Toc34 is a member of the outer membrane translocon complex that mediates the initial stage of protein import into chloroplasts. Toc34, like most outer membrane proteins, is synthesized in the cytosol at its mature size without a cleavable transit peptide. The majority of outer membrane proteins do not require thermolysinsensitive components on the chloroplastic surface or ATP for their insertion into the outer membrane. However, different results have been obtained concerning the factors

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... d for Toc34 insertion into the outer membrane. Using an Arabidopsis homologue of pea Toc34, atToc34, we show that the insertion of atToc34 was greatly reduced by thermolysin pretreatment of chloroplasts as assayed either by protease digestion or by alkaline extraction. The insertion was also dependent on the presence of ATP or GTP. A mutant of atToc34 with the GTP-binding domain deleted still required ATP for optimal insertion, indicating that ATP was used by other protein components in the import system. The ATP-supported insertion was observed even in thermolysin-pretreated chloroplasts, suggesting that the protein component responsible for ATP-stimulated insertion is a different protein from the thermolysinsensitive component that assists atToc34 insertion.