Uniparental inheritance of cpDNA and the genetic control of sexual differentiation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

• Published in: Journal of plant research Vol. 123; no. 2; pp. 149 - 162
• Main Author: Nishimura, Y., Kyoto Univ. (Japan)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Springer Japan 01.03.2010; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: ACCOUPLEMENT; ADN; BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR; BIOLOGIE MOLECULAIRE; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chlamydomonas; CHLAMYDOMONAS REINHARDTII; Chlamydomonas reinhardtii - genetics; Chlamydomonas reinhardtii - metabolism; chloroplast DNA; CHLOROPLASTE; CHLOROPLASTS; CIGOTOS; CLOROPLASTO; COPULA; COPULATION; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA, Chloroplast; DNA, Chloroplast - genetics; DNA, Chloroplast - metabolism; eukaryotic cells; Extrachromosomal Inheritance; Flowers & plants; GAMETOGENESE; GAMETOGENESIS; genetics; genome; Genomics; germ cells; Heredity; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_1876; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_2347; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_26876; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_27931; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_35534; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_4869; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_4891; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_4952; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_8542; http://www.fao.org/aos/agrovoc#c_9824; inheritance (genetics); JPR Symposium; Life Sciences; MADRE; MERE; metabolism; Microscopy, Fluorescence; MITOCHONDRIA; mitochondrial DNA; MITOCHONDRIE; MITOCONDRIA; MOLECULAR BIOLOGY; MOTHERS; Optical Tweezers; parents; Plant Biochemistry; Plant biology; Plant Ecology; Plant mitochondria; Plant Physiology; Plant reproduction; Plant Sciences; REPRODUCCION SEXUAL; REPRODUCTION SEXUEE; researchers; Sex Differentiation; SEXUAL REPRODUCTION; ZYGOTE; ZYGOTES; cpDNA; Sexual differentiation; Uniparental inheritance
• ISSN: 0918-9440; 1618-0860; 1618-0860
• DOI: 10.1007/s10265-009-0292-y

An intriguing feature of most eukaryotes is that chloroplast (cp) and mitochondrial (mt) genomes are inherited almost exclusively from one parent. Uniparental inheritance of cp/mt genomes was long thought to be a passive outcome, based on the fact that eggs contain multiple numbers of organelles, while male gametes contribute, at best, only a few cp/mtDNA. However, the process is likely to be more dynamic because uniparental inheritance occurs in organisms that produce gametes of identical sizes (isogamous). In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the uniparental inheritance of cp/mt genomes is achieved by a series of mating type-controlled events that actively eliminate the mating type minus (mt-) cpDNA. The method by which Chlamydomonas selectively degrades mt, cpDNA has long fascinated researchers, and is the subject of this review.