Red-Light Stimulation of Prolamellar Body Recrystallization and Thylakoid Formation in Barley Etioplasts

Abstract

The etioplasts of fully dark-grown barley leaves exhibit a relatively low frequency of crystalline prolamellar bodies (ca. 16-20%). Brief red-light treatment leads to rapid disruption of all prolamellar bodies followed by a slow reformation in the subsequent dark period. When several red-light treatments are given with intervening 3-h dark periods, a marked increase in the proportion of crystalline prolamellar bodies is seen. It is suggested that this phenomenon may be associated with the regeneration of protochlorophyll. Red-light pretreatment stimulates the formation of granal thylakoids upon subsequent transfer to continuous white light. This response is correlated with the phytochrome-mediated shortening of the lag phase in chlorophyll-synthesis under identical conditions. Regular arrays of hexagonal tubules 16-19 nm in diameter have been observed often in close juxtaposition to the newly forming thylakoid membranes. These may be aggregations of Fraction I protein, although their exact nature and function is at present Unknown.