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. 1983 May;80(9):2632–2636. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.9.2632

Rapid degradation of unassembled ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunits in chloroplasts

Gregory W Schmidt 1, Michael L Mishkind 1
PMCID: PMC393881  PMID: 16593310

Abstract

We have detected a proteolytic mechanism in chloroplasts that selectively and rapidly degrades the imported small subunit of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase when pools of the chloroplast-synthesized large subunit are depleted. This degradation system is constitutively present and appears to be responsible for precise stoichiometric accumulation of the two subunits of the enzyme. We believe similar proteolytic mechanisms participate in regulating the accumulation of other photosynthetic proteins during chloroplast biogenesis.

Keywords: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, pulse-chase labeling, chloroplast ribosome mutant, chloramphenicol

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Selected References

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