Plant Biologists
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DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH REGULATION |
Genetically Programmed Chloroplast Dedifferentiation as a Consequence of Plastome-Genome Incompatibility in Oenothera
R. E. Glick and B. B. Sears
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824
Comparision of chloroplast from plants with one of four plastome types (I,
II, III, IV) in the nuclear background of Oenothera elata strain Johansen
addressed the effects of plastome-genome incompatibility with respect to
leaf pigmentation, plastid ultrastructure, chlorophyll a/chlorophyll b
ratio, and photosynthetic electron transport. Previous observations of
plastomes I, II, and IV in this nuclear background have revealed no
indications of incompatibility, but the studies reported here demonstrate
that chloroplasts of plastome IV have subtle alterations in their
photosynthetic abilities, in particular, deficiencies in photosystem II.
The well-characterized "hybrid bleaching" of plants with the AA genotype
and plastome III involves leaves that become bleached in the center while
remaining green at the tips, edges, and veins. Electron transport assays
performed on fractionated bleached and green tissue from the same plants
show photosynthetic defects in both the green and bleached regions,
although defects in the latter are more severe. Ultrastructural studies
show that chloroplasts in the bleached areas enlarge, thylakoid membranes
become swollen and vesiculated, and production of new thylakoids is
blocked, with chloroplasts appearing to undergo a programmed senescence. A
time course revealed that the senescence is actually a reversible
dedifferentiation. Alterations in the composition of medium to which AA/III
seedlings were transferred showed that the presence of auxin can prevent
the development of the typical incompatibility response, with leaf tissue
remaining green rather than bleaching. It is proposed that differences in
concentrations of plant growth regulators may be responsible for the
persistence of normal chloroplasts near the vascular tissue and leaf blade
edges and that seasonal fluctuations in auxin levels could explain the
periodic bleaching that occurs in older plants.