The relative proportion of stroma lamellae and grana end membranes was determined from electron micrographs of 58 chloroplasts from 21 different plant species. The percentage of grana end membranes varied between 1 and 21% of the total thylakoid membrane indicating a large variation in the size of grana stacks. By contrast the stroma lamellae account for 20.3 +/- 2.5 (sd)% of the total thylakoid membrane. A plot of percentage stroma lamellae against percentage of grana end membranes fits a straight line with a slope of zero showing that the proportion of stroma lamellae is independent of the size of the grana stacks. That stroma lamellae account for about 20% of the thylakoid membrane is in agreement with fragmentation and separation analysis (Gadjieva et al. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 144: 92-100, 1999). Chloroplasts from spinach, grown under high or low light, were fragmented by sonication and separated by countercurrent distribution into two vesicle populations originating from grana and stroma lamellae plus end membranes, respectively. The separation diagrams were very similar lending independent support for the notion that the proportion of stroma lamellae is constant. The results are discussed in relation to the composition and function of the chloroplast in plants grown under different environmental conditions, and in relation to a recent quantitative model for the thylakoid (Albertsson, Trends Plant Sci. 6: 349-354, 2001).

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was used to quantify Photosystem I (PSI) and PSII in vesicles originating from a series of well-defined but different domains of the thylakoid membrane in spinach prepared by non-detergent techniques. Thylakoids from spinach were fragmented by sonication and separated by aqueous polymer two-phase partitioning into vesicles originating from grana and stroma lamellae. The grana vesicles were further sonicated and separated into two vesicle preparations originating from the grana margins and the appressed domains of grana (the grana core), respectively. PSI and PSII were determined in the same samples from the maximal size of the EPR signal from P700(+) and Y(D)( .-), respectively. The following PSI/PSII ratios were found: thylakoids, 1.13; grana vesicles, 0.43; grana core, 0.25; grana margins, 1.28; stroma lamellae 3.10. In a sub-fraction of the stroma lamellae, denoted Y-100, PSI was highly enriched and the PSI/PSII ratio was 13. The antenna size of the respective photosystems was calculated from the experimental data and the assumption that a PSII center in the stroma lamellae (PSIIbeta) has an antenna size of 100 Chl. This gave the following results: PSI in grana margins (PSIalpha) 300, PSI (PSIbeta) in stroma lamellae 214, PSII in grana core (PSIIalpha) 280. The results suggest that PSI in grana margins have two additional light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) trimers per reaction center compared to PSI in stroma lamellae, and that PSII in grana has four LHCII trimers per monomer compared to PSII in stroma lamellae. Calculation of the total chlorophyll associated with PSI and PSII, respectively, suggests that more chlorophyll (about 10%) is associated with PSI than with PSII.

A model is presented that gives a quantitative picture of the distribution of the photosynthetic components in the photosynthetic membrane of higher plants. A salient feature of the model is that most of the pigments are located in the grana where photosystem I and II carry out linear electron transport, whereas the stroma lamellae, which harbour < 20% of the pigments, carry out photosystem-I-mediated cyclic electron transport. This arrangement derives from the observation that more pigments are associated with photosystem I, which therefore captures more quanta than photosystem II. The excess pigments associated with photosystem I are thought to be located in the stroma lamellae.

The electron transport properties of photosystem II (PSII) from five different domains of the thylakoid membrane were analyzed by flash-induced fluorescence kinetics. These domains are the entire grana, the grana core, the margins from the grana, the stroma lamellae, and the Y100 fraction (which represent more purified stroma lamellae). The two first fractions originate from appressed grana membranes and have PSII with a high proportion of O(2)-evolving centers (80-90%) and efficient electron transport on the acceptor side. About 30% of the granal PSII centers were found in the margin fraction. Two-thirds of those PSII centers evolve O(2), but the electron transfer on the acceptor side is slowed. PSII from the stroma lamellae was less active. The fraction containing the entire stroma has only 43% O(2)-evolving PSII centers and slow electron transfer on the acceptor side. In contrast, PSII centers of the Y100 fraction show no O(2) evolution and were unable to reduce Q(B). Flash-induced fluorescence decay measurements in the presence of DCMU give information about the integrity of the donor side of PSII. We were able to distinguish between PSII centers with a functional Mn cluster and without any Mn cluster, and PSII centers which undergo photoactivation and have a partially assembled Mn cluster. From this analysis, we propose the existence of a PSII activity gradient in the thylakoid membrane. The gradient is directed from the stroma lamellae, where the Mn cluster is absent or inactive, via the margins where photoactivation accelerates, to the grana core domain where PSII is fully photoactivated. The photoactivation process correlates to the PSII diffusion along the membrane and is initiated in the stroma lamellae while the final steps take place in the appressed regions of the grana core. The margin domain is seemingly very important in this process.

Thylakoids isolated from tobacco were fragmented by sonication and the vesicles so obtained were separated by partitioning in aqueous polymer two-phase systems. By this procedure, grana vesicles were separated from stroma exposed membrane vesicles. The latter vesicles could be further fractionated by countercurrent distribution, with dextran–polyethylene glycol phase systems, and divided into two main populations, tentatively named ‘stroma lamellae’ and ‘end membrane’. Both these vesicle preparations have high chlorophyll a/b ratio, high photosystem (PS) I and low PS II content, suggesting their origin from stroma exposed regions of the thylakoid. The two vesicle populations have been compared with respect to biochemical composition and photosynthetic activity. The ‘end membrane’ has a higher chlorophyll a/b ratio (5.7 vs. 4.7), higher P700 content (4.7 vs. 3.3 mmol/mol of chlorophyll). The ‘end membrane’ has the lowest PS II content, the ratio PS I/PS II being more than 10, as shown by EPR measurements. The PS II in both fractions is of the β-type. The decay of fluorescence is different for the two populations, the ‘stroma lamellae’ showing a very slow decay even in the presence of K3Fe(CN)6 as an acceptor. The two vesicle populations have very different surface properties: the end membranes prefer the upper phase much more than the stroma lamellae, a fact which was utilized for their separation. Arguments are presented which support the suggestion that the two vesicle populations originate from the grana end membranes and the stroma lamellae, respectively.

Thylakoids of most plants are spatially differentiated into stroma lamellae and grana stacks. According to studies on the development of the thylakoid membrane, the stroma lamellae are formed first from the inner membrane of proplastids under light illumination and serve as precursors for the formation of granal stacks which are built-up through multiple-stage development. Hitherto, the necessity of grana-stack formation is not fully understood [1]. It has also been demonstrated that the membrane organization of chloroplasts is changeable, accompanying certain environmental stimuli during long-term acclimation of plants to the surroundings [2]. The ratio between the grana stacks and the stroma lamellae in chloroplast therefore is a dynamic feature [2]. In this communication, it is reported that (I) Dimorphotheca pluvialis (DP), which originally grows at African desert areas has very poor membrane stacking in chloroplast but possesses a full photochemical capacit (II) Supplementary UV-B irradiation during plant growth causes remarkable increment in membrane stacking of the thylakoids isolated from this plant species.

Spinach thylakoids were separated into grana core, grana margin, and two different stromal lamella fractions in the absence of detergents. The levels of all light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding (LHC) proteins were determined in all fractions, and were normalised to the amount of Photosystem I (PS I) and Photosystem II (PS II) centres. PS Iβ in the stroma lamellae was found to have a full complement of Lhca polypeptides and, probably, one attached LHC II trimer. PS Iα binds additional LHC II trimers, but PS I centres located in the inner parts of the grana stack lack Lhca1 and are depleted in Lhca4. PS IIβ, found in grana margins and stroma lamellae, seems to associate one monomer each of Lhcb4, Lhcb5 and Lhcb6 (CP29, CP26 and CP24, respectively) and one LHC II trimer consisting of two Lhcb1 and one Lhcb3 subunit. PS IIα has additional LHC II trimers (consisting of Lhcb1 and Lhcb2) attached. We also find evidence for the existence of both PS I and PS II centres in the extreme stroma (probably centres being synthesised or repaired), that lack all LHC proteins.

Thylakoids from the green alga, Dunaliella salina, were fragmented by sonication and the appressed grasna membranes separated from stroma lamellae by partitioning in aqueous two-phase systems. The concentration and antenna size of Photosystem I in the two membrane domains were determined for cultures grown at three different light intensities. Although the antenna size of both PS is decreased with increasing growth irradiance, the antenna size of Photosystem I in the grana was approximately 25–30% greater than the antenna size of Photosystem I in the stroma lamellae. Counter-current distribution analysis of sonicated thylakoids revealed that the amount of stroma lamellae increased whereas the amount of the stacked membranes decreased at higher growth irradiance. The overall decrease in the antenna size of PS I, in D. salina, at higher light intensities can therefore be explained by the combined effect of a decrease in the antenna size of Photosystem I, both in the grana and the stroma lamellae, and a relative increase in the amount of stroma lamellae which has smaller Photosystem I antennae than the Photosystem I centers found in the grana. Light-induced protein phosphorylation increased the relative amount of the stroma lamella fraction. This is interpreted as a result of partial unstacking of the grana. It is suggested that this may be a mechanism for increasing the cyclic electron transport around Photosystem I.

Benzoyl dextran with a degree of substitution of 0.18 was synthesized by reacting dextran T500 with benzoyl chloride. A new type of aqueous two-phase system composed of benzoyl dextran as bottom phase polymer and the random copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide (Ucon 50-HB-5100) as top phase polymer has been formed. The phase diagram for the system Ucon 50-HB-5100-benzoyl dextran with a degree of substitution of 0.18 was determined at room temperature. This two-phase system has been used to purify 3-phosphoglycerate kinase from bakers' yeast. The top-phase polymer (Ucon) can be separated from target enzyme by increasing the temperature. The bottom-phase polymer (benzyol dextran) could be recovered by addition of salt. Yeast homogenate was partitioned in a primary Ucon 50-HB-5100-benzoyl dextran aqueous two-phase system. After phase separation the top phase was removed and temperature-induced phase separation was used for formation of a water phase and a Ucon-rich phase. The benzoyl dextran-enriched bottom phase from the primary system was diluted, and the polymer was separated from water by addition of Na2SO4.

Spinach thylakoids, grana vesicles, stroma lamellae vesicles and also isolated cytochrome bf complex, were analysed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis employing isoelectric focusing in the first dimension and sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the second dimension. About 100 thylakoid membrane proteins were resolved. In all cases the Rieske FeS protein separated into two polypeptide spots having the isoelectric points of 5.1 and 5.4, respectively. The Rieske FeS protein was identified by immunoblot analysis and by microsequences of the first 23 N-terminal amino acids. The intensity of the Coomassie brilliant blue stain of the two spots was stronger for the Rieske FeS protein of the grana vesicles than for that of the stroma lamellae vesicles.

The cytochrome bf complex was isolated from spinach thylakoids, and also from separated grana and stroma lamellae vesicles, by a procedure involving NaBr washing, detergent treatment and centrifugation in sucrose gradients. The resulting complex from all three types of membranes, were almost completely devoid of chlorophyll and carotenoids, The complexes have kinase activity towards histone LII-S and contain a 64 kDa protein claimed to be a kinase. Electrophoretic analyses indicate that the complexes are in dimeric form and composed of six polypeptides with molecular masses of 34/33, 23, 20, 17, 12 and 4 kDa. The complexes contain two moles cytochrome b(6) per mole cytochrome f and one mole Rieske FeS. The 17 kDa and 4 kDa polypeptides are the so called subunit 4 and 5 respectively. The 12 kDa protein was identified as plastocyanin by immunoblotting. Plastocyanin and the 4 kDa protein were present in the cytochrome bf complex even after a second repeated sucrose density gradient centrifugation.The sucrose gradient sedimentation pattern was different for the grana and stroma lamellae complexes. The complex from the stroma lamellae arrives at a higher density than the grana complex. Furthermore, the gradient centrifugation diagram of the stroma lamellae consists of one main peak while the diagram of the grana complex shows two peaks. There is significantly more plastocyanin and 4 kDa protein in the bf complex isolated from stroma lamellae than from grana. In addition there is a 15 kDa protein in the complex isolated from the grana vesicles. Immunoblot analysis after crosslinking indicated that the 4 kDa protein and the plastocyanin are associated in the cytochrome bf complex. The oxidoreductase activity is higher (about 50%) in the cytochrome bf complex from the grana than from the stroma lamellae fraction. We suggest that a difference in composition of the cytochrome bf complex between the two membranes might be important in the regulation of cyclic and non cyclic electron flow.