Dr Kin Pan CHUNG, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Allemagne, invité par J. Gualberto
Even after millions of years of endosymbiosis, the once free-living cyanobacterium and aerobic bacterium, now the plastids and mitochondria, contain their own genomes that encode proteins for photosynthesis and respiration. The inheritance of plastids and mitochondria across generations is of utmost importance because the de novo biogenesis of these cytoplasmic organelles is impossible. While the nuclear genome is a mix inherited from both parents, in most flowering plants the cytoplasmic genomes are almost exclusively transmitted by the mother. Scientists discovered this form of non-Mendelian inheritance more than a century ago, however, the underlying mechanisms regulating the mode of cytoplasmic inheritance remain elusive. One of the major challenges in cytoplasmic inheritance research is the lack of methodologies. Recently, I have developed an experimental system to study plastid and mitochondrial inheritance in Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco). In this seminar, I will present the latest findings and reveal the factors that regulate cytoplasmic inheritance in tobacco.
