plastoglobule

GO:0010287 · Inclusion · Inclusion body · Proposed

A lipoprotein particle present in chloroplasts. [GO:0010287]

Synonyms: PG; plastoglobuli

Part of: chloroplast stroma (GO:0009570)

Xrefs: uniprot.location:SL-0217 — Plastoglobule

UniProt location names: UniProt Consortium, CC BY 4.0. Reference label and route sources.

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Stoichiometry	Essential	Role
plastoglobule lipid core	Small molecule	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)			ESSENTIAL	Hydrophobic lipid-rich interior that stores neutral lipids and prenyl lipids inside the chloroplast plastoglobule. `GO:0010287` GO:0010287 defines plastoglobules as lipoprotein particles rich in non-polar lipids and prenyl lipids. `DOI:10.1016/j.bbabio.2015.02.002` Rottet, Besagni and Kessler 2015 review plastoglobules as thylakoid-associated lipid droplets involved in chloroplast lipid metabolism.
plastoglobule lipid monolayer	Lipid	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)			ESSENTIAL	Half-unit lipid boundary surrounding the plastoglobule lipid core and coupling plastoglobules to chloroplast thylakoid membranes. `DOI:10.1105/tpc.105.039859` Austin et al. 2006 used freeze-fracture electron microscopy to show plastoglobules surrounded by a half-unit lipid membrane continuous with the thylakoid outer leaflet.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:3055 Chlamydomonas reinhardtii — COMMON: Plastoglobules are present in the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast and were resolved by in situ cryo-electron tomography. [DOI:10.7554/eLife.04889]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:3055 Chlamydomonas reinhardtii — Unicellular green alga whose native chloroplast architecture was imaged by cryo-focused ion beam milling and in situ cryo-electron tomography, revealing plastoglobules among thylakoid and pyrenoid subcompartments. [DOI:10.7554/eLife.04889]

Functions

thylakoid lipid remodeling — Plastoglobules exchange lipid metabolites with adjacent thylakoid membranes and participate in thylakoid lipid remodeling during chloroplast development and stress responses.
- DOI:10.1016/j.bbabio.2015.02.002 Rottet, Besagni and Kessler 2015 review evidence that plastoglobules participate in thylakoid lipid remodeling.

Mechanism graphs

Plastoglobule monolayer organizes lipid exchange (ASSEMBLY)

A hydrophobic plastoglobule lipid core is surrounded by a lipid monolayer that remains physically continuous with the thylakoid outer leaflet, positioning the plastoglobule to exchange lipid-derived metabolites with thylakoid membranes.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
plastoglobule lipid core	is surrounded by	plastoglobule lipid monolayer	`DOI:10.1105/tpc.105.039859` Austin et al. 2006 resolved plastoglobules as particles enclosed by a half-unit membrane.
plastoglobule lipid monolayer	is continuous with	chloroplast thylakoid membrane	`DOI:10.1105/tpc.105.039859` Austin et al. 2006 connected the plastoglobule half-unit membrane to the thylakoid outer leaflet.
plastoglobule	supports	thylakoid lipid remodeling	`DOI:10.1016/j.bbabio.2015.02.002` Rottet, Besagni and Kessler 2015 describe plastoglobules as participants in thylakoid lipid remodeling.

Evidence

GO:0010287 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for plastoglobule.
GO:0009570 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for chloroplast stroma, the immediate GO compartment that contains the plastoglobule.
GO:0009507 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for chloroplast.
uniprot.location:SL-0217 — Plastoglobule UniProt Subcellular Location entry SL-0217 maps plastoglobule to GO:0010287 and places it under chloroplast.
DOI:10.7554/eLife.04889 Engel et al. 2015 resolved the native Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast by in situ cryo-electron tomography.
DOI:10.1105/tpc.105.039859 Austin et al. 2006 showed that plastoglobules are lipoprotein subcompartments permanently coupled to thylakoid membranes.
DOI:10.1016/j.bbabio.2015.02.002 Rottet, Besagni and Kessler 2015 reviewed plastoglobule roles in thylakoid lipid remodeling.

Curation history

2026-09-12T12:52:48Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-12T12:54:17Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added chloroplast parthood, UniProt Subcellular Location xref, reviewed-label lipid core and monolayer components, Chlamydomonas taxonomic scope, a thylakoid lipid-remodeling function, record-level evidence, and a nonmechanistic plastoglobule-thylakoid graph.
2026-09-12T12:59:59Z codex · ADDRESS_REVIEW — Resolved #649 by adding the GO exact synonyms PG and plastoglobuli; resolved #650 by changing plastoglobule parthood to the immediate GO:0009570 chloroplast stroma compartment and adding GO:0009570 evidence.

Source: data/structures/inclusion/plastoglobule.yaml