Skip to main content

Identifying Chloroplast Biogenesis and Signalling Mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana

  • Protocol
  • First Online:
Photosynthesis Research Protocols

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 684))

Abstract

The chloroplast is the largest and arguably the most complex of the three energy organelles in the plant cell. The biogenesis of the chloroplast requires a combination of thousands of proteins encoded by the chloroplastic and nuclear genomes. Chloroplast function is also subject to modifications to enable responses to changes in environmental and developmental stimuli. As a consequence, interorganelle signalling and coordination between the chloroplast and nucleus is critical for the biogenesis and function of the chloroplast. Coordination and signalling during biogenesis is referred to as biogenic control and during the function as operational control (1). In this article, we report on two different mutant screens as examples of strategies for identifying mutations that affect biogenic and operational control signalling pathways and processes. We also describe strategies for the analysis and genotyping of the mutants.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Protocol
USD 49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Pogson, B.J., Woo, N.S., and Forster, B. (2008) Small ID: plastid signalling to the nucleus and beyond. Trends Plant Sci 13(11), 602–609.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Niyogi, K.K. (1999) Photoprotection revisited: genetic and molecular approaches. Annual Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 50, 333–359.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Foyer, C.H. and Noctor, G. (1999) Leaves in the dark see the light. Science 284(5414), 599–601.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Niyogi, K.K., Grossman, A.R., and Bjorkman, O. (1998) Arabidopsis mutants define a central role for the xanthophyll cycle in the regulation of photosynthetic energy conversion. Plant Cell 10(7), 1121–1134.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Meurer, J., Meierhoff, K., and Westhoff, P. (1996) Isolation of high-chlorophyll-fluorescence mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana and their characterisation by spectroscopy, immunoblotting and northern hybridisation. Planta 198(3), 385–396.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Pogson, B., McDonald, K.A., Truong, M., Britton, G., and DellaPenna, D. (1996) Arabidopsis carotenoid mutants demonstrate that lutein is not essential for photosynthesis in higher plants. Plant Cell 8(9), 1627–1639.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Park, H., Kreunen, S.S., Cuttriss, A.J., DellaPenna, D., and Pogson, B.J. (2002) Identification of the carotenoid isomerase provides insight into carotenoid biosynthesis, prolamellar body formation, and photomorphogenesis. Plant Cell 14(2), 321–332.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Asada, K. (1999) The water-water cycle in chloroplasts: scavenging of active oxygens and dissipation of excess photons. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 50, 601–639.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Karpinski, S., Reynolds, H., Karpinska, B., Wingsle, G., Creissen, G., and Mullineaux, P. (1999) Systemic signaling and acclimation in response to excess excitation energy in Arabidopsis. Science 284(5414), 654–657.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Wilson, P.B., Estavillo, G.M., Field, K.J., Pornsiriwong, W., Carroll, A.J., Howell, K.A., Woo, N.S., Lake, J.A., Smith, S.M., Harvey, M.A. et al. (2009) The nucleotidase/phosphatase SAL1 is a negative regulator of drought tolerance in Arabidopsis. Plant J. 58(2), 299–317.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Woo, N., Badger, M., and Pogson, B. (2008) A rapid, non-invasive procedure for quantitative assessment of drought survival using chlorophyll fluorescence. Plant Methods 4(1), 27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Murashige, T. and Skoog, F. (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue culture. Physiol Plant 15, 473–497.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Lightner, J. and Caspar, T. (1998) Seed mutagenesis of Arabidopsis. Methods Mol Biol 82, 91–103.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Leyser, O. (2000) Mutagenesis. Methods Mol Biol 141, 133–144.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Jander, G., Norris, S.R., Rounsley, S.D., Bush, D.F., and Levin, I.M. (2002) Last RL: Arabidopsis map-based cloning in the post-genome era. Plant Physiol 129(2), 440–450.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Ossowski, S., Schneeberger, K., Clark, R.M., Lanz, C., Warthmann, N., Weigel, D. (2008) Sequencing of natural strains of Arabidopsis thaliana with short reads. Genome Res 18(12), 2024–2033.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Koornneef, M., Alonso-Blanco, C., and Stam, P. (1998) Genetic analysis. Methods Mol Biol 82, 105–117.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Salathia, N., Lee, H.N., Sangster, T.A., Morneau, K., Landry, C.R., Schellenberg, K., Behere, A.S., Gunderson, K.L., Cavalieri, D., Jander, G. et al. (2007) Indel arrays: an affordable alternative for genotyping. Plant J 51(4), 727–737.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Lister, R., Gregory, B.D., and Ecker, J.R. (2009) Next is now: new technologies for sequencing of genomes, transcriptomes, and beyond. Curr Opin Plant Biol 12(2), 107–118.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Lukowitz, W., Gillmor, C.S., and Scheible, W.R. (2000) Positional cloning in Arabidopsis. Why it feels good to have a genome initiative working for you. Plant Physiol 123(3), 795–805.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Bell, C.J. and Ecker, J.R. (1994) Assignment of 30 microsatellite loci to the linkage map of Arabidopsis. Genomics 19(1), 137–144.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Jarvis, P., Lister, C., Szabo, V., and Dean, C. (1994) Integration of CAPS markers into the RFLP map generated using recombinant inbred lines of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Mol Biol. 24(4), 685–687.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Michaels, S.D. and Amasino, R.M. (1998) A robust method for detecting single-nucleotide changes as polymorphic markers by PCR. Plant J. 14(3), 381–385.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Neff, M.M., Neff, J.D., Chory, J., and Pepper, A.E. (1998) dCAPS, a simple technique for the genetic analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms: experimental applications in Arabidopsis thaliana genetics. Plant J 14(3), 387–392.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Herrmann, M.G., Durtschi, J.D., Bromley, L.K., Wittwer, C.T., and Voelkerding, K.V. (2006) Amplicon DNA melting analysis for mutation scanning and genotyping: cross-platform comparison of instruments and dyes. Clin Chem 52(3), 494–503.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Albrecht, V., Ingenfeld, A., and Apel, K. (2006) Characterization of the snowy cotyledon 1 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana: the impact of chloroplast elongation factor G on chloroplast development and plant vitality. Plant Mol Biol 60(4), 507–518.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Albrecht, V., Ingenfeld, A., and Apel, K. (2008) Snowy cotyledon 2: the identification of a zinc finger domain protein essential for chloroplast development in cotyledons but not in true leaves. Plant Mol Biol 66(6), 599–608.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Wesley, S.V., Helliwell, C.A., Smith, N.A., Wang, MB., Rouse, D.T., Liu, Q., Gooding, P.S., Singh, S.P., Abbott, D., Stoutjesdijk, P.A. et al. (2001) Construct design for efficient, effective and high-throughput gene silencing in plants. Plant J. 27(6), 581–590.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Liu, Y.G., Shirano, Y., Fukaki, H., Yanai, Y., Tasaka, M., Tabata, S., and Shibata, D. (1999) Complementation of plant mutants with large genomic DNA fragments by a transformation-competent artificial chromosome vector accelerates positional cloning. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96(11), 6535–6540.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Kolar, C., Fejes, E., Adam, E., Schafer, E., Kay, S., and Nagy, F. (1998) Transcription of Arabidopsis and wheat Cab genes in single tobacco transgenic seedlings exhibits independent rhythms in a developmentally regulated fashion. Plant J 13(4), 563–569.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Xiong, L., Ishitani, M., Lee, H., and Zhu, J.K. (2001) The Arabidopsis LOS5/ABA3 locus encodes a molybdenum cofactor sulfurase and modulates cold stress- and osmotic stress-responsive gene expression. Plant Cell 13(9), 2063–2083.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Chateigner-Boutin, A.-L. and Small, I. (2007) A rapid high-throughput method for the detection and quantification of RNA editing based on high-resolution melting of amplicons. Nucleic Acids Res 35(17), e114.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Phil Mullineaux (John Innes Institute, Norwich, UK) for kindly providing us with EMS-mutagenised APX2-luciferase seed. We also thank Jan Bart Rossel (Australian National University) for input into the first version of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this protocol

Cite this protocol

Albrecht, V., Estavillo, G.M., Cuttriss, A.J., Pogson, B.J. (2011). Identifying Chloroplast Biogenesis and Signalling Mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana . In: Carpentier, R. (eds) Photosynthesis Research Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 684. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-925-3_20

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-925-3_20

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60761-924-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60761-925-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics