Chloroplast signal length requirement reflects the outer membrane and TOC complex dimension

2015

Background and Purpose: The evolution of an efficient preprotein targeting and translocation system was a central prerequisite for the endosymbiotic integration of a -proteobacteria and cyanobacteria as cellular organelles. Today, it is widely accepted that during evolution most (pre-)proteins destined for these two organelles were equipped with an N-terminal targeting signal for localization. While multiple modes of evolution of these extensions are currently discussed, all evolved signals serve the same function – forming a signal for targeting to the correct organelle and translocation across both membranes. We aimed to generalize the current idea for the length requirement of the N-term…