chloroplast-division
Chloroplast division is the process by which chloroplasts replicate and distribute within plant cells during cell growth and division, ensuring continuity of photosynthetic function. This mechanism is essential for maintaining the energy-producing capacity of plant cells throughout development and enabling plants to sustain photosynthesis across successive generations of dividing cells. Understanding chloroplast division is fundamental to plant biology research, as it directly impacts how plants regulate their metabolic efficiency and manage the distribution of these critical photosynthetic organelles.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-02-19
A new protein called FtsZ3 controls how plant chloroplasts divide in mosses and related plants by regulating the assembly and constriction of the chloroplast division machinery. This discovery reveals an evolutionary mechanism that could explain how organelle division differs across plant lineages.
FtsZ3 localizes to chloroplasts in hornwort, moss, and lycophyte as a stromal component of the chloroplast division machinery (CDM)
FtsZ3 has two distinct functions: its GTPase domain regulates self-assembly and restrains FtsZ2 beneath the inner envelope membrane, while its C-terminal motif interacts with ARC6 protein to enable chloroplast envelope constriction
FtsZ3 exhibits functional divergence from FtsZ2, revealing a previously unknown regulatory mechanism for chloroplast division across non-vascular plant lineages
