R. P. Levine

[86] Methods for the study of chloroplast membranes of wild-type and mutant strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardi

Publisher Summary The structural organization of the chloroplast membranes from C. reinhardi can be assessed by electron microscopy of material that has been thin-sectioned, negatively stained, or freeze-etched. When a gene mutation has as its primary effect the synthesis of a mutant protein, secondary and higher order effects commonly result as well so that the mutant phenotype comes to differ from the normal or “wild” phenotype in a number of respects. Such pleiotropy is particularly common in the case of mutant organisms whose chloroplast membranes are affected, because the molecular composition, structural organization, and biochemical and photochemical functions of these membranes are highly interrelated. The chapter describes some approaches that have been taken to analyze the structure and the composition of chloroplast membranes from various mutant strains of the unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardi.