A depiction of membrane remodeling in the powerhouse of the oxygen-production (IMAGE)

Okayama University

A depiction of membrane remodeling in the powerhouse of the oxygen-production

Caption

The first step of photosynthesis, which involves converting light energy to chemical energy and producing oxygen, takes place in the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplast of a plant cell. The protein VIPP1 plays a critical role in maintaining thylakoid membrane integrity. Left: structure of VIPP1 oligomer, as revealed in this study. Right top: green chloroplasts from an aquatic plant Egeria densa, observed through bright-light microscopy. Right bottom: a protoplast cell of Arabidopsis thaliana seen through a fluorescent microscope; red signals correspond to chloroplasts and green signals correspond to VIPP1 oligomers visualized through the expression of VIPP1 fused to green fluorescent protein.

Credit

VIPP1 oligomer image from Ben Engel and this study in CellOther images from Wataru Sakamoto(Okayama University)

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