The Rhodopseudomonas viridis photosynthetic membrane: arrangement in situ

Abstract

The organization of photosynthetic membranes in the cytoplasm of the photosynthetic bacterium Rh. viridis has been examined by several techniques for electron microscopy. Thin sections of membrane stacks show that the regular lattice of membrane subunits reported in other studies can be observed in thin section. Tilting of sections in the electron microscope shows that the regular lattices of several membranes overlap in a way that suggests they are in register with each other. This observation can be confirmed by freeze-fracture images in which a regular arrangement of membrane lattices can be observed, each perfectly aligned. Analysis of the spacings of membrane pairs shows that the photosynthetic membranes of Rh. viridis are very closely apposed. The mean diameter of two membranes is 160A, and the average space between two such membranes is only 42A. When a recently developed atomic level model of Rh. viridis reaction center is superimposed against these spacings, each reaction center extends from the surface of its respective membrane far enough to make contact with an apposing membrane. The limited free space between membranes and regular alignment of lattices has a number of implications for how this membrane is organized to carry out the process of energy transfer.