Showing papers by "Jun Minagawa published in 2010"

Isolation of the elusive supercomplex that drives cyclic electron flow in photosynthesis.

Abstract: Photosynthetic light reactions establish electron flow in the chloroplast's thylakoid membranes, leading to the production of the ATP and NADPH that participate in carbon fixation. Two modes of electron flow exist-linear electron flow (LEF) from water to NADP(+) via photosystem (PS) II and PSI in series and cyclic electron flow (CEF) around PSI (ref. 2). Although CEF is essential for satisfying the varying demand for ATP, the exact molecule(s) and operational site are as yet unclear. In the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the electron flow shifts from LEF to CEF on preferential excitation of PSII (ref. 3), which is brought about by an energy balancing mechanism between PSII and PSI (state transitions). Here, we isolated a protein supercomplex composed of PSI with its own light-harvesting complex (LHCI), the PSII light-harvesting complex (LHCII), the cytochrome b(6)f complex (Cyt bf), ferredoxin (Fd)-NADPH oxidoreductase (FNR), and the integral membrane protein PGRL1 (ref. 5) from C. reinhardtii cells under PSII-favouring conditions. Spectroscopic analyses indicated that on illumination, reducing equivalents from downstream of PSI were transferred to Cyt bf, whereas oxidised PSI was re-reduced by reducing equivalents from Cyt bf, indicating that this supercomplex is engaged in CEF (Supplementary Fig. 1). Thus, formation and dissociation of the PSI-LHCI-LHCII-FNR-Cyt bf-PGRL1 supercomplex not only controlled the energy balance of the two photosystems, but also switched the mode of photosynthetic electron flow.

Live-cell imaging of photosystem II antenna dissociation during state transitions.

Abstract: Plants and green algae maintain efficient photosynthesis under changing light environments by adjusting their light-harvesting capacity. It has been suggested that energy redistribution is brought about by shuttling the light-harvesting antenna complex II (LHCII) between photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI) (state transitions), but such molecular remodeling has never been demonstrated in vivo. Here, using chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, we visualized phospho-LHCII dissociation from PSII in live cells of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Induction of energy redistribution in wild-type cells led to an increase in, and spreading of, a 250-ps lifetime chlorophyll fluorescence component, which was not observed in the stt7 mutant incapable of state transitions. The 250-ps component was also the dominant component in a mutant containing the light-harvesting antenna complexes but no photosystems. The appearance of the 250-ps component was accompanied by activation of LHCII phosphorylation, supporting the visualization of phospho-LHCII dissociation. Possible implications of the unbound phospho-LHCII on energy dissipation are discussed.