Control of protein diffusion within thylakoids

Miroslava Herbstová, PhD (IPMB) is co-author of paper, originated during her post-doctoral fellowship at Washington State University. Paper was published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA) in December 2011.

In higher plants, light stage of photosythesis takes place in thylakoids - specialized membrane systems of chloroplasts. Research on these structures revealed that their volume expands significantly in the light. Hereby, naturally compact inner environment of thylakoids becomes more permeable for different kind of proteins suggesting facilitatation of protein mediated electron transport during light stage of photosynthesis and also the repair of the damaged photosystem complexes themselves.

Kirchhoff H., Hall C., Wood M., Herbstova M., Tsabari O., Nevo R., Charuvi D., Shimoni E., Reich Z., 2011. Dynamic control of protein diffusion within the granal thylakoid lumen. PNAS 108(50), 20248-20253. On-line text