Proteomic analysis of the thylakoid membrane in Arabidopsis in the lab versus the field

The plant chloroplast thylakoid membrane must respond to environmental variations in light intensity to maximise the efficiency of photosynthesis and minimise photo-oxidative stress. Plants respond to changing light intensity in the short-term (seconds to minutes) through altered regulation of the structure and function of existing thylakoid components, whereas long-term acclimation (hours to days) involves changes in gene expression, protein synthesis and degradation, which modulate the composition of the thylakoid membrane. Here we have investigated the long-term changes in the thylakoid membrane composition in Arabidopsis thaliana plants acclimated to a controlled laboratory environment to those acclimated to the field using quantitative label-free proteomics in combination with biochemical and structural analyses.