Mobility of proteins and lipids in the photosynthetic membranes of cyanobacteria

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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Isolation and characterization of bound ion-sulfur proteins from bacterial photosynthetic membranes. I. Ferredoxins III and IV from Rhodospirillum rubrum chromatophores.

Journal of Biological Chemistry ◽

10.1016/s0021-9258(17)40988-4 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 252 (21) ◽

pp. 7453-7460 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

D.C. Yoch ◽

R.P. Carithers ◽

D.I. Arnon

Keyword(s):

Rhodospirillum Rubrum ◽

Photosynthetic Membranes ◽

Isolation And Characterization

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Molecular Dynamics of Chloroplast Membranes Isolated from Wild-Type Barley and a Brassinosteroid-Deficient Mutant Acclimated to Low and High Temperatures

Biomolecules ◽

10.3390/biom11010027 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 27

Author(s):

Iwona Sadura ◽

Dariusz Latowski ◽

Jana Oklestkova ◽

Damian Gruszka ◽

Marek Chyc ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Molecular Dynamics ◽

Temperature Stress ◽

High Temperatures ◽

Biological Membrane ◽

Hydrophobic Core ◽

Wild Type ◽

Chloroplast Membranes ◽

Paramagnetic Resonance ◽

Photosynthetic Membranes

Plants have developed various acclimation strategies in order to counteract the negative effects of abiotic stresses (including temperature stress), and biological membranes are important elements in these strategies. Brassinosteroids (BR) are plant steroid hormones that regulate plant growth and development and modulate their reaction against many environmental stresses including temperature stress, but their role in modifying the properties of the biological membrane is poorly known. In this paper, we characterise the molecular dynamics of chloroplast membranes that had been isolated from wild-type and a BR-deficient barley mutant that had been acclimated to low and high temperatures in order to enrich the knowledge about the role of BR as regulators of the dynamics of the photosynthetic membranes. The molecular dynamics of the membranes was investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy in both a hydrophilic and hydrophobic area of the membranes. The content of BR was determined, and other important membrane components that affect their molecular dynamics such as chlorophylls, carotenoids and fatty acids in these membranes were also determined. The chloroplast membranes of the BR-mutant had a higher degree of rigidification than the membranes of the wild type. In the hydrophilic area, the most visible differences were observed in plants that had been grown at 20 °C, whereas in the hydrophobic core, they were visible at both 20 and 5 °C. There were no differences in the molecular dynamics of the studied membranes in the chloroplast membranes that had been isolated from plants that had been grown at 27 °C. The role of BR in regulating the molecular dynamics of the photosynthetic membranes will be discussed against the background of an analysis of the photosynthetic pigments and fatty acid composition in the chloroplasts.

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