Determining the Pathway in which a Precursor Imports Through the Chloroplast Membranes

Student Name: Maya Lopez-Ichikawa

UCD Department: Plant Biology

UCD Mentor: Dr. Stephen Theg

Proteins transport across the chloroplast membrane through the translocon of the outer and inner membranes (Toc and Tic, respectively). In previous studies, the translocon was successfully plugged with a biotinylated precursor, RSSU-HC, bound to a large avidin molecule. Recently, the precursor was systematically shortened to find the minimum number of amino acids for a protein to span both membranes. From this, researchers can determine the protein import pathway and whether they import in a linear or folded manner.