LIGHT-DEPENDENT SYNTHESIS OF CELL MEMBRANES
IN THE Brc-1 MUTANT OF CHLAMYDOMONAS REINHARDTII
G.A. Semenova,1 E.M. Chekunova,2 V.G. Ladygin 3,*
1 Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics RAS, Pushchino, Moscow region;
2 St. Petersburg State University and
3 Institute of Basic Biological Problems RAS, Pushchino, Moscow region;
* e-mail: ladyginv@rambler.ru
The structural organization of cells of the Brc-1 mutant of the unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
grown in the light and in the dark has been studied. The Brc-1 mutant contains the brc-1 mutation in
the nucleus gene LTS3. In the light, all membrane structures in mutant cells form normally and are well developed.
In the dark under heterotrophic conditions, the mutant cells grew and divided well, however, all its cell
membranes: plasmalemma, tonoplast, mitochondrial membranes, membranes of the nucleus shell and chloroplast,
thylakoids, and the membranes of dictiosomes of the Golgi apparatus were not detected. In the dark under
heterotrophic conditions, mutant cells well grow and divide. It were shown that a short-term (1—10 min) exposure
of Brc-1 mutant cells to light leads to the restoration of all above-mentioned membrane structures. Possible
reasons for the alterations of membrane structures are discussed.
Key words:
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Brc-1 mutant, chloroplast, membrane ultrastructure, light-dependent
synthesis
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