Location of Chlorophyll in Rhodospirillum rubrum

Abstract

If cells of R. rubrum are broken by sonic and ballistic disruption, the chlorophyll is not found in discrete cytoplasmic structures, but is located in a more extensive structure of the cell (the intracytoplasmic membrane). Direct electron microscopy of sonically disrupted cells of R. rubrum and stereo-electron microscopy of osmotically shocked cells reveal the presence of a tubular network of internal membranes originating from the periphery of the cell.