PURIFICATION OF INTACT CHLOROPLASTS FROM SPRUCE (PICEA-ABIES) BY FREE-FLOW ELECTROPHORESIS

Highly purified chloroplasts were isolated from spruce (Picea abies [L .] Karst.) needles by free-flow electrophoresis. The chloroplast crude suspension was separated into two structurally different populations. The two populations could not be distinguished according to their pro tein/chlorophyll ratios and protein patterns from two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The O-2 evolution, however, showed differences: the c hloroplast population deflected towards the cathode contained a major part of structurally intact chloroplasts in contrast to the population deflected towards the anode. The two populations were not contaminate d by endoplasmatic membranes or mitochondria.