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Abstract

Etioplasts are photosynthetically inactive plastids that accumulate when light levels are too low for chloroplast maturation. The etioplast inner membrane consists of a paracrystalline tubular lattice and peripheral, disk-shaped membranes, respectively known as the prolamellar body and prothylakoids. These distinct membrane regions are connected into one continuous compartment. To date, no structures of protein complexes in or at etioplast membranes have been reported. Here, we used electron cryo-tomography to explore the molecular membrane landscape of pea and maize etioplasts. Our tomographic reconstructions show that ATP synthase monomers are enriched in the prothylakoids, and plastid ribosomes in the tubular lattice. The entire tubular lattice is covered by regular helical arrays of a membrane-associated protein, which we identified as the 37-kDa enzyme, light-dependent protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (LPOR). LPOR is the most abundant protein in the etioplast, where it is responsible for chlorophyll biosynthesis, photoprotection and defining the membrane geometry of the prolamellar body. Based on the 9-Å-resolution volume of the subtomogram average, we propose a structural model of membrane-associated LPOR.