1994/12/01 by Elizabeth H. Harris, E H Harris, John E. Boynton +2 · 175 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Biology #Chloroplast #Computational biology #Eukaryotic Ribosome #Gene #Genetics #Genome #Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies #Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology #Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms #Protein biosynthesis #RNA #Ribosomal RNA #Ribosomal protein #Ribosome
paper · pdf · doi:10.1128/mr.58.4.700-754.1994
published in Microbiological Reviews 58(4), 700-754 (American Society for Microbiology)
crossref issued 1994/12/01 · crossref published 1994/12/01 · crossref published-print 1994/12/01 · openalex publication_date 1994/12/01 · crossref created 2020/12/05 · crossref deposited 2022/03/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/06/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Consistent with their postulated origin from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria, chloroplasts of plants and algae have ribosomes whose component RNAs and proteins are strikingly similar to those of eubacteria. Comparison of the secondary structures of 16S rRNAs of chloroplasts and bacteria has been particularly useful in identifying highly conserved regions likely to have essential functions. Comparative analysis of ribosomal protein sequences may likewise prove valuable in determining their roles in protein synthesis. This review is concerned primarily with the RNAs and proteins that constitute the chloroplast ribosome, the genes that encode these components, and their expression. It begins with an overview of chloroplast genome structure in land plants and algae and then presents a brief comparison of chloroplast and prokaryotic protein-synthesizing systems and a more detailed analysis of chloroplast rRNAs and ribosomal proteins. A description of the synthesis and assembly of chloroplast ribosomes follows. The review concludes with discussion of whether chloroplast protein synthesis is essential for cell survival.