Abstract
Chlorophyll molecules are major components of thylakoid membranes and play important roles in photosynthesis. It is well know that chlorophyll accumulation is closely related to thylakoid formation. In etiolated seedlings, chlorophyll is absent and thylakoid membranes are not form. Development of thylakoid membranes are accompanied by chlorophyll accumulation during greening. On the contrary, degradation of chlorophyll molecules and thylakoid membranes is observed during senescence. However, we do not know whether chlorophyll metabolism regulates thylakoid formation or formatin of thylakoid membranes regulate chlorophyll metabolism.
In order to clarify the roles of chlorophyll metabolism in thylakoid formation, we examined the mutants of chlorophyll metabolism. These experiments suggest that chlorophyll metabolism regulates the thylakoid formation. I will discuss the mechanisms in this symposium.
