Plant cells contain various types of plastid, the best known among which
is the chloroplast. Apart from their predominant interest for the work
on photo- synthesis, however, chloroplasts have attracted considerable
attention for other reasons. This pertains to extranuclear inheritance
of cell organelles and, particularly important for this series, to the
participation of chloroplasts as discrete and partly autonomous cell
constituents in the developmental biochemistry of plants. This volume is
composed of articles by investigators who are actively involved in work
on various aspects of research on chloroplasts. Each author has
independently covered and analyzed as comprehensively as possible the
particular aspects assigned to him. This has the advantage of bringing
out many different facets of the situation, though some overlapping
has-to be taken into account. We are sure that this volume will enable
the reader to gain a broad theoretical and experimental basis for the
understanding of the development of chloroplasts and the relationship
between plant cells and these organelles.