Abstract

Chloroplasts are organelles of endosymbiotic origin, and they transferred most of their genetic information to the host nucleus during this process. They therefore have to import more than 95% of their protein complement post-translationally from the cytosol. In vivo results from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana — together with biochemical, biophysical and structural data from other plants — now allow us to outline the mechanistic details of the molecular machines that facilitate this translocation. It has become clear that chloroplasts evolved a unique translocation system, which is inherited, in part, from their bacterial ancestors.

Author affiliations

1. Department für Biologie I, Botanik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Menzingerstrae 67, D-80638 München, Germany.

Correspondence to: Jürgen Soll¹ Email: soll@uni-muenchen.de

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