The transit sequence of a chloroplast precursor protein reorients the lipids in monogalactosyl diglyceride containing bilayers.

The interaction of the chloroplast precursor protein of ferredoxin with mixed model membranes composed of 2H chain labeled monogalactosyl diacylglycerol and phosphatidylcholine was studied by 2H and 31P NMR. The bilayers were found to have special chain packing properties which most likely are the result of a specific arrangement of head groups at the interface. The precursor and not the corresponding apoprotein induced a bilayer-->isotropic transition in lipid organization as a result of the transit sequence-lipid interaction. The implications of these observations for proteins import into chloroplasts are indicated.