Background: Chloroplasts have evolved from a cyanobacterial endosymbiont and their continuity has been maintained over time by chloroplast division, a process which is performed by the constriction of a ring-like division complex at the division site. The division complex has retained certain components of the cyanobacterial division complex, which function inside the chloroplast. It also contains components developed by the host cell, which function outside of the chloroplast and are believed to generate constrictive force from the cytosolic side, at least in red algae and Viridiplantae. In contrast to the chloroplasts in these lineages, those in glaucophyte algae possess a peptidoglycan layer between the two envelope membranes, as do cyanobacteria.
Results: In this study, we show that chloroplast division in the glaucophyte C. paradoxa does not involve any known chloroplast division proteins of the host eukaryotic origin, but rather, peptidoglycan spitting and probably the outer envelope division process rely on peptidoglycan hydrolyzing activity at the division site by the DipM protein, as in cyanobacterial cell division. In addition, we found that DipM is required for normal chloroplast division in the moss Physcomitrella patens.
Conclusions: These results suggest that the regulation of peptidoglycan splitting was essential for chloroplast division in the early evolution of chloroplasts and this activity is likely still involved in chloroplast division in Viridiplantae.