Electron microscopic localization of replication origins in Oenothera chloroplast DNA.

The origins of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) replication were mapped in two plastome types of Oenothera in order to determine whether variation in the origin of cpDNA replication could account for the different transmission abilities associated with these plastomes. Two pairs of displacement loop (D-loop) initiation sites were observed on closed circular cpDNA molecules by electron microscopy. Each pair of D-loops was mapped to the inverted repeats of the Oenothera cpDNA by the analysis of restriction fragments. The starting points of the two adjacent D-loops are approximately 4 kb apart, bracketing the 16S rRNA gene. Although there are small DNA length variations near one of the D-loop initiation sites, no apparent differences in the number and the location of replication origins were observed between plastomes with the highest (type I) and lowest (type IV) transmission efficiencies.