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This book provides an insightful journey into the realm of chloroplast biology. Chloroplasts are the organelles that perform photosynthesis and many of the metabolic processes in plant cells. They are a specialized form of plastids, whose differentiation is dependent on environmental and developmental signaling. Descended from a lineage of free-living, photosynthesizing prokaryotes, chloroplasts and other plastids contain remnants of their ancient genomes and chloroplast gene expression is essential for establishing functional organelles. Chloroplast gene expression has features of the prokaryotic gene expression but now involves large suites of nuclear proteins.
Topics discussed are:
- the identification of these nuclear factors
- how chloroplast RNA is processed to produce functional organelles
- translation in chloroplasts and its regulation
- the environmental factors that influence chloroplast development
- and how plants deal with defective chloroplasts.
The book also highlights the evolving landscape of chloroplast engineering in biotechnology, recent breakthroughs and their implications for the future.
A valuable resource for researchers, students, and enthusiasts alike, this book is a compelling testament to the fascinating world of chloroplasts and their burgeoning role in scientific innovation.
About the author
Dr. Tessa Burch-Smith
is an Associate Member and Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, MO, USA. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of the West Indies, then received her Ph.D. from Yale University under the mentorship of Dr. S. P. Dinesh-Kumar. Her thesis work in plant innate immunity concerned plant responded to Tobacco mosaic virus, leading her to investigate plasmodesmata and intercellular communication with Dr. Patricia Zambryski at the University of California, Berkeley for her post-doctoral work. Current research in her lab examines the connection between chloroplast signaling and intercellular communication with a focus on how signals from the chloroplast vary in response to changing chloroplast gene expression.
