Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

The Anatomy of Chloroplasts01:08

The Anatomy of Chloroplasts

Green algae and plants, including green stems and unripe fruit, harbor specialized organelles called chloroplasts to carry out photosynthesis. They coordinate both stages of photosynthesis — the light-dependent reactions and the light-independent reactions. The light-dependent reactions use sunlight to release oxygen and produce chemical energy in the form of ATP and NADPH, and the light-independent reactions capture CO2 and use ATP and NADPH to produce sugar.
Structure of Chloroplasts
A...
Protein Transport to the Inner Chloroplast Membrane01:18

Protein Transport to the Inner Chloroplast Membrane

Proteins targeted to the inner chloroplast membrane, or plastid proteins, are transported by two general pathways: the stop-transfer and the re-insertion or post-import pathways. Most plastid proteins carry N-terminal transit sequences and internal import sequences targeting it to the specific chloroplast subcompartment. Proteins targeted by the stop-transfer pathway have internal hydrophobic sequences that inhibit their translocation into the stroma. As a result, these precursors are arrested...
Protein Transport to the Outer Chloroplast Membrane01:11

Protein Transport to the Outer Chloroplast Membrane

Chloroplast outer membrane proteins encoded by the nucleus are synthesized in the cytosol. Soon after synthesis, they bind cytosolic factors such as 14-3-3 protein and the Hsp70 chaperones that keep these precursors in an unfolded state until their translocation.
Two models describe the mechanism of precursor recognition and entry across the outer membrane through the TOC complex. Model 1 suggests the newly synthesized precursor binds to the TOC receptor 159 and forms a complex.
Anatomy of Chloroplasts01:07

Anatomy of Chloroplasts

Green algae and plants, including green stems and unripe fruit, harbor chloroplasts—the vital organelles where photosynthesis takes place. In plants, the highest density of chloroplasts is found in the mesophyll cells of leaves.
Protein Transport to the Stroma01:24

Protein Transport to the Stroma

Chloroplasts are triple membrane structures with an outer membrane, an inner membrane, and a thylakoid membrane, each containing distinct metabolite transporters, membrane translocons, and enzymes. Appropriate sorting and translocating these proteins to their correct membrane systems is essential for chloroplast function.
Protein complexes called the translocon of the outer chloroplast membrane or TOC complex, and the translocon of the inner chloroplast membrane or TIC complex mediate the...
The Z-Scheme of Electron Transport in Photosynthesis01:34

The Z-Scheme of Electron Transport in Photosynthesis

The light reactions of photosynthesis assume a linear flow of electrons from water to NADP+. During this process, light energy drives the splitting of water molecules to produce oxygen. However, oxidation of water molecules is a thermodynamically unfavorable reaction and requires a strong oxidizing agent. This is accomplished by the first product of light reactions: oxidized P680 (or P680+), the most powerful oxidizing agent known in biology. The oxidized P680 that acquires an electron from the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Tardigrade-Derived Strategy for Low-Cost Storage of Cell-Free Expression Lysates.

ACS synthetic biology·2026
Same author

Engineering Biosensors to Enhance Monoterpene Indole Alkaloid Production in Yeast.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Ligify 2.0: a web server for predicted small molecule biosensors.

Nucleic acids research·2026
Same author

RNA-Based Communication in Heterogeneous Populations of Cell Mimics.

ACS synthetic biology·2026
Same author

High Precision Binary Trait Association on Phylogenetic Trees.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

High-accuracy SNV calling for bacterial isolates using deep learning with AccuSNV.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same journal

Analysis of strength degradation of coal and rock masses and stability of mined areas under long term immersion environment.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

Biogenic Silver-Selenium nanocomposite with anticancer activity and potent efficacy against vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

Preparation and physicochemical characterization of a biodegradable chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogel synthesized in NaOH/urea medium.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

Action-guilt, survivor-guilt, and depression in combat-related PTSD.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

Explainable machine learning for predicting activities of daily living at discharge in stroke patients: A retrospective study using SHAP interpretability.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

Deep learning based two-way feature depiction model for brain tumor detection.

PloS one·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Studying Protein Import into Chloroplasts Using Protoplasts
06:29

Studying Protein Import into Chloroplasts Using Protoplasts

Published on: December 10, 2018

Towards a synthetic chloroplast.

Christina M Agapakis1, Henrike Niederholtmeyer, Ramil R Noche

  • 1Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.

Plos One
|May 3, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers engineered photosynthetic bacteria, Synechococcus elongatus, to invade mammalian cells. This breakthrough enables the development of novel synthetic biology tools and the study of cellular evolution.

More Related Videos

Preparation of Chloroplast Sub-compartments from Arabidopsis for the Analysis of Protein Localization by Immunoblotting or Proteomics
10:28

Preparation of Chloroplast Sub-compartments from Arabidopsis for the Analysis of Protein Localization by Immunoblotting or Proteomics

Published on: October 19, 2018

Affinity Purification of Chloroplast Translocon Protein Complexes Using the TAP Tag
07:01

Affinity Purification of Chloroplast Translocon Protein Complexes Using the TAP Tag

Published on: November 1, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Studying Protein Import into Chloroplasts Using Protoplasts
06:29

Studying Protein Import into Chloroplasts Using Protoplasts

Published on: December 10, 2018

Preparation of Chloroplast Sub-compartments from Arabidopsis for the Analysis of Protein Localization by Immunoblotting or Proteomics
10:28

Preparation of Chloroplast Sub-compartments from Arabidopsis for the Analysis of Protein Localization by Immunoblotting or Proteomics

Published on: October 19, 2018

Affinity Purification of Chloroplast Translocon Protein Complexes Using the TAP Tag
07:01

Affinity Purification of Chloroplast Translocon Protein Complexes Using the TAP Tag

Published on: November 1, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Synthetic biology
  • Microbiology
  • Cell biology

Background:

  • Eukaryotic evolution involves endosymbiotic events with bacteria, forming organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts.
  • Engineered endosymbiosis is a key tool in synthetic biology for creating novel cellular functions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the use of the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 as a platform for synthetic biology.
  • To explore its potential for studying evolutionary dynamics and designing two-species systems.

Main Methods:

  • Synechococcus elongatus was tested for its interaction with zebrafish embryos and mammalian macrophages.
  • The bacterium was engineered with invasin and listeriolysin O to enhance its cell-invading capabilities.

Main Results:

  • Synechococcus elongatus proved to be less harmful to host cells than Escherichia coli.
  • Engineered S. elongatus successfully invaded cultured mammalian cells and replicated within macrophages.

Conclusions:

  • Photosynthetic bacteria can be engineered to invade mammalian cells, opening avenues for synthetic biology applications.
  • Engineered, non-pathogenic photosynthetic bacteria show promise as versatile synthetic biological devices.