Plastid-to-nucleus signalling

The function of the eukaryotic cell depends on the reciprocal interaction between its different compartments. Plastids emit signals that regulate nuclear gene expression to ensure the stoichiometric assembly of plastid protein complexes and to initiate macromolecular reorganisation in response to environmental cues. It is now clear that several different plastid processes produce signals that influence the expression of photosynthetic genes in the nucleus. The genome uncoupled (gun) mutants recently revealed one of the plastid signals, the chlorophyll intermediate Mg-protoporphyrinIX.