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Updated: Apr 11, 2026

Isolation of Physiologically Active Thylakoids and Their Use in Energy-Dependent Protein Transport Assays
Published on: September 28, 2018
Non-contact intracellular binding of chloroplasts in vivo
Yuchao Li1, Hongbao Xin1, Xiaoshuai Liu1
1State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Abstract:
Non-contact intracellular binding and controllable manipulation of chloroplasts in vivo was demonstrated using an optical fiber probe. Launching a 980-nm laser beam into a fiber, which was placed about 3 μm above the surface of a living plant (Hydrilla verticillata) leaf, enabled stable binding of different numbers of chloroplasts, as well as their arrangement into one-dimensional chains and two-dimensional arrays inside the leaf without damaging the chloroplasts. Additionally, the formed chloroplast chains were controllably transported inside the living cells. The optical force exerted on the chloroplasts was calculated to explain the experimental results. This method provides a flexible method for studying intracellular organelle interaction with highly organized organelle-organelle contact in vivo in a non-contact manner.
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