The Function of Tetrapyrrole Intermediates in the Plastid-to-nucleus Signalling of Plant Cells

Abstract: In the plant cell， besides the anterograde signalling pathway that nuclear genes control the transcription and translation of plastid genes， there is a retrograde pathway that the metabolic state of the plastid acts as a signal to regulate the expression of nuclear genes encoding plastid proteins. In the past， little research has been done about the retrograde signalling pathway， which is also termed as plastid factors. Recently， the understanding of this signalling pathway has been improved along with the deep study of the gun (genome uncoupled) mutants. This review focuses on the mechanism of the plastid-to-nucleus signalling pathway. The intermediates of the tetrapyrrole metabolism in plastid participate in the generation of plastid signals. And the export of the signals to the cytoplasm promotes the regulation of nuclear genes encoding plastid proteins.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2004.02.0002