Degreening of the unicellular alga Euglena gracilis: thylakoid composition, room temperature fluorescence spectra and chloroplast morphology.

Thylakoid dismantling is one of the most relevant processes occurring when chloroplasts are converted to non-photosynthetically active plastids. The process is well characterised in senescing leaves, but other systems could present different features. In this study, thylakoid dismantling has been analysed in dividing cells of the unicellular alga, Euglena gracilis, cultured in darkness.