Structure and Function of Plant Genomes

This volume contains the presentations of the principal speakers at the NATO Advanced Study Institute held at Porto Portese, Italy,23 August - 2 September, 1982. This meeting was the third in a series devoted to the molecular biology of plants. The initial meeting was held in Strasbourg, France in 1976 (J. Weil and L. Bogorad, organizers), and the second in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1979 (C. Leaver, organizer). As in these previous meetings, we have attempted to cover the major topics of plant molecular biology so as to promote the integration of information emerging at an accelerating rate from the various sub-disciplines of the field. In addition, we have introduced several topics, unique to higher plants, that have not yet been approached with the tools of molec­ ular biology, but that should present new and important aspects of plants amenable to study in terms of DNA -+ RNA -+ Protein. This meeting also served to inaugerate the new International Society for Plant Molecular Biology. The need for this society is, like the NATO meetings themselves, an indication of the growth, vitalitv and momentum of this field of research.

Organization and Expression of the Nuclear Genome.- Repeated Sequences and Genome Architecture.- Differential Induction of mRNAs by Light and Elicitor in Cultured Plant Cells.- The Heat Shock Response in Soybean Seedlings.- Organization of Soybean Seed Protein Genes and Their Flanking Regions.- Expression of Nuclear Genes Encoding the Small Subunit of Ribulose-1,5-Biphosphate Carboxylase.- Mutations at the Shrunken Locus in Maize Caused By the Controlling Element DS.- Molecular Biology of Plant Storage Proteins.- Structure and Expression of Zein Genes in Maize Endosperm.- The Hordeins of Barley: Developmentally and Nutritionally Regulated Multigene Families of Storage Proteins.- The Synthesis, Processing and Primary Structure of Pea Seed Lectin.- Structure and Expression of Genes Encoding the Soybean 7S Seed Storage Proteins.- Cottonseed Storage Proteins as a Tool for Developmental Biology.- Phaseolin: Nucleotide Sequence Explains Molecular Weight and Charge Heterogeneity of a Small Multi-gene Family and Also Assists Vector Construction for Gene Expression in Alien Tissue.- Organization and Expression of the Chloroplast Genome.- Identification and Characterization of Genes for Polypeptides of the Thylakoid Membrane.- Organization and Expression of the Chloroplast Genome of Euglena gracilis.- Comparative Studies on tRNAs and Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases from Various Photosynthetic Organisms.- Structure of the Gene (tmpA) for the “32,000-Mr” Thylakoid Membrane Polypeptide of Spinacia Oleracea and Nicotiana Debneyi.- A Compendium of Characteristics for the Rapidly-Metabolized 32 kD Protein of the Chloroplast Membrane.- Organization and Structure of the Genes for the ? and ? Subunits of Spinach and Pea Chloroplast ATPase.- Chloroplast EF-Tu is Coded in Spinach Chloroplast DNA.- Chloroplast Genes and Transformation in Chlamydomonas.- The In Vivo Transcriptional Activity of the Barley Chloroplast Genome.- Chlorophyll A/B Binding Proteins and the Small Subunit of Ribulose Bisphosphate Carboxylase are encoded by Multiple Genes in Petunia.- Molecular Biology of Nitrogen Fixation.- Biochemical Genetics of Nitrogen Fixation.- Nitrogen-Control of the nif Regulon in Klebsiella pneumoniae.- Localization and Molecular Genetic Analysis of Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation Genes in Rhizobium meliloti.- Conservation of the Regulatory Mechanisms Regulating the Expression of Nitrogen Fixation Genes in R. meliloti and K. pneumoniae.- Nodulin-Specific Induction of Host Genes in Yellow Lupin.- A Search for Nodulin Genes of Soybean.- Organization and Transcription of Nitrogen Fixation Genes in the Cyanobacterium Anabaena.- Molecular Biology of Host-Pathogen Interactions.- Oligosaccharins: Naturally Occurring Carbohydrates with Biological Regulatory Functions.- Early Molecular Events in the Phytoalexin Defense Response.- Identification and Use of cDNAs of Phenylalanine Ammonia-lyase and 4-Coumarate: CoA Ligase mRNAs in Studies of the Induction of Phytoalexin Biosynthetic Enzymes in Cultured Parsley Cells.- Wound-Regulated Synthesis and Compartmentation of Proteinase Inhibitors in Plant Leaves.- Organization and Expression of the Mitochondrial Genome.- Mitochondrial Genes and Their Expression in Higher Plants.- Relationships Among Plasmid-Like DNAs of the Maize Mitochondria.- Organization and Evolution of Ribosomal RNA Genes in Wheat Mitochondria.- DNA Polymerase and DNA Synthesis in Wheat Embryo Mitochondria.- Genetic Manipulation of Higher Plants.- Transformation of Plant Protoplasts In Vitro.- T-DNA of the Agrobacterium Ti and Ri Plasmids as Vectors.- The Cauliflower Mosaic Virus Minichromosome.- The Potential of Cauliflower Mosaic Virus as a Gene Vector.- Molecular Biology of Plant Viruses.- Structure and Function of Plant Virus Genomes.- Structure and Expression of the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus Genome.- Special Topics.- Hydroxyproline-Rich Glycoproteins Extracted from the Cell Walls of Aerated Carrot Root Slices.- Tobacco Revisited: A Food from Fraction 1 Protein Plus a Safer Smoking Material.