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Visualizing Stromule Frequency with Fluorescence Microscopy

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Published on: November 23, 2016

Early steps in plastid evolution: current ideas and controversies.

Andrzej Bodył¹, Paweł Mackiewicz, John W Stiller

¹Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Taxonomy, Zoological Institute, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland. bodyl@biol.uni.wroc.pl

Bioessays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

|October 23, 2009

Summary

The endomembrane (EM) system is not the primary pathway for nuclear-encoded protein import into plant plastids. Instead, ancestral protein translocon (Toc and Tic) evolution likely preceded EM trafficking for plastid development.

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Plastoglobule Lipid Droplet Isolation from Plant Leaf Tissue and Cyanobacteria

Plastoglobule Lipid Droplet Isolation from Plant Leaf Tissue and Cyanobacteria

Published on: October 6, 2022

Area of Science:

Plant biology
Cellular and molecular biology
Evolutionary biology

Background:

Nuclear-encoded proteins are imported into higher plant plastids.
The endomembrane (EM) system was proposed as an early mechanism for protein import.
Modern plastid protein import relies on Toc and Tic translocons.

Purpose of the Study:

To re-evaluate the role of the endomembrane (EM) system in early plastid evolution.
To compare the evolutionary origins of EM trafficking versus Toc/Tic translocon pathways.
To assess the parsimony of different hypotheses regarding protein import evolution.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of protein transport mechanisms.
Review of empirical and theoretical data on plastid import pathways.
Evolutionary hypothesis testing.

Main Results:

The endomembrane (EM) system's role in plastid protein import is less significant than initially suggested.
Early plastid evolution likely involved simpler, ancestral forms of Toc and Tic translocons for post-translational import.
EM trafficking likely evolved later to accommodate specific functions like glycosylation.

Conclusions:

The evolution of Toc and Tic translocons predates the widespread use of the EM system for plastid protein import.
EM trafficking is a later adaptation, not the primary ancestral mechanism for plastid protein import.
The hypothesis of early Toc/Tic evolution is supported by available data and the limited EM-based transport in modern plastids.