Researchers from Zhejiang University and Zhejiang Academy elucidated the role of OsCpn60Î?1 in chloroplast development in rice. Their findings are published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 

Chaperonin 60 (Cpn60) protein has been known to control the folding of several chloroplast protein polypeptides. In chloroplasts, Cpn60 has two subunit typesâ??Cpn60Î? and Cpn60Î? and the rice genome encodes three Î? and three Î? plastid chaperonin subunits. However, the functions of Cpn60 family members remains unclear. To understand the molecular mechanism of OsCpn60Î?1, the researchers disrupted the gene using CRISPR-Cas9.

Results showed that the OsCpn60Î?1 knockout rice plants manifested albino leaves and were seedling lethal. When the leaves were observed under an electron microscope, it was found that the chloroplasts were severely disrupted. OsCpn60Î?1 was found in the chloroplast and OsCpn60Î?1 is constitutively expressed in different tissues especially in the green tissues. Further analysis showed that photosynthesis-related pathways and ribosomal pathways were significantly inhibited in OsCpn60Î?1 mutants.
Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that OsCpn60Î?1 is essential for chloroplast development in rice.

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