Assembly of structurally and functionally distinct protein import translocons in chloroplasts

by Rounds, Caleb McOsker

The import of proteins into chloroplasts is a tightly regulated process that ultimately affects the development both of the plant and the plastid. The Toc159 family of chloroplast outer membrane GTPases has been shown to be a preprotein receptor. The small family of four receptors define distinct entry translocons. In this report, I provide evidence that the large N-terminal A-domain of atToc159 family proteins, working in conjunction with the GTPase domains determines the formation of these translocons.