Mature plant chloroplasts form reversible gyroid cubic membranes
Bykowski, M.; Wegrzyn, A.; Wietrzynski, W.; Bukat, A.; Wojtowicz, J.; Mazur, R.; Le Blanc, F.; Bienko, Z.; Kwapiszewska, K.; Schröder-Turk, G. E.; Engel, B. D.; Kowalewska, Łucja
Show abstract
Across kingdoms, cells fold their membranes into precise shapes closely linked to their functions. In mature land-plant chloroplasts, the photosynthetic membranes have been viewed as strictly lamellar and it is unknown whether they can take on a different structure while remaining functional. Here, we show that mature Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplasts can transform this network into a gyroid-type cubic membrane, which we call the gyrobody. The gyrobody forms reversibly during the night and preserves photosystem II photochemistry. A decrease in stromal side thylakoid surface charge, caused by lower protein phosphorylation, triggers the lamellar-to-gyroid transition which the curvature-inducing lipid MGDG facilitates. This shows that the mature plant thylakoid network is not locked into its lamellar form, revealing unexpected structural flexibility of this system.
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