Neutrons reveal the dynamics of leaf thylakoids in living plants

Stingaciu, Laura-Roxana; O’Neill, Hugh; Liu, Chung-Hao; Evans, Barbara R.; Nagy, Gergely

doi:10.1038/s41598-025-22747-z

Title: Neutrons reveal the dynamics of leaf thylakoids in living plants

Journal Article · Wed Nov 05 00:00:00 UTC 2025 · Scientific Reports

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-22747-z · OSTI ID:3004306

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Chemical Sciences Division

The study is the first known exploration of photosynthetic membranes dynamics in living plants by high resolution quasielastic neutron scattering spectroscopy. We investigated the mobility and flexibility of thylakoid membranes in common duckweed (Landoltia punctata) and identified dynamics across various length scales corresponding to individual membranes and membranes stack. We employed classical models typically used to study lipid bilayers to characterize the undulation modes and rigidity of the membranes and reveal how structural variations influence the observed complex dynamics. Our findings show that the stacks of thylakoids in duckweed behave as rigid systems, exhibiting an effective bending coefficient in the lower range associated with surfactant membranes. In contrast, the single thylakoid leaflets display greater apparent flexibility and are well situated within the bi-continuous surfactant phase dynamics. While our observations enhance the understanding of the intricate architecture and mobility of photosynthetic cellular machinery, they also highlight the limitations of applying ideal lipid membranes models to describe complex biological systems. This work opens more questions and the need for further investigations across extended length and time scales, as well as the importance of rigorous sample preparation and experimental control.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 3004306

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 15; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Neutrons reveal the dynamics of leaf thylakoids in living plants

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