Entropy and biological systems: Experimentally-investigated entropy-driven stacking of plant photosynthetic membranes

Electron microscopic methods have been applied increasingly during the past fifteen years, to problems in structural molecular biology. Used in conjunction with physical chemical methods and/or Fourier methods of analysis, they constitute powerful tools for determining sizes, shapes and modes of aggregation of biopolymers with molecular weights greater than 50, 000. However, the application of the e.m. to the determination of very fine structure approaching the limit of instrumental resolving power in biological systems has not been productive, due to various difficulties such as the destructive effects of dehydration, damage to the specimen by the electron beam, and lack of adequate and specific contrast. One of the most satisfactory methods for contrasting individual macromolecules involves the deposition of heavy metal vapor upon the specimen. We have investigated this process, and present here what we believe to be the more important considerations for optimizing it. Results of the application of these methods to several biological systems including muscle proteins, fibrinogen, ribosomes and chromatin will be discussed.

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Freeze-Fracture Replication in the Ultrastructure of Blue-Green Algae

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100060386 ◽

1967 ◽

Vol 25 ◽

pp. 74-75

Author(s):

L. V. Leak

Keyword(s):

Cell Wall ◽

Electron Microscope ◽

Green Algae ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Freeze Fracture ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Photosynthetic Membranes ◽

Blue Green Algae ◽

Cell Biol ◽

Cellular Components

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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Freeze-fracture cytochemistry: A goal set by Russell Steere in 1957

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010014614x ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 60-61

Author(s):

Nicholas J Severs

Keyword(s):

Chemical Nature ◽

Biological Systems ◽

Freeze Fracture ◽

Structural Components ◽

Major Goal ◽

Membrane Biology ◽

Routine Application ◽

The Future ◽

Freeze Etching

In his pioneering demonstration of the potential of freeze-etching in biological systems, Russell Steere assessed the future promise and limitations of the technique with remarkable foresight. Item 2 in his list of inherent difficulties as they then stood stated “The chemical nature of the objects seen in the replica cannot be determined”. This defined a major goal for practitioners of freeze-fracture which, for more than a decade, seemed unattainable. It was not until the introduction of the label-fracture-etch technique in the early 1970s that the mould was broken, and not until the following decade that the full scope of modern freeze-fracture cytochemistry took shape. The culmination of these developments in the 1990s now equips the researcher with a set of effective techniques for routine application in cell and membrane biology.Freeze-fracture cytochemical techniques are all designed to provide information on the chemical nature of structural components revealed by freeze-fracture, but differ in how this is achieved, in precisely what type of information is obtained, and in which types of specimen can be studied.

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Seeking to uncover biology's chemical roots

Emerging Topics in Life Sciences ◽

10.1042/etls20190012 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 435-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Addy Pross

Keyword(s):

Environmental Changes ◽

Biological Systems ◽

Significant Development ◽

The Road ◽

Physical Chemical ◽

Systems Chemistry ◽

Biological World ◽

Inanimate Matter ◽

The Origin Of Life ◽

Opening Up

Despite the considerable advances in molecular biology over the past several decades, the nature of the physical–chemical process by which inanimate matter become transformed into simplest life remains elusive. In this review, we describe recent advances in a relatively new area of chemistry, systems chemistry, which attempts to uncover the physical–chemical principles underlying that remarkable transformation. A significant development has been the discovery that within the space of chemical potentiality there exists a largely unexplored kinetic domain which could be termed dynamic kinetic chemistry. Our analysis suggests that all biological systems and associated sub-systems belong to this distinct domain, thereby facilitating the placement of biological systems within a coherent physical/chemical framework. That discovery offers new insights into the origin of life process, as well as opening the door toward the preparation of active materials able to self-heal, adapt to environmental changes, even communicate, mimicking what transpires routinely in the biological world. The road to simplest proto-life appears to be opening up.

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