plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane

GO:0031676 · Membrane organelle · Membrane · Proposed

The pigmented membrane of a plasma membrane-derived thylakoid. [GO:0031676]

Synonyms: plasma membrane thylakoid membrane; cellular thylakoid membrane

Part of: bacterial thylakoid (GO:0030075)

Has part: plasma membrane-derived photosystem I (GO:0030094); plasma membrane-derived thylakoid photosystem II (GO:0030096)

Xrefs: uniprot.location:SL-0045 — Cellular thylakoid membrane

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

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Essential	Role
plasma membrane-derived thylakoid lipid matrix	Lipid	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	ESSENTIAL	Pigmented bacterial thylakoid lipid matrix that bounds the lumen and embeds the cyanobacterial photosynthetic electron-transport complexes. `GO:0031676` GO:0031676 identifies the pigmented membrane of a plasma membrane-derived thylakoid. `GO:0031979` GO:0031979 defines the lumen as enclosed by a plasma membrane-derived thylakoid. `DOI:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-120823-022747` Perez-Boerema et al. 2024 review cyanobacterial thylakoid membranes as lipid-containing photosynthetic membranes.
plasma membrane-derived thylakoid photosystem II	Protein complex	part of	`GO:0030096`	UNKNOWN	P680 photosystem II complex in the bacterial thylakoid membrane that oxidizes water and reduces plastoquinone. `GO:0030096` GO:0030096 defines the plasma membrane-derived thylakoid photosystem II complex. `DOI:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-120823-022747` Perez-Boerema et al. 2024 place PSII among the cyanobacterial thylakoid membrane electron-transport complexes.
cytochrome b6f complex	Protein complex	part of	`GO:0009512`	UNKNOWN	Thylakoid membrane complex that oxidizes plastoquinol and contributes to proton translocation across the bacterial thylakoid membrane. `DOI:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-120823-022747` Perez-Boerema et al. 2024 place cytochrome b6f in the thylakoid electron-transport chain between PSII and PSI.
plasma membrane-derived photosystem I	Protein complex	part of	`GO:0030094`	UNKNOWN	Photosystem I complex in the bacterial thylakoid membrane that receives electrons downstream of cytochrome b6f. `GO:0030094` GO:0030094 defines plasma membrane-derived photosystem I as a complex in the bacterial thylakoid. `DOI:10.1016/j.molp.2017.09.019` Casella et al. 2017 mapped PSI distribution and mobility in native Synechocystis thylakoid membranes.
proton-transporting ATP synthase complex	Protein complex	part of	`GO:0045259`	UNKNOWN	Membrane enzyme that uses the trans-thylakoid proton motive force to synthesize ATP. `DOI:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-120823-022747` Perez-Boerema et al. 2024 include ATP synthase among the thylakoid complexes that convert light energy into ATP and reducing power.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:1117 Cyanobacteriota — COMMON: Plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membranes occur in most cyanobacteria, while Gloeobacter-like lineages lack internal thylakoids and perform photosynthesis at the plasma membrane. [DOI:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-120823-022747]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:1148 Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 — Cyanobacterial model used to probe de novo internal thylakoid membrane formation and thylakoid membrane dynamics. [DOI:10.1038/s41467-021-23680-1]

Functions

photosynthetic electron transport chain GO:0009767 — The plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane organizes PSII, cytochrome b6f, PSI and mobile electron carriers so light-driven electron transport can build a trans-thylakoid proton motive force.
- DOI:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-120823-022747 Perez-Boerema et al. 2024 review cyanobacterial thylakoid electron transport as the membrane process that converts light into chemical energy.

Mechanism graphs

Bacterial thylakoid membrane topology (FUNCTION)

The plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane bounds the cyanobacterial thylakoid lumen and houses photosynthetic electron-transport complexes.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane	bounds	plasma membrane-derived thylakoid lumen	`GO:0031676` GO:0031676 identifies the pigmented membrane of a plasma membrane-derived thylakoid. `GO:0031979` GO:0031979 identifies the enclosed plasma membrane-derived thylakoid lumen.
plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane	houses	plasma membrane-derived thylakoid photosystem II	`DOI:10.1016/j.molp.2017.09.019` Casella et al. 2017 mapped PSII in native Synechocystis thylakoid membranes.
plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane	houses	cytochrome b6f complex	`DOI:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-120823-022747` Perez-Boerema et al. 2024 review cytochrome b6f as a major thylakoid electron-transport complex.
plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane	houses	plasma membrane-derived photosystem I	`DOI:10.1016/j.molp.2017.09.019` Casella et al. 2017 mapped PSI distribution and mobility in native Synechocystis thylakoid membranes.
plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane	supports	photosynthetic electron transport chain	`DOI:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-120823-022747` Perez-Boerema et al. 2024 review thylakoid electron transport across PSII, cytochrome b6f and PSI.

Discussions

CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve an exact source-neutral grounding for the lipid matrix constituent of the plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane. GO:0031676 identifies the complete bacterial thylakoid membrane, but the lipid-matrix constituent is intentionally left as a reviewed-label-only component until an exact source-neutral lipid or membrane-constituent CURIE is curated.
INTERPRETATION (RESOLVED): Keep the plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane distinct from the generic thylakoid membrane record. GO:0031676 denotes the bacterial plasma membrane-derived child membrane, while GO:0042651 denotes the generic pigmented membrane of any thylakoid and also parents plastid thylakoid membranes.

Evidence

GO:0031676 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for plasma membrane-derived thylakoid membrane.
GO:0042651 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for thylakoid membrane, the broader plasma-membrane- and plastid-independent parent.
GO:0030075 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the bacterial thylakoid that contains this membrane.
GO:0031979 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the lumen bounded by this membrane.
GO:0030094 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for plasma membrane-derived photosystem I.
GO:0030096 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for plasma membrane-derived thylakoid photosystem II.
GO:0009767 Gene Ontology biological-process term for photosynthetic electron transport chain.
uniprot.location:SL-0045 — Cellular thylakoid membrane UniProt Subcellular Location SL-0045 maps Cellular thylakoid membrane to GO:0031676.
DOI:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-120823-022747 Perez-Boerema et al. 2024, Evolution of Thylakoid Structural Diversity, Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology.
DOI:10.1016/j.molp.2017.09.019 Casella et al. 2017, Dissecting the Native Architecture and Dynamics of Cyanobacterial Photosynthetic Machinery, Molecular Plant.
DOI:10.1038/s41467-021-23680-1 Huokko et al. 2021, Probing the biogenesis pathway and dynamics of thylakoid membranes, Nature Communications.

Curation history

2026-09-14T01:36:05Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-14T01:36:57Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added GO and UniProt synonymy, thylakoid-membrane parentage, bacterial thylakoid parthood, exact PSI and PSII has_part links, a reviewed-label-only lipid-matrix component, cyanobacterial photosynthetic complexes, Cyanobacteriota scope, a Synechocystis example, photosynthetic electron-transport function, literature and GO evidence, a nonmechanistic topology graph, a lipid-grounding TODO, and a resolved generic-versus-bacterial interpretation.
2026-09-14T01:48:37Z codex · ADDRESS_PR_REVIEW — Resolved #864 by reciting the Synechocystis canonical example to the Huokko et al. 2021 de novo thylakoid membrane formation claim.
2026-09-20T21:55:39Z codex · ADDRESSED_REVIEW — Retyped the PSII, cytochrome b6f, and PSI graph nodes from GENE_OR_PROTEIN to STRUCTURE.

Source: data/structures/membrane_organelle/plasma_membrane_derived_thylakoid_membrane.yaml