Redox conditions specify the proteins synthesised by isolated chloroplasts and mitochondria.

In chloroplasts and mitochondria isolated from pea leaves, (35)S-methionine incorporation reveals that different subsets of proteins are selected for synthesis in the presence of the external redox reagents ferricyanide, ascorbate, duroquinol, dithiothreitol and dithionite, and in the presence of different electron transport inhibitors in the light (in chloroplasts) or with respiratory substrates (in mitochondria). Redox state of specific electron carriers may therefore regulate expression of specific genes in chloroplasts and mitochondria. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes encode proteins whose synthesis must be regulated by electron transport in photosynthesis and respiration.