Teratological Chloroplast Structures in Euglena gracilis Permanently Bleached by Exogenous Physical and Chemical Agents*

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Abstract
SYNOPSIS. Euglena gracilis strain Z rendered permanently apochlorotic by several chemical and physical agents contains bodies similar in size to normal plastids. Some of these bodies contain lamella‐like structures; others contain crista‐like structures. The lamella‐ and crista‐like structures are made up of 2 electron‐dense layers separated by an electron‐lucent layer.These structures are compared to normal lamellae and it is suggested that apochlorotic cells contain lamellae that lack the thicker, inner electron‐dense layer, or more likely, that the apochlorotic condition prevents two discs from fusing to produce the thicker inner electron‐dense layer which contains the photosynthetic pigments.