Temperature-induced chloroplast ribosome deficiency in virescent maize

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Abstract
Seedlings of the virescent mutant v16/v16 of maize (Zea mays L.) exhibit extreme chlorosis when grown at temperatures below 25°C. Chlorotic leaves, grown at 20°C, contain plastids that appear to have been arrested at an early stage of development. Plastids are two-thirds the size of fully developed chloroplasts, contain aberrant thylakoids and appear deficient of plastid ribosomes. Chlorotic leaves contain only trace amounts of 70s ribosomes or 23s and 16s plastidic rRNA. Deficiency of chloroplast ribosomes in v16/v16 is not due to photodestruction. A survey of five virescent mutants establishes a strong correlation between expression of the virescent trait and temperature-induced chloroplast ribosome deficiency.