Dynamic behavior of plastids related to environmental response

Abstract

In contrast to the sessile life style of plants, organelles within plant cells exhibit dynamic behavior. Plastid movements largely depend on actin cytoskeleton and are thought to be closely linked to adaptive responses to environmental changes. Advances in live-cell imaging technology combined with molecular genetics have demonstrated the underlying mechanism and the causal relationship between plastid motility and physiological significance in environmental response. Here, recent studies on the regulatory mechanisms of two types of chloroplast movement are reviewed. Studies on regulatory mechanisms of plastid behaviors related to environmental adaptation both in short-term (acute responses) and in long-term (developmental) processes would provide new insight into diversity in role(s) of plastids in a particular cell that do not only involve photosynthesis.