Chromoplasts of Palisota barteri, and the molecular structure of chromoplast tubules

Abstract

Ripe, deep-red fruits of Palisota barteri contain tubulous chromoplasts which develop from unpigmented leucoplasts. These plastids contain, besides large spherical inclusion bodies, numerous osmiophilic globules which, in the course of ripening, frequently show transition states to tubular structures. The tubules contain, in all stages of their development, acylated β-citraurin, which is also the main pigment of Citrus fruits. The tubular structures have been isolated, fragmented by French-pressure treatment, and separated into three fractions on sucrose gradients. The lightest fraction (1.044 g·cm(-3)) contained thick fragments ('saccules') with diameters of 50-60 nm, whereas the heaviest (1.083 g·cm(-3)) consisted of tubules 20-25 nm in diameter. The relative amounts of polar lipids, proteins, and carotenoids of the different fractions are consistent with a molecular structure model of tubules and saccules, according to which a wick of longitudinally oriented carotenoid molecules of variable thickness is coated by a monolayer of polar lipids and proteins. High-resolution 'negative-stainings' showed the surface of the tubules to be covered with globular particles of about 6 nm diameter. The main protein of all fractions is a 30-kDa polypeptide; it is assumed that the particles are oligomers of this specific protein.