As shown previously, Euglena cells grown in Hutner’s medium in the dark without agitation accumulate wax as well as paramylum, and contain proplastids showing no internal structure except for a single prothylakoid existing close to the envelope. When the cells are transferred to an inorganic medium containing ammonium salt and the cell suspension is aerated in the dark, the wax was oxidatively metabolized, providing carbon materials and energy 23 for some dark processes of plastid development. Under these conditions, pyrenoid-like structures (called “pro-pyrenoids”) are formed at the sites adjacent to the prolamel larbodies (PLB) localized in the peripheral region of the proplastid. The single prothylakoid becomes paired with a newly formed prothylakoid, and a part of the paired prothylakoids is extended, with foldings, in to the “propyrenoid”. In this study, we observed a concentration of RuBisCO in the “propyrenoid” of Euglena gracilis strain Z using immunoelectron microscopy.
