Probing the biogenesis pathway and dynamics of thylakoid membranes

Tuomas Huokko, Tao Ni, Gregory F. Dykes, Deborah M. Simpson, Philip Brownridge, Fabian D. Conradi, Robert J. Beynon, Peter J. Nixon, Conrad W. Mullineaux, Peijun Zhang and Lu-Ning Liu ()
Additional contact information
Tuomas Huokko: University of Liverpool
Tao Ni: University of Oxford
Gregory F. Dykes: University of Liverpool
Deborah M. Simpson: University of Liverpool
Philip Brownridge: University of Liverpool
Fabian D. Conradi: Queen Mary University of London
Robert J. Beynon: University of Liverpool
Peter J. Nixon: Imperial College London
Conrad W. Mullineaux: Queen Mary University of London
Peijun Zhang: University of Oxford
Lu-Ning Liu: University of Liverpool

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract How thylakoid membranes are generated to form a metabolically active membrane network and how thylakoid membranes orchestrate the insertion and localization of protein complexes for efficient electron flux remain elusive. Here, we develop a method to modulate thylakoid biogenesis in the rod-shaped cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 by modulating light intensity during cell growth, and probe the spatial-temporal stepwise biogenesis process of thylakoid membranes in cells. Our results reveal that the plasma membrane and regularly arranged concentric thylakoid layers have no physical connections. The newly synthesized thylakoid membrane fragments emerge between the plasma membrane and pre-existing thylakoids. Photosystem I monomers appear in the thylakoid membranes earlier than other mature photosystem assemblies, followed by generation of Photosystem I trimers and Photosystem II complexes. Redistribution of photosynthetic complexes during thylakoid biogenesis ensures establishment of the spatial organization of the functional thylakoid network. This study provides insights into the dynamic biogenesis process and maturation of the functional photosynthetic machinery.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23680-1 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23680-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23680-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().