Pyrenoid loss in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii causes limitations in CO2 supply, but not thylakoid operating efficiency.

ABSTRACT: The pyrenoid of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a microcompartment situated in the centre of the cup-shaped chloroplast, containing up to 90% of cellular Rubisco. Traversed by a network of dense, knotted thylakoid tubules, the pyrenoid has been proposed to influence thylakoid biogenesis and ultrastructure. Mutants that are unable to assemble a pyrenoid matrix, due to expressing a vascular plant version of the Rubisco small subunit, exhibit severe growth and photosynthetic defects and have an ineffective carbon-concentrating mechanism (CCM). The present study set out to determine the cause of photosynthetic limitation in these pyrenoid-less lines. We tested whether electron transport and light use were compromised as a direct structural consequence of pyrenoid loss o

SUBMITTER: Caspari OD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5853600 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature