Protection of phosphatidylcholine to photosystem Ⅱ membrane during heat treatment

Photosystem Ⅱ membrane was reconstituted with phosphatidylcholine (PC) with different kinds of fatty acyl chains and the protection of PC to photosystem Ⅱ (PS Ⅱ)membrane during heat treatment was investigated using oxygen electrode, variable fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Heat treatment decreased the oxygen evolution rate and the F′v/Fm′ ratio of PS Ⅱ membrane and influenced CD spectra of PS Ⅱ membrane, but PC inhibited the effect of heat treatment on the oxygen evolution rate, the F′v/F′m ratio and CD spectra of PS Ⅱ membrane. The results indicate that PC can protect PS Ⅱ membrane against heat treatment and the alterations in the unsaturated fatty acid extent in PC can cause the changes of the protection ability.     

Effect of Mn cluster on the formation of superoxide radicals in photoinhibition of photosystem Ⅱ

To further realize the action of superoxide radicals (O₂^{− .}) in photoinhibition of photosystem Ⅱ (PSⅡ), we employed 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO) as a spin trap, associated with EPR spectroscopy, to study the effect of illumination time on O₂^{− .} formation during high light photoinhibition in PSⅡ membranes and Mn-depleted PSⅡ membranes. Results indicated that the removal of Mn cluster from PS
membranes has a strong influence on the dynamics of superoxide formation. The relative mechanism was also discussed. These novel findings may further promote the studies of the structure and function of PSⅡ and the mechanism of photoinhibition.     

Simulation for the primary electronic donor of photosystem Ⅱ in vitro

Histidine coordinated to Chl a is a distinct characteristic of Chl a in vivo. By using histidine analogue of 1-methylimidazole (C4H6N2) and measuring the UV/vis absorption, CD and MCD spectra of the interaction between C4H6N2 and Chl a in CCl4, we have obtained that: (ⅰ) In pure CCl4 solvent, Chl a molecule is in five-coordinate state, and two Chl a molecules form an asymmetric compact-dimer with strong coupling interaction. We propose that the two Chl a molecules are connected by two unequally coordinated Mg-O bonds (the two oxygen atoms come from the C== O of C131 keto and C17 ester, respectively); (ⅱ) when the molar ratio of C4H6N2/Chl a is 0.5 or 1 (corresponding to 2Chl a·1C4H6N2 and 2Chl a·2C4H6N2, respectively), significant changes have been observed in the absorption, CD and MCD spectra, which indicate that the Chl a remains in dimer form, but the coupling interaction between them reduces greatly. We postulate that C4H6N2 replaces the ligation of C== O of C17 ester and C131 keto to Mg atoms sequentially. The two Chl a molecules linked by two weakly interacted Mg...O bonds form a relaxed-dimer. The structure of the model is essentially similar to that of the primary electronic donor, P680, of photosystem Ⅱ in high plants and algae.     

Low pH-induced conformational changes in 33 kD protein of photosystem Ⅱ

33 kD protein, located on the lumen side ofthylakoid membranes, is one of three extrinsic proteins ofphotosystem Ⅱ (PS Ⅱ ). Previous study showed that NBSmodification of W241, the only tryptophan in 33 kD protein,is helpful for understanding the function of W241 in main-taining functional conformation of 33 kD protein. In thispaper, studies of both circular dichroism and fluorescencespectra showed that upon decreasing pH from 6.2 to 2.5, theconformation of soluble 33 kD protein changed significantly,with an increase or a decrease in percentage of random coilor (z-helix and turns. The changes in secondary structures ofthis protein are pH reversible. After NBS modification at pH2.5, the conformational change of 33 kD protein was keptfixed. The CD ellipticity at 200 nm for NBS-modified 33 kDprotein is much lower than that for control, indicating that the unfolding degree of 33 kD protein was enhanced after the NBS modification. Moreover, the conformational flexibility islost in NBS-modified 33 kD protein, and the conformationalchange becomes pH irreversible, indicating that NBS modi-fication blocked the reversibility of conformational change of33 kD protein. The specific binding capability of NBS-modi-fled 33 kD protein is much lower than that of low pH-treatedcontrol. Furthermore, the rebinding of modified protein on PS Ⅱ membranes cannot restore the activity of oxygen evo-lution. We suggest that it is low pH but not NBS modificationof W241 that leads to the conformational change of 33 kDprotein from one functional to another non-functional state.The significant capability of proton transport of 33 kD pro-tein is discussed.     

Effect of calcium ions on the secondary structures of photosystemⅡ and its relations with photoinhibition

Calcium ions play an important role in the oxygen_evolving process of photosystem Ⅱ as demonstrated in many experiments. The changes of the secondary structures of PS Ⅱ induced by the depletion of Ca 2+ were reported. The results indicated that the removal of Ca 2+ led to the transition of α helix to turns and sheet structures. While Ca 2+ was re_added to the media, only the structures changed to turns could be recovered. The protein conformational changes of PS Ⅱ during the donor side photoinhibition induced by the depletion of Ca 2+ were also studied. This showed that the protein conformational changes differed between the control and Ca 2+ _depleted samples in a short period of illumination (within 10 min). However, the changes became similar when the illumination time was increased.     

Depletion of phosphatidyl-glycerol head-group induces changes in oxygen evolution and protein secondary struc-tures of photosystem Ⅱ

The techniques of oxygen electrode polarogra-phy and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were employed to explore the roles of polar head-group of phosphatidylglycerol (PG) molecules in the functional and structural aspects of photosystem Ⅱ (PS Ⅱ) through enzymatic approach. It was shown that the depletion of PG by treatment of phospholipase C (PLC) on PS Ⅱ particles caused the inhibition of oxygen evolving activity in PS Ⅱ. This effect also gave rise to changes in the protein secondary structures of PS Ⅱ, that is, an increase in a-helical conformation which is compensated by the loss of p-strand structures. It revealed that the head-group of PG molecules plays an important structural role in the maintenance of normal structure of PS Ⅱ proteins, which is required to maintain the appropriate physiological activity of the PS Ⅱ complex such as the oxygen evolving activity. It is suggested that there most probably exist hydrogen-bonding interactions between PG molecules and PS Ⅱ proteins.     

Thermal stability of oxygen evolution in photosystem Ⅱ core complex in the presence of digalactosyl diacylglyceroli

The influence of digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG), one of the photosynthetic membrane lipids, on heat inactivation of the process of oxygen evolution has been studied in vitro in photosystem Ⅱ (PSⅡ) core complex. It was found that the temperature of semi-inactivation of oxygen evolution in the complex increased from 40.0 to about 43.0℃ in the presence of DGDG with 5-min heat treatment in the dark. Furthermore, when PSⅡ core complex was incubated for 5 min at 45.0℃, the oxygen evolution in the complex was completely lost, whilst the DGDG-complexed PSⅡ core complex still retained a 16% of activity (100% for 25.0℃). In addition, a 1-h incubation at 38.0℃ inactivated absolutely the oxygen evolution for the PSⅡ core complex. By contrast, there remained about 20% of activity (zero time for 100%) for the complex in the presence of DGDG under the same condition. These results indicate a new role of DGDG in the protection of PSⅡ core complex against the deleterious effects of temperature. It was most likely that DGDG-mediated stability toward thermal denaturation of oxygen evolution in PSⅡ core complex is due to the protective effect of DGDG on the release of the 33 kD protein from PSⅡ core complex.     

Increase in electron transfer activity in photosystem Ⅱ of spinach thylakoids caused by conversion of phosphatidyl- glycerol to phosphatidic acid molecules

The techniques of oxygen electrode polarography, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacryamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and thin layer chromatography (TLC) were employed to investigate the effect of phospholipase D treatment on physiological function of spinach thylakoids. It was shown that the phospholipase D treatment on thylakoid resuited in the degradation of phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and occurrence of phosphatidic acid (PA). The changes of PG to PA molecules caused an increase in oxygen evolution in photosystem Ⅱ (PS Ⅱ), which was accompanied by an uncoupling effect on thylakoid membrane. It was revealed that the head-groups of PG molecules play an important role in themaintenance of the appropriate physiological activity of thylakoid membrane.     

Protection of phosphatidyl-choline to photosystem II membrane during heat treatment

Photosystem II membrane was reconstituted with phosphatidylcholine (PC) with different kinds of fatty acyl chains and the protection of PC to photosystem II (PS II) membrane during heat treatment was investigated using oxygen electrode, variable fluorescence and circular dichro-ism (CD) spectroscopy. Heat treatment decreased the oxygen evolution rate and the F'v/Fm' ratio of PS II membrane and influenced CD spectra of PS II membrane, but PC inhibited the effect of heat treatment on the oxygen evolution rate, the F'v/F'm ratio and CD spectra of PS II membrane. The results indicate that PC can protect PS II membrane against heat treatment and the alterations in the unsaturated fatty acid extent in PC can cause the changes of the protection ability.     

Crystal structure of oxygen-evolving photosystem II at a resolution of 1.9 Å

Photosystem II is the site of photosynthetic water oxidation and contains 20 subunits with a total molecular mass of 350 kDa. The structure of photosystem II has been reported at resolutions from 3.8 to 2.9 ?. These resolutions have provided much information on the arrangement of protein subunits and cofactors but are insufficient to reveal the detailed structure of the catalytic centre of water splitting. Here we report the crystal structure of photosystem II at a resolution of 1.9 ?. From our electron density map, we located all of the metal atoms of the Mn(4)CaO(5) cluster, together with all of their ligands. We found that five oxygen atoms served as oxo bridges linking the five metal atoms, and that four water molecules were bound to the Mn(4)CaO(5) cluster; some of them may therefore serve as substrates for dioxygen formation. We identified more than 1,300 water molecules in each photosystem II monomer. Some of them formed extensive hydrogen-bonding networks that may serve as channels for protons, water or oxygen molecules. The determination of the high-resolution structure of photosystem II will allow us to analyse and understand its functions in great detail.     

Distribution of lanthanum among the chloroplast subcomponents of spinach and its biological effects on photosynthesis： location of the lanthanum binding sites in photosystem Ⅱ

The effects of lanthanum at different concentrations on the related photosynthetic activities of Hill reaction, Mg^2＋-ATPase and Ca^2＋-ATPase in spinach chloroplast were studied. Experimental results showed that lanthanum can increase all the activities at suitable concentration （15-30 mg· L^-1）, however, it behaves toxically on them when over used （60 mg. L^-1）. To get an improved understanding of the mechanism of lanthanum effects on the photosynthesis of spinach, the different subcomponents in the chloroplast of the cultured spinach were isolated, and the content of lanthanum in each subcomponent was determined by ICP-MS. The results obtained indicated that among these different subcomponents, about 90% out of the total chloroplast lanthanum was located in photosystem Ⅱ （PS Ⅱ） while there was little lanthanum in photosystem Ⅰ （PS Ⅰ）. Moreover, size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography （SE-HPLC） coupled with online UV and ICP-MS detections was novelly used for locating lanthanum binding sites in PS Ⅱ proteins for the first time. It was found that lanthanum has two binding sites in PS Ⅱ： La associates with chlorophyll together with magnesium in PS Ⅱ by partly replacing magnesium and also shares the common binding sites of PS Ⅱ proteins together with the inorganic cofactors of calcium and manganese, influencing the process of photosynthesis.     

An Arabidopsis ctpA homologue is involved in the repair of photosystem II under high light

A T-DNA insertion mutant AtctpA1 was identified to study the physiological roles of a carboxyl-terminal processing protease (CtpA) homologue in Arabidopsis. Under normal growth conditions, disruption of AtctpA1 did not result in any apparent alterations in growth rate and thylakoid membrane protein components. However the mutant plants exhibited increased sensitivity to high irradiance. Degradation of PSII reaction center protein D1 was accelerated in the mutant during photoinhibition. These results demostrated that AtctpA1 was required for efficient repair of PSII in Arabidopsis under high irradiance.     

Distribution of lanthanum among the chloroplast subcomponents of spinach and its biological effects on photosynthesis:location of the lanthanum binding sites in photosystem II

Positive, nil and/or negative effects of REEs on crops’ growth and yield were observed by room cultivation or field experiments in many countries. Especially in China, rare earth elements (REEs) containing fertilizers were applied to more than 300 species of field crops, and re-sulted in a mean productivity increase of 5%―15%[1]. Since the 1970s many approaches in the understanding of physiological and biochemical effects of REEs on plantmetabolism, yield and quality have been made[2―4]…     

Specific degradation of photosystem II D1 protein by a protease （Air3815） in heterocysts of the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC7120

Some filamentous cyanobacteria form heterocysts under conditions lacking combined nitrogen for nitrogen fixation.Photosystem II is removed from heterocyst during the process of cell differentiation.Here,we demonstrate that Alr3815 is a protease that is capable of degrading D1 protein of photosystem II.Strain-322,which lacks alr3815,is impaired in nitrogen fixation in air because some oxygen evolving activity is retained in its heterocysts.Our results also suggest that calcium may play a regulatory role in D1 degradation during heterocyst differentiation.     

Methanol as a probe to investigate the relationship between the secondary electron donor TyrZ and the substrate water molecules in active photosystem Ⅱ

The secondary electron donor, TyrZ, is implicated in tuning the primary charge separation and the water oxidation in active pho-tosystem II (PSII). Two types of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the function of TyrZ. One is that TyrZ tunes the water oxidation through the direct interaction with substrate water molecules; the other is that TyrZ is located in a hydrophobic envi-ronment without interacting with H2O, and controls the water oxidation by tuning the strength of the hydrogen bond between Tyr...     

Effect of internal deletion of Myosin Ⅱ on growth and development of Dictyostelium discoideum

Four deletion mutant Dictyostelium myosin Ⅱ heavy chain genes, MyΔ824-941 (Δ1/ 3S2), MyΔ934-1454 (ΔS2), MyΔ934-1194 (ΔS2-1) and MyΔ1157-1454 (ΔS2-2), were transformed by standard electroporation into mhcA- cells (T-null), a mutant Dictyostelium cell devoid of endogenous myosin Ⅱ heavy chain gene. The growth, development and formation of fruiting bodies of cells expressing those mutant myosin Ⅱ s under suspension culture were investigated by comparison with the wild type cell. The results indicate that internal deletion of myosin Ⅱ affects the growth and development of Dictyostelium. Furthermore, the longer the length of deletion , the more serious the defect in phenotype.