Contribution of Membrane Potentials to Energy Conversion in Photosynthetic Membranes

Electron microscopic observations of freeze-fracture replicas of Anabaena cells obtained by the procedures described by Bullivant and Ames (J. Cell Biol., 1966) indicate that the frozen cells are fractured in many different planes. This fracturing or cleaving along various planes allows one to gain a three dimensional relation of the cellular components as a result of such a manipulation. When replicas that are obtained by the freeze-fracture method are observed in the electron microscope, cross fractures of the cell wall and membranes that comprise the photosynthetic lamellae are apparent as demonstrated in Figures 1 & 2.A large portion of the Anabaena cell is composed of undulating layers of cytoplasm that are bounded by unit membranes that comprise the photosynthetic membranes. The adjoining layers of cytoplasm are closely apposed to each other to form the photosynthetic lamellae. Occassionally the adjacent layers of cytoplasm are separated by an interspace that may vary in widths of up to several 100 mu to form intralamellar vesicles.

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Structural analysis of the photosynthetic membrane from Ectothiorhodospira halochloris

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010007727x ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

pp. 740-741

Author(s):

H. Engelhardt ◽

R. Guckenberger ◽

W. Baumeister

Keyword(s):

Lattice Structure ◽

Bacterial Species ◽

Hexagonal Lattice ◽

Reaction Centre ◽

Photosynthetic Membrane ◽

Rhodopseudomonas Viridis ◽

Photosynthetic Membranes ◽

Ectothiorhodospira Halochloris ◽

Main Components

Bacterial photosynthetic membranes contain, apart from lipids and electron transport components, reaction centre (RC) and light harvesting (LH) polypeptides as the main components. The RC-LH complexes in Rhodopseudomonas viridis membranes are known since quite seme time to form a hexagonal lattice structure in vivo; hence this membrane attracted the particular attention of electron microscopists. Contrary to previous claims in the literature we found, however, that 2-D periodically organized photosynthetic membranes are not a unique feature of Rhodopseudomonas viridis. At least five bacterial species, all bacteriophyll b - containing, possess membranes with the RC-LH complexes regularly arrayed. All these membranes appear to have a similar lattice structure and fine-morphology. The lattice spacings of the Ectothiorhodospira haloohloris, Ectothiorhodospira abdelmalekii and Rhodopseudomonas viridis membranes are close to 13 nm, those of Thiocapsa pfennigii and Rhodopseudomonas sulfoviridis are slightly smaller (∼12.5 nm).

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Artificial cells containing sustainable energy conversion engines

Emerging Topics in Life Sciences ◽

10.1042/etls20190103 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 573-578 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kwanwoo Shin

Keyword(s):

Energy Conversion ◽

Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide ◽

Sustainable Energy ◽

Living Cells ◽

Energy Transduction ◽

Artificial Cells ◽

Energy Conversion Process ◽

Metabolic Reactions ◽

Metabolic Activities ◽

Reduced Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide

Living cells naturally maintain a variety of metabolic reactions via energy conversion mechanisms that are coupled to proton transfer across cell membranes, thereby producing energy-rich compounds. Until now, researchers have been unable to maintain continuous biochemical reactions in artificially engineered cells, mainly due to the lack of mechanisms that generate energy-rich resources, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). If these metabolic activities in artificial cells are to be sustained, reliable energy transduction strategies must be realized. In this perspective, this article discusses the development of an artificially engineered cell containing a sustainable energy conversion process.

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