Molecular Mechanism of Chloroplast development Plasticity

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24570042
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Masuda Tatsuru 東京大学, 総合文化研究科, 教授 (00242305)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): KOBAYASHI Koichi 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 助教 (40587945)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 葉緑体分化 / 転写因子 / 転写制御 / 光合成

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we have studied the molecular mechanism of chloroplast development plasticity. We found that in excised Arabidopsis roots, chloroplast differentiation is activated through auxin- and cytokinin-signal transduction pathways. By excision of roots, suppression of chloroplast development by auxin, which is supplied from aerial tissues, is attenuated, while the cytokinin signal is activated by wounding, resulting in significant chloroplast development in excised roots. For this chloroplast development, coordinated transcriptional activation of nuclear-encoded photosynthesis genes is involved. We found transcription factors, HY5 and GLK, are actually involved in this activation. Interestingly, overexpressors of GLK showed pronounced induction of chloroplast development in intact roots and they showed higher photosynthetic competency when compared to that of wild type.

Free Research Field

植物分子生理学