DEVELOPMENT AND CYTOCHEMISTRY OF THE THYLAKOIDAL BODY IN TOBACCO CHLOROPLASTS

Developing plastids in young tobacco leaves contain thylakoidal bodies, inclusions bound by a single membrane continuous with stroma lamellae. Both the thylakoidal body and its attached lamellae contain an enzyme that catalyzes an oxidation reaction with 3,3'‐diaminobenzidine (DAB). DAB staining of the thylakoidal body and lamellae is not the result of photo‐oxidation and is inhibited by potassium cyanide. The thylakoidal body disappears as plastids develop into chloroplasts and, further, the lamellar systems of the mature chloroplasts do not stain with DAB. In developing chloroplasts, it is suggested that the thylakoidal body forms by accumulation of protein which stains with DAB within primary lamellae derived from the inner plastid membrane. The ultrastructural and cytochemical evidence suggests that the thylakoidal body stores protein used later in lamellar formation.