This volume provides comprehensive coverage of chloroplast and mitochondrial biogenesis and function. It presents the current status of research on the molecular genetics of chloroplast gene expression for the late 1990s. It describes the intricate co-operative interplay between the chloroplast and nuclear compartments which underlie the assembly of the photosynthetic apparatus. It also shows the power of chloroplast reverse genetics which has been used with considerable success to investigate structure-function relationships in several photosynthetic complexes. The book highlights the features of Chlamydomonas and the technological advances which make the alga uniquely suited to a multidisciplinary approach to studying photosynthesis and its regulation under various environmental and stress conditions. The book is intended for a wide audience, but is specifically designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, biophysics, plant biology, phycology and biotechnology.