Open AccessDevelopment of the photosynthetic unit in lettuce
Author(s) -
Fernando Henriques,
Roderic B. Park
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.73.12.4560
Subject(s) - chloroplast , chlorophyll , membrane , photosynthesis , chlorophyll a , biology , chlorophyll b , biophysics , chloroplast membrane , botany , thylakoid , biochemistry , gene
A comparative study of polypeptide composition and freeze-fracture morphology of chloroplast membranes isolated from different, but photosynthetically active, regions of a romaine lettuce shoot is presented. Chloroplasts prepared from outer dark-green leaves possess a fully developed light-harvesting chlorophyll-protein complex, have low chlorophylla :b ratios and display fracture faces similar to those found in other higher plant chloroplast membranes; chloroplasts from leaves more to the interior of the shoot, have a much lower content of chlorophyll, show high chlorophylla :b ratios, are depleted in components of the light-harvesting chlorophyll-protein complex, and exhibit extensive modifications of their fracture faces. We have also re-examined the freeze-fracture morphology of chloroplast membranes from a barleyb -deficient mutant that lacks the light-harvesting chlorophyll-protein complex. A tentative interpretation of our findings suggests correlating the assembly of the light-harvesting chlorophyll-protein complex into the chloroplast membranes with the appearance of large freeze-fracture B face particles in the stacked interior-membrane region, and differentiation of typical fracture faces.