Plant Physiol. 2011 Jan 14;
Authors: Maliga P, Bock R
Originating from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria, plastids are highly polyploid and have prokaryotic-like transcription and translation machineries. The majority of plastid functions is carried out not from plastid encoded genes but from ~3,000 nuclear genes that target proteins to plastids. The compact 125-kb to 155-kb plastid genome (ptDNA) encodes less than one hundred proteins. However, both plastid and nuclear-encoded traits can be modified by plastid genome engineering. Furthermore, novel genes and operons may be incorporated from heterologous sources to expand the repertoire of biosynthetic pathways in plants. In this review, background is provided on the plastid genetic system and how to obtain genetically uniform plants from plastid transformation. We focus on the principles of plastome engineering and address transgene design enabling biotechnological applications. We assess the state of plastome engineering in the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtiii, the bryophytes Physcomitrella patens and Marchantia polymorpha, and flowering plants. In the flowering plant group, plastid transformation is routine only in tobacco, tomato, petunia, potato, soybean, lettuce and cabbage. Future applications of plastid genome manipulation are emphasized in the discussion of potential contributions to food security, biofuel production and plant-based biopharmaceutical or industrial enzyme manufacturing.
PMID: 21239622 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
(Via pubmed: marchantia.)