Reorganization of Thylakoid Components during Chloroplast Development in Higher Plants after Transfer to Darkness

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Abstract
It was shown earlier that in etiolated bean (Phaseolus vulgaris, var. red kidney) leaves exposed to continuous light for a short time and then transferred to darkness a reorganization of their photosystem II (PSII) unit components occurs. This reorganization involves disorganization of the light-harvesting complex of PSII (LHC-II), destruction of its chlorophyll b and the 25 kilodalton polypeptide, and reuse of its chlorophyll a for the formation of additional, small in size, PSII units (Argyroudi-Akoyunoglou, Akoyunoglou, Kalosakas, Akoyunoglou 1982 Plant Physiol 70: 1242-1248). The present study further shows that parallel to the PSII unit reorganization a reorganization of the PSI unit components also occurs: upon transfer to darkness the 24, 23, and 21 kilodalton polypeptides, components of the light-harvesting complex of PSI (LHC-I), are decreased, the 69 kilodalton polypeptide, component of the chlorophyll a-rich P700-protein complex (CPI), is increased and new small-sized PSI units are formed. Concomitantly, the cytochrome f/chlorophyll and the cytochrome b/chlorophyll ratios are gradually increased. This suggests that the concentration of the electron transport components is also modulated in darkness to allow for adequate electron flow to occur between the newly synthesized PSII and PSI units.

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