Post Doctoral Research Fellowship in Plant Biology

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According to the polyphyletic hypothesis of chloroplast evolution, present day plant cells evolved from the engulfment of photosynthetic bacteria by colorless animal-like cells. Subsequently, the engulfed bacteria and host cell developed a symbiotic relationship, so that neither could survive alone. Part of this process involved the loss of hereditary information from the two cells' gene libraries and a transfer of genes from the bacterial chromosome to the host cell chromosome. This proposal is to elucidate the mechanisms involved in determining which genes are to be maintained in the chloroplast, which are to be transferred, and which are to be eliminated from the host cell/symbiont complex. Initial experiments will identify the nature and location of individual genes in the chloroplast chromosome. Subsequent studies will identify genes that have been transferred from chloroplast to host. The overall goal is to test the endosymbiont hypothesis by examining the validity of its predictions.