Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica and indica exhibit different sensitivity to photoinhibition and they show different stability of their core proteins D1 in the chloroplast photosystem Ⅱ. Using in situ hybridization, psbA, the gene encoding D1 protein of O. sativa ssp. japonica cv. 9516, and that of O. sativa ssp. indica cv. Shanyou 63 was cloned. As revealed by homology comparison of their sequences, the sequences are identical in the regions of promoter and 5′-UTR; differences are found in individual bases in the coding region all of which, being in the third position of respective codons, however, do not affect the amino acids coded finally; a difference is noted in the length of the oligo-U sequence in the region of 3′-UTR. It is thus apparent that, rather than a result of any difference in the amino acid sequences, the differences in the sensitivity to photoinhibition of D1 proteins between japonica and indica rice may be related to the upstream factors that regulate expression of psbA or to differences of photoprotective mechanisms.
The inheritance of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas Lain.) was analyzed using DNA restriction fingerprinting. The cpDNA fingerprints of hybrids from reciprocal crosses between Xushu18 and AB78-1 were found to be identical to those of their female parents, which reveals that cpDNA of sweet potato is maternally inherited in this intervarietal crossing. This maternal cpDNA transmission pattern does not accord with the putative one based on former cytological studies. The plastid inheritance in Convolvulaceae has been briefly reviewed in this study, and the utility of DNA restriction fingerprinting analysis in the study of plastid inheritance is also discussed.
