A rice geranylgeranyl reductase is essential for chloroplast development

Chloroplasts are essential for plant photosynthesis and growth. Many genes have been identified that regulate plant chloroplast development. However, it is not known at a molecular level how these genes regulate chloroplast biogenesis. In this study, we isolated a mutant ygl2(yellow-green leaf2) that exhibited a pigment-defective phenotype. YGL2 encodes a geranylgeranyl reductase, and in mutant ygl2, there was a single base change(T1361 G) located in the third exon of YGL2 that resulted in a missense mutation(L454 R) in the encoded product. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that chloroplast development was impaired in the ygl2 mutant. The expression levels of plastid-encoded genes were significantly altered in the ygl2 mutant. Furthermore, in a yeast two-hybrid assay, we found that YGL2 interacted with the RNA editing factor MORF8.