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The chloroplast nucleoids of the bundle sheath and mesophyll cells of Zea mays
Author(s) -
Lindbeck A. G. C.,
Rose R. J.,
Lawrence M. E.,
Possingham J. V.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1989.tb02055.x
Subject(s) - chloroplast , nucleoid , vascular bundle , thylakoid , zea mays , biology , biophysics , chloroplast dna , electron microscope , photosynthesis , bundle , botany , biochemistry , gene , optics , materials science , physics , escherichia coli , agronomy , composite material
Dimorphic chloroplasts of Zea mays L. cv. GH5004 from bundle sheath and mesophyll cells contained similar amounts of DNA, while bundle sheath chloroplasts contained twice the number of nucleoids compared to mesophyll chloroplasts. On average bundle sheath nucleoids were half the size of mesophyll nucleoids and contained half as much DNA. Electron microscope autoradiography of the chloroplasts showed that the nucleoid DNA is associated with the thylakoids and in the case of mesophyll chloroplasts preferentially with the grana. These observations suggest that the differences in nucleoid distribution may be due to differences in membrane morphology, with the small nucleoids of agranal bundle sheath chloroplasts being widely dispersed.