cyanelle thylakoid

GO:0009843 · Membrane organelle · Membrane bounded organelle · Proposed

A thylakoid found in a cyanelle, which is a type of plastid found in certain algae. The cyanelle contains a photosynthetic membrane resembling that of cyanobacteria. [GO:0009843]

Part of: cyanelle (GO:0009842)

Has part: cyanelle thylakoid lumen (GO:0033114); cyanelle thylakoid membrane (GO:0033115)

Xrefs: uniprot.location:SL-0277 — Cyanelle thylakoid

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
cyanelle thylakoid membrane	Lipid	part of	`GO:0033115`			UNKNOWN	Internal cyanelle thylakoid membrane system that bounds the thylakoid lumen and carries photosynthetic light-reaction machinery. `GO:0033115` GO:0033115 defines the cyanelle thylakoid membrane as the lipid bilayer membrane of any cyanelle thylakoid. `uniprot.location:SL-0085` — Cyanelle thylakoid membrane UniProt SL-0085 maps directly to GO:0033115 and describes the same cyanelle thylakoid lipid bilayer.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:38254 Glaucocystophyceae — COMMON: The cyanelle thylakoid is the internal photosynthetic membrane system of glaucophyte cyanelles. [uniprot.location:SL-0277 — Cyanelle thylakoid]
NCBITaxon:2762 Cyanophora paradoxa — COMMON: Cyanophora paradoxa cyanelles contain internal thylakoid membranes characterized by electron microscopy. [DOI:10.1104/pp.71.2.409]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:2762 Cyanophora paradoxa — Model glaucophyte used for ultrastructural studies of cyanelle thylakoid and envelope membranes. [DOI:10.1104/pp.71.2.409]

Functions

photosynthesis, light reaction GO:0019684 — The cyanelle thylakoid is an internal membrane system that supports photosynthetic light reactions.
- GO:0009843 GO:0009843 defines the cyanelle thylakoid as a photosynthetic membrane system resembling that of cyanobacteria.
- uniprot.location:SL-0277 — Cyanelle thylakoid UniProt SL-0277 describes cyanelle thylakoids as internal interconnected photosynthetic membranes.

Mechanism graphs

Cyanelle thylakoid topology (FUNCTION)

The cyanelle thylakoid contains a lumen bounded by thylakoid membrane, and the membrane supports photosynthetic light reactions.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
cyanelle thylakoid membrane	bounds	cyanelle thylakoid lumen	`GO:0033114` GO:0033114 identifies the cyanelle thylakoid lumen as the compartment bounded by cyanelle thylakoid membranes. `uniprot.location:SL-0084` — Cyanelle thylakoid lumen UniProt SL-0084 describes the cyanelle thylakoid lumen as the compartment bounded by the thylakoid membranes.
cyanelle thylakoid membrane	supports	photosynthesis, light reaction	`GO:0009843` GO:0009843 defines the cyanelle thylakoid as a photosynthetic membrane resembling that of cyanobacteria. `uniprot.location:SL-0277` — Cyanelle thylakoid UniProt SL-0277 describes the cyanelle thylakoid as an internal system of interconnected photosynthetic membranes.

Evidence

GO:0009843 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for cyanelle thylakoid.
GO:0009579 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for thylakoid, the generic photosynthetic membrane-system parent.
GO:0031976 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for plastid thylakoid, the plastid-specific thylakoid parent.
GO:0009842 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the cyanelle that contains this thylakoid.
GO:0033114 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for cyanelle thylakoid lumen.
GO:0033115 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for cyanelle thylakoid membrane.
uniprot.location:SL-0277 — Cyanelle thylakoid UniProt Subcellular Location entry SL-0277 maps Cyanelle thylakoid to GO:0009843, places it under plastid thylakoid and cyanelle, and describes it as an internal system of interconnected photosynthetic membranes.
uniprot.location:SL-0084 — Cyanelle thylakoid lumen UniProt Subcellular Location entry SL-0084 maps Cyanelle thylakoid lumen to GO:0033114 and places it under cyanelle thylakoid.
uniprot.location:SL-0085 — Cyanelle thylakoid membrane UniProt Subcellular Location entry SL-0085 maps Cyanelle thylakoid membrane to GO:0033115 and places it under cyanelle thylakoid.
DOI:10.1104/pp.71.2.409 Giddings, Wasmann and Staehelin 1983, Structure of the Thylakoids and Envelope Membranes of the Cyanelles of Cyanophora paradoxa, Plant Physiology.

Curation history

2026-09-12T22:00:47Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-12T22:01:36Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added thylakoid and plastid-thylakoid parentage, cyanelle parthood, exact lumen and membrane parts, the UniProt SL-0277 xref, a GO-grounded cyanelle thylakoid membrane component, glaucophyte distribution, a light-reaction function, and a nonmechanistic thylakoid topology graph.
2026-09-12T22:08:32Z codex · ADDRESS_REVIEW — Resolved #712 by reclassifying the whole cyanelle thylakoid record as MEMBRANE_BOUNDED_ORGANELLE while keeping GO:0033115 cyanelle thylakoid membrane as the exact membrane component.
2026-09-21T10:04:10Z codex · REPLACED_UNREADABLE_EVIDENCE — Replaced unreadable Jackson et al. 2015 Glaucophyta evidence with reachable cyanelle evidence for #1231.

Source: data/structures/membrane_organelle/cyanelle_thylakoid.yaml