Thylakoid formation from coiled lamellar bodies during carposporogenesis in Faucheocolax attenuata Setch....

Chloroplast development during carposporogenesis in the parasitic red alga Faucheocolax attenuata Setch. was studied by electron microscopy. Proplastids are usually found in the peripheral cytoplasm of young carpospores and are characterized by the presence of portions of a peripheral thylakoid and coiled lamellar bodies that range in size up to 0.5 micron. One type of coiled lamellar body occurs in the peripheral region of the proplastid and is continuous with the peripheral thylakoid, while the other type is found in the central portion of the stroma. These coiled lamellae separate and expand, adding membranes to both thylakoid systems, thereby functioning as thylakoid-forming bodies. As each coiled lamella unravels, it forms an undulated double-membraned structure having the same width as a thylakoid. After substantial expansion, the developing thylakoids begin to straighten and assume a parallel orientation to each other, thus becoming mature thylakoids. Small coiled lamellae often persist in mature carpospore chloroplasts, and are utilized in additional thylakoid formation during carpospore germination.