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. 1969 May;112(5):777–786. doi: 10.1042/bj1120777

Kinetic complexity of chloroplastal deoxyribonucleic acid and mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid from higher plants

Richard Wells 1,*, Max Birnstiel 1
PMCID: PMC1187784  PMID: 5821734

Abstract

1. Chloroplasts and mitochondria were isolated by aqueous and non-aqueous cell-fractionation techniques. In a variety of higher plants the mitochondrial DNA bands in a caesium chloride gradient at 1·706g.cm.−3, whereas chloroplastal DNA has a buoyant density of 1·697g.cm.−3. 2. In total cellular DNA of moderate molecular weight, the chloroplastal DNA is found within the Gaussian distribution of the nuclear DNA and is not resolved as a satellite. 3. Both chloroplastal DNA and mitochondrial DNA from lettuce renature rapidly. 4. The kinetic complexity of mitochondrial DNA is > 108 daltons. 5. Chloroplastal DNA is made up from fast and slow renaturing sequences with kinetic complexities of 3×106 and 1·2×108 daltons respectively. 6. From the discrepancy between analytical and kinetic complexity it is concluded that chloroplastal DNA is extensively reiterated.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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