DOI: 10.1105/tpc.105.035030. Three-Dimensional Organization of Higher-Plant Chloroplast Thylakoid Membranes Revealed by Electron Tomography

Three-Dimensional Organization of Higher-Plant Chloroplast Thylakoid Membranes Revealed by Electron Tomography

10.1105/tpc.105.035030

Crossref journal-article

Oxford University Press (OUP)

The Plant Cell (286)

Abstract

AbstractThe light-harvesting and energy-transducing functions of the chloroplast are performed within an intricate lamellar system of membranes, called thylakoid membranes, which are differentiated into granum and stroma lamellar domains. Using dual-axis electron microscope tomography, we determined the three-dimensional organization of the chloroplast thylakoid membranes within cryo-immobilized, freeze-substituted lettuce (Lactuca sativa) leaves. We found that the grana are built of repeating units that consist of paired layers formed by bifurcations of stroma lamellar sheets, which fuse within the granum body. These units are rotated relative to each other around the axis of the granum cylinder. One of the layers that makes up the pair bends upwards at its edge and fuses with the layer above it, whereas the other layer bends in the opposite direction and merges with the layer below. As a result, each unit in the granum is directly connected to its neighbors as well as to the surrounding stroma lamellae. This highly connected morphology has important consequences for the formation and function of the thylakoid membranes as well as for their stacking/unstacking response to variations in light conditions.

Bibliography

Shimoni, E., Rav-Hon, O., Ohad, I., Brumfeld, V., & Reich, Z. (2005). Three-Dimensional Organization of Higher-Plant Chloroplast Thylakoid Membranes Revealed by Electron Tomography. The Plant Cell, 17(9), 2580â2586.

Authors 5

Eyal Shimoni (first)
Ophir Rav-Hon (additional)
Itzhak Ohad (additional)
Vlad Brumfeld (additional)
Ziv Reich (additional)

References 42 Referenced 207

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Dates

Type	When
Created	20 years ago (July 29, 2005, 8:34 p.m.)
Deposited	4 years, 1 month ago (July 14, 2021, 2:45 a.m.)
Indexed	2 weeks, 5 days ago (Aug. 2, 2025, 12:09 a.m.)
Issued	20 years ago (July 29, 2005)
Published	20 years ago (July 29, 2005)
Published Online	20 years ago (July 29, 2005)
Published Print	19 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 1, 2005)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Shimoni_2005, title={Three-Dimensional Organization of Higher-Plant Chloroplast Thylakoid Membranes Revealed by Electron Tomography}, volume={17}, ISSN={1532-298X}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1105/tpc.105.035030}, DOI={10.1105/tpc.105.035030}, number={9}, journal={The Plant Cell}, publisher={Oxford University Press (OUP)}, author={Shimoni, Eyal and Rav-Hon, Ophir and Ohad, Itzhak and Brumfeld, Vlad and Reich, Ziv}, year={2005}, month=jul, pages={2580–2586} }

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