Journal article
SPIRE—a software tool for bicontinuous phase recognition: application for plastid cubic membranes
Plant Physiology, Vol.188(1), pp.81-96
2021
Abstract
Bicontinuous membranes in cell organelles epitomize nature’s ability to create complex functional nanostructures. Like their synthetic counterparts, these membranes are characterized by continuous membrane sheets draped onto topologically complex saddle-shaped surfaces with a periodic network-like structure. Their structure sizes, (around 50–500 nm), and fluid nature make transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the analysis method of choice to decipher their nanostructural features. Here we present a tool, Surface Projection Image Recognition Environment (SPIRE), to identify bicontinuous structures from TEM sections through interactive identification by comparison to mathematical “nodal surface” models. The prolamellar body (PLB) of plant etioplasts is a bicontinuous membrane structure with a key physiological role in chloroplast biogenesis. However, the determination of its spatial structural features has been held back by the lack of tools enabling the identification and quantitative analysis of symmetric membrane conformations. Using our SPIRE tool, we achieved a robust identification of the bicontinuous diamond surface as the dominant PLB geometry in angiosperm etioplasts in contrast to earlier long-standing assertions in the literature. Our data also provide insights into membrane storage capacities of PLBs with different volume proportions and hint at the limited role of a plastid ribosome localization directly inside the PLB grid for its proper functioning. This represents an important step in understanding their as yet elusive structure–function relationship.
Details
- Title
- SPIRE—a software tool for bicontinuous phase recognition: application for plastid cubic membranes
- Authors/Creators
- T.M. Hain (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityM. Bykowski (Author/Creator) - University of WarsawM. Saba (Author/Creator) - Adolphe Merkle InstituteM.E. Evans (Author/Creator) - University of PotsdamG.E. Schröder-Turk (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityŁ. Kowalewska (Author/Creator) - University of Warsaw
- Publication Details
- Plant Physiology, Vol.188(1), pp.81-96
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists.
- Identifiers
- 991005543218507891
- Copyright
- © 2021 The Authors
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Mathematics, Statistics, Chemistry and Physics
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.171 Photoproductivity
- 3.171.129 Photosynthesis Mechanisms
- Web Of Science research areas
- Plant Sciences
- ESI research areas
- Plant & Animal Science