Showing papers on "Photosynthetic reaction centre published in 1986"

Pigment-protein interactions in the photosynthetic reaction centre from Rhodopseudomonas viridis.

Abstract: An X-ray structure analysis of the photosynthetic reaction centre from the purple bacterium Rhodopseudomonas viridis provides structural details of the pigment-binding sites. The photosynthetic pigments are found in rather hydrophobic environments provided by the subunits L and M. In addition to apolar interactions, the bacteriochlorophylls of the primary electron donor (`special pair') and the bacteriopheophytins, but not the accessory bacteriochlorophylls, form hydrogen bonds with amino acid side chains of these protein subunits. The two branches of pigments which originate at the primary electron donor, and which mark possible electron pathways across the photosynthetic membrane, are in different environments and show different hydrogen bonding with the protein: this may help to understand why only one branch of pigments is active in the light-driven electron transfer. The primary electron acceptor, a menaquinone (QA), is in a pocket formed by the M subunit and interacts with it by hydrophobic contacts and hydrogen bonds. Competitive inhibitors of the secondary quinone QB (o-phenanthroline, the herbicide terbutryn) are bound into a pocket provided by the L subunit. Apart from numerous van der Waals interactions they also form hydrogen bonds to the protein.

Femtosecond spectroscopy of electron transfer in the reaction center of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26: Direct electron transfer from the dimeric bacteriochlorophyll primary donor to the bacteriopheophytin acceptor with a time constant of 2.8 +/- 0.2 psec.

Abstract: The primary light-induced charge separation in reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26 has been investigated after excitation with laser pulses of 150 fsec duration within the longwave absorption band of the primary donor at 850 nm. An excited state of the primary donor, characterized by a broad absorption spectrum extending over the whole spectral range investigated (545-1240 nm), appeared within 100 fsec and gave rise to stimulated emission in the 870- to 1000-nm region with a 2.8-psec lifetime. The photooxidation of the primary donor, as measured at 1240 nm, and the photoreduction of the bacteriopheophytin acceptor, monitored at 545 nm and 675 nm, have been found to proceed simultaneously with a time constant of 2.8 ± 0.2 psec. Kinetics of absorbance changes at other probe wavelengths gave no indication that an accessory bacteriochlorophyll is involved as a transient electron acceptor.

The 'light' and 'medium' subunits of the photosynthetic reaction centre from Rhodopseudomonas viridis: isolation of the genes, nucleotide and amino acid sequence.

Abstract: The light'(L)andthelight′(L)andthemedium' (M) subunits of the photosynthetic reaction centre from Rhodopseudomonas viridis were isolated and their amino-terminal sequences, as well as the sequences of several chymotryptic peptides, determined. Rps. viridis DNA was cloned in the Escherichia coli plasmid pBR322. Mixed oligonucleotide probes derived from the amino acid sequences were synthesised and utilised to isolate one clone which contained the genes for the L and M subunits of the reaction centre as well as the α and β subunits of the light-harvesting complex and part of the gene for the reaction centre cytochrome. The nucleotide sequences of the L and M subunit genes and the derived amino acid sequences are presented. The L subunit consists of 273 amino acids and has a mol. wt of 30 571. The M subunit consists of 323 amino acids and has a mol. wt of 35 902. The primary structure is discussed in the light of the recently published secondary and tertiary structure which has shown that both subunits contain five membrane-spanning helices.

Femtosecond spectroscopy of excitation energy transfer and initial charge separation in the reaction center of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas viridis

Abstract: Reaction centers from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas viridis have been excited within the near-infrared absorption bands of the dimeric primary donor (P), of the “accessory” bacteriochlorophylls (B), and of the bacteriopheophytins (H) by using laser pulses of 150-fsec duration. The transfer of excitation energy between H, B, and P occurs in slightly less than 100 fsec and leads to the ultrafast formation of an excited state of P. This state is characterized by a broad absorption spectrum and exhibits stimulated emission. It decays in 2.8 ± 0.2 psec with the simultaneous oxidation of the primary donor and reduction of the bacteriopheophytin acceptor, which have been monitored at 545, 675, 815, 830, and 1310 nm. Although a transient bleaching relaxing in 400 ± 100 fsec is specifically observed upon excitation and observation in the 830-nm absorption band, we have found no indication that an accessory bacteriochlorophyll is involved as a resolvable intermediary acceptor in the primary electron transfer process.

Kinetic studies on the reaction center protein from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides: the temperature and free energy dependence of electron transfer between various quinones in the QA site and the oxidized bacteriochlorophyll dimer

Abstract: The temperature and free energy dependence of electron transfer from the primary semiquinone (Q/sub A/sup .-/) to the oxidized bacteriochlorophyll dimer ((BChl)/sub 2//sup .+/ have been measured in the reaction center protein from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides in which the native Q/sub A/, ubiquinone-10, has been removed and replaced by one of 11 substituted 9,10-anthraquinones, seven 1,4-naphthoquinones, 1,2-naphthoquinone, or five 1,4-benzoquinones. For 19 of these quinones an in situ midpoint potential value at 295 K for the Q/sub A//Q/sub A//sup .-/ couple was available providing a series of reaction center proteins with a variation of reaction -..delta..G/sup 0/ from 0.49 to 0.81 eV. The E/sub 1/2/ values for the remaining Q/sub As/ were estimated from measurements on quinones in solution, extending the reaction -..delta..G/sup 0/ range from 0.11 to 0.94 eV. The rates of intraprotein electron transfer from the various Q/sub A//sup .-/ molecules to (BChl)/sub 2//sup .+/ were found to be virtually independent of temperature from 5 to 100 K and, where measured, to decrease severalfold from 100 to 300k, a pattern well-known for native reaction center protein. Preliminary attempts have been made to model the observed dependence of the electron-transfer rate on the -..delta..G/sup 0/ and temperature in terms ofmore » current theories that describe electron-transfer reactions as nonadiabatic, multiphonon, nonradiative decay processes.« less

Iron-depleted reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26.1: characterization and reconstitution with Fe2+, Mn2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+.

Abstract: Reaction centers (RCs) from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26.1 were depleted of Fe by a simple procedure involving reversible dissociation of the H subunit. The resulting intact Fe-depleted RCs contained 0.1-0.2 Fe per RC as determined from atomic absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Fe-depleted RCs that have no metal ion occupying the Fe site differed from native RCs in the following respects: (1) the rate of electron transfer from QA- to QB exhibited nonexponential kinetics with the majority of RCs having a rate constant slower by only a factor of approximately 2, (2) the efficiency of light-induced charge separation (DQA----D+QA-) produced by a saturating flash decreased to 63%, and (3) QA appeared readily reducible to QA2-. Various divalent metal ions were subsequently incorporated into the Fe site. The electron transfer characteristics of Fe-depleted RCs reconstituted with Fe2+, Mn2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ were essentially the same as those of native RCs. These results demonstrate that neither Fe2+ nor any divalent metal ion is required for rapid electron transfer from QA- to QB. However, the presence of a metal ion in the Fe site is necessary to establish the characteristic, native, electron-transfer properties of QA. The lack of a dominant role of Fe2+ or other divalent metals in the observed rate of electron transfer from QA- to QB suggests that a rate-limiting step (for example, a protonation event or a light-induced structural change) precedes electron transfer.

Cytochrome c2 is not essential for photosynthetic growth of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata

Abstract: The structural gene for cytochrome c2 (cycA) of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas capsulata has been cloned, and the nucleotide and deduced polypeptide sequences have been determined. Compared with the known amino acid sequence of the purified cytochrome c2, the nucleotide sequence corresponding to the N-terminal part of the cycA gene product indicates the presence of a putative 21 amino acid signal sequence. Thus, cytochrome c2 may be synthesized as a precursor which is processed during its secretion to the periplasm. Insertion and insertion-deletion mutations were constructed in vitro and the chromosomal cycA+ allele of a wild-type strain was replaced with these mutations by homologous recombination to yield c2- mutants of R. capsulata. The c2- mutants are stable, and they can grow by photosynthesis and by respiration. Since cytochrome c2 is the primary electron donor to the reaction center during photosynthesis, the ability of these mutants to grow photosynthetically indicates that an alternative way(s) of reducing the oxidized reaction center must exist in R. capsulata. One candidate for this role may be the membrane-bound cytochrome c1.

Mechanism of photoinhibition: photochemical reaction center inactivation in system II of chloroplasts

Abstract: Photoinhibition of photosynthesis is manifested at the level of the leaf as a loss of CO2 fixation and at the level of the chloroplast thylakoid membrane as a loss of photosystem II electron-transport capacity. At the photosystem II level, photoinhibition is manifested by a lowered chlorophyll a variable fluorescence yield, by a lowered amplitude of the light-induced absorbance change at 320 nm (ΔA320) and 540-minus-550 nm (ΔA540–550), attributed to inhibition of the photoreduction of the primary plastoquinone QA molecule. A correlation of the kinetics of variable fluorescence yield loss with the inhibition of QA photoreduction suggested that photoinhibited reaction centers are incapable of generating a stable charge separation but are highly efficient in the trapping and non-photochemical dissipation of absorbed light. The direct effect of photoinhibition on primary photochemical parameters of photosystem II suggested a permanent reaction center modification the nature of which remains to be determined.

Light-Harvesting Function in the Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum: II. Distribution of Excitation Energy between the Photosystems

Abstract: The distribution of excitation energy between photosystems I and II (PSI and PSII) was investigated in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Bohlin) using light-induced changes in fluorescence yield and rate of modulated O(2) evolution. The intensity dependence of the fast fluorescence rise in dark adapted cells (+/-DCMU) suggests that light absorbed by the major antenna complex was not delivered preferentially to PSII but is more equally distributed between the photosystems. Reversible, slow fluorescence yield changes measured in the absence of DCMU were correlated with decreased initial fluorescence and rate constants for PSII photochemistry, increased variable fluorescence, alteration of the fluorescence excitation and emission spectra, and could be effected by either 510 nm (PSII) or 704 nm (PSI) light. Slow, reversible fluorescence yield changes were also observed in the presence of DCMU, but were characterized by a loss of both initial and variable fluorescence and could not be induced by PSI light. The absence of slow changes in the yield of fluorescence and rate of modulated O(2) evolution, following addition or removal of PSI background light to modulated PSII excitation, does not support regulation of excitation energy density in PSI at the expense of PSII. The results suggest that adjustments are made at the level of excitation energy transfer to the PSII reaction center which prevent prolonged loss of photosynthetic capacity. Energy distribution is regulated by ionic distributions independently of the plastoquinone pool redox state. These differences in light-harvesting function are probably a response to the aquatic light field and may account for the success of diatoms in low and variable light environments.

Primary structure of the reaction center from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides.

Abstract: The reaction center is a pigment-protein complex that mediates the initial photochemical steps of photosynthesis. The amino-terminal sequences of the L, M, and H subunits and the nucleotide and derived amino acid sequences of the L and M structural genes from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides have previously been determined. We report here the sequence of the H subunit, completing the primary structure determination of the reaction center from R. sphaeroides. The nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the H subunit was determined by the dideoxy method after subcloning fragments into single-stranded M13 phage vectors. This information was used to derive the amino acid sequence of the corresponding polypeptide. The termini of the primary structure of the H subunit were established by means of the amino and carboxy terminal sequences of the polypeptide. The data showed that the H subunit is composed of 260 residues, corresponding to a molecular weight of 28,003. A molecular weight of 100,858 for the reaction center was calculated from the primary structures of the subunits and the cofactors. Examination of the genes encoding the reaction center shows that the codon usage is strongly biased towards codons ending in G and C. Hydropathy analysis of the H subunit sequence reveals one stretch of hydrophobic residues near the amino terminus; the L and M subunits contain five such stretches. From a comparison of the sequences of homologous proteins found in bacterial reaction centers and photosystem II of plants, an evolutionary tree was constructed. The analysis of evolutionary relationships showed that the L and M subunits of reaction centers and the D1 and D2 proteins of photosystem II are descended from a common ancestor, and that the rate of change in these proteins was much higher in the first billion years after the divergence of the reaction center and photosystem II than in the subsequent billion years represented by the divergence of the species containing these proteins.

Biochemical Characterization and Structure of Pigment-Proteins of Photosynthetic Organism

Abstract: This article aims to give the reader a synopsis of how photosynthetic pigments are organized in plants and bacteria so that they perform efficiently. Ninety-five percent or more of the total pigment functions to harvest light energy and to transfer it to the remainder of the pigment which is located in a photochemical reaction center component where the primary photochemical event occurs (cf. Fig. 1). The combination of the antenna with those reaction center pigments to which they feed energy, is a photosystem. Energy transfer within a photosys-tem occurs with a very high efficiency as a result of the pigment molecules being appropriately oriented and spaced no closer than 10 A or further apart than about 70 A from each other (see Chap. 2 by Sauer, and the minireviews in Chap. 7, this Vol. for more detailed treatments of energy trapping). This organization is achieved by the noncovalent (in general) association of the pigment molecules with a variety of specific proteins. These pigment-protein complexes are embedded in the photosynthetic membrane or, at the very least, are tightly associated with the membrane surface (see Staehelin, Chap. 1, this Vol.).

Isolation of cDNA clones for fourteen nuclear-encoded thylakoid membrane proteins

Abstract: Spinach cDNA libraries, made from polyadenylated seedling RNA, have been constructed in pBR322 and the expression vector λgt11. Recombinant plasmids or phage for 14 intrinsic and peripheral thylakoid membrane proteins and one stromal protein have been identified. They encode components containing antigenic determinants against the lysine-rich 34 kd, the 23 kd and 16 kd proteins all associated with the water-splitting apparatus of the photosystem II reaction center, the ATP synthase subunits gamma, delta and CFo-II, the Rieske Fe/S protein of the cytochrome b/f complex, subunits 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the photosystem I reaction center, plastocyanin, ferredoxin oxidoreductase, chlorophyll a/b-binding apoproteins of the lightharvesting complex associated with photosystem II, and the small subunit of the stromal enzyme ribulose bisphosphate corboxylase/oxygenase. The cDNA inserts lack complementarity to plastid DNA but hybridize to restricted nuclear DNA as well as to discrete poly A+-mRNA species. The precursor products obtained after translation of hybrid selected RNA fractions in a wheat germ assay are imported and processed by isolated unbroken spinach chloroplasts. The imported components comigrate with the respective authentic proteins.

Genetically engineered mutant of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803 lacks the photosystem II chlorophyll-binding protein CP-47

Abstract: CP-47 is absent in a genetically engineered mutant of cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803, in which the psbB gene [encoding the chlorophyll-binding photosystem II (PSII) protein CP-47] was interrupted. Another chlorophyll-binding PSII protein, CP-43, is present in the mutant, and functionally inactive PSII-enriched particles can be isolated from mutant thylakoids. We interpret these data as indicating that the PSII core complex of the mutant still assembles in the absence of CP-47. The mutant lacks a 77 K fluorescence emission maximum at 695 nm, suggesting that the PSII reaction center is not functional. The absence of primary photochemistry was indicated by EPR and optical measurements: no chlorophyll triplet originating from charge recombination between P680(+) and Pheo(-) was observed in the mutant, and there were no flash-induced absorption changes at 820 nm attributable to chlorophyll P680 oxidation. These observations lead us to conclude that CP-47 plays an essential role in the activity of the PSII reaction center.

Isolation and Characterization of a New Minor Chlorophyll a/b-Protein Complex (CP24) from Spinach

Abstract: We have identified a new minor chlorophyll a/b-protein complex in the thylakoid membranes of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), which migrates as a green band below CPII on mildly denaturing polyacrylamide gels. This complex, designated CP24, was isolated from octyl glucoside/sodium dodecyl sulfate solubilized spinach grana membrane fractions by preparative gel electrophoresis and has been characterized as to its spectral properties and polypeptide composition. CP24 has a room temperature absorption maximum at 668 nanometers, a chlorophyll a/b ratio between 0.8 and 1.2, and contains three or four polypeptides between 20 and 23 kilodaltons. CP24 was also identified in grana membrane preparations from peas (Pisum sativum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare). We postulate that CP24 functions as a linker component in photosystem II, acting to orient the photosystem II light harvesting components to ensure efficient energy transfer to the reaction center.

Plastocyanin is encoded by an uninterrupted nuclear gene in spinach.

Abstract: Plastocyanin is a member of photosynthetic electron transport chains that transfers electrons from cytochrome f to the oxidized P700 chlorophyll a pigment of the photosystem I reaction center. We have isolated and characterized cDNA- and genomic clones from spinach (Spinacia oleracea) encoding the complete plastocyanin-precursor polypeptide. The amino acid sequence derived from the nucleotide sequence shows that the precursor consists of 168 amino acid residues including a transit sequence of 69 residues. The precursor polypeptide has a predicted Mr of 16,917, the mature protein of 10,413. The available data indicate that plastocyanin derives probably from a single-copy gene. The coding region contains no intron. The size of the mRNA as determined by S1 nuclease protection experiments is approximately 660 nucleotides, although analysis of different cDNA clones suggests that longer RNA species do exist, approaching the size of the mRNA (850 bases) estimated by Northern blot techniques.

Role of charge-transfer states in bacterial photosynthesis.

Abstract: Photon echo, photon-echo excitation, and “hole-burning” data recorded in the 800-990 nm region of Rhodobacter sphaeroides R26 and Rhodopseudomonas viridis reaction centers are reported. The primary process in these reaction centers, following excitation, was found to occur in ≈25 fsec; the long-wavelength band of the primary electron donor (P) was largely homogeneously broadened. In accordance with our previous explanation of hole-burning and photon-echo measurements on Rb. sphaeroides [Meech, S. R., Hoff, A. J. & Wiersma, D. A. (1985) Chem. Phys. Lett. 121, 287-292], we interpret this as resulting from a dephasing of the excitation in P into a background of strongly coupled charge-transfer states. The previously reported picosecond lifetime of the excited P state is assigned to decay of these strongly mixed states. Further, a coupling between P and an adjacent bacteriochlorophyll was observed. The extent of this coupling and the role of charge-transfer states in the functioning of reaction centers is discussed.