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Updated: May 19, 2026

Layers of Symbiosis - Visualizing the Termite Hindgut Microbial Community
Published on: May 28, 2007
Divide and shape: an endosymbiont in action
1Plant and Crop Sciences Division, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, UK. kevin.pyke@nottingham.ac.uk
Abstract:
The endosymbiotic evolution of the plastid within the host cell required development of a mechanism for efficient division of the plastid. Whilst a model for the mechanism of chloroplast division has been constructed, little is known of how other types of plastids divide, especially the proplastid, the progenitor of all plastid types in the cell. It has become clear that plastid shape is highly heterogeneous and dynamic, especially stromules. This article considers how such variation in morphology might be controlled and how such plastids might divide efficiently.
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