page_title: Thylakoid
section_title: Function
hierarchical_section_title: Thylakoid / Function
context_page_description: Thylakoids are membrane-bound compartments inside chloroplasts and cyanobacteria. They are the site of the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis. Thylakoids consist of a thylakoid membrane surrounding a thylakoid lumen. Chloroplast thylakoids frequently form stacks of disks referred to as grana. Grana are connected by intergranal/ stroma thylakoids, which join granum stacks together as a single functional compartment.
context_section_description: The thylakoids are the site of the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis. These include light-driven water oxidation and oxygen evolution, the pumping of protons across the thylakoid membranes coupled with the electron transport chain of the photosystems and cytochrome complex, and ATP synthesis by the ATP synthase utilizing the generated proton gradient.
caption: Light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis at the thylakoid membrane