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.     

Hypoosmotic shock induces a stateⅠtransition of photosynthetic apparatus in Dunaliella salina

The effects of hypoosmotic shock on state transition in darkness in Dunaliella salina were studied. When the concentration of NaCI in culture medium was dropped from 1.5 to 0.5 mol/L abruptly, the photosynthetic rate of D.salina declined, but the respiratory rate and intracellular ATP content increased in the dark. The FpsⅡ/FpsⅠ ratio at 77 K of D. salina cells exposed to hypoosmotic shock was higher than that of control cells, indicating that more excitation energy was distributed to PS Ⅱ in stressed D.salina cells upon illumination. A decrease in LHC Ⅱ phosphorylation level was also observed when D.salina was exposed to hypoosmotic shock. Thus a state Ⅰ transition of photosynthetic apparatus occurs when D.salina suffers hypoosmotic shock in darkness, which is supposed to be related to an enhancement of respiration and an increase in ATP content in stressed D.salina cells.     

Depletion of phosphatidylglycerol head-group induces changes in oxygen evolution and protein secondary structures of photosystemⅡ

The techniques of oxygen electrode polarography 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 photosystemⅡ(PSⅡ) through enzymatic approach. It was shown that the depletion of PG by treatment of phospholipase C (PLC) on PSⅡ particles caused the inhibition of oxygen evolving activity in PSⅡ. This effect also gave rise to changes in the protein secondary structures of PSⅡ, that is, an increase in α-helical conformation which is compensated by the loss of β-strand structures. It revealed that the head-group of PG molecules plays an important structural role in the maintenance of normal structure of PSⅡ proteins, which is required to maintain the appropriate physiological activity of the PSⅡ complex such as the oxygen evolving activity. It is suggested that there most probably exist hydrogen-bonding interactions between PG molecules and PSⅡ proteins.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

The synthesis of sphericalcal cium carbonate composite in amphiphilic PS-b-PAA solution and its thermal dynamic characteristic

Spherical calcium carbonate composite is synthesized in the solution of amphiphilic block copolymer of polystyrene(PS) and poly(acrylic acid)(PAA). SEM and XRD measurements show that the diameter of the particulates decreases with the augment of the PS-b-PAA concentration,crystalline in the composite is calcite and its morphology as well as the structure is changed too. TG-DTA together with IR analysis is applied to investigating the thermal dynamic behavior of the composite. The results show that the composite is mainly composed of two phases, that is, the nanocrystalline calcium carbonate and the PS-b-PA-Ca composites. PS phase decomposes first with a large heat release at about 330℃. However, the PAA chains have relatively high thermal stability, probably due to the structural Ca-O bond,and decomposes at above 400℃. Matching opinions are used to explain the possible reasons for the regular as well as the particular characteristics of the composite corresponding to a certain copolymer concentration.     

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.     

Effects of different aggregation forms of LHC Ⅱ from Bryopsis corticulans on the excited state properties of Chl a

Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopies have been used to study the excited state properties of Chl a in different aggregation forms of light-harvesting complex Ⅱ （LHC Ⅱ） from an intertidal green alga, Bryopsis corticulans, i.e. LHC Ⅱ monomer, trimer and oligomer. When either Chl a or Chl b was selectively excited, the observed decrease in Chl a fluorescence in the oligomer is proved to be caused mainly by the fast fluorescence quenching among Chl a molecules, rather than by the decrease in Chl b-to-Chl a singlet excitation transfer efficiency. Analyses of the picosecond time-resolved fluorescence kinetics identified two exponential decay components in all of the three forms of LHC Ⅱ： a longer-lived component （4.1 -4.7 ns） originating from fluorescence emission of Chl a, and a shorter-lived one （135-540 ps） from the rapid equilibration of singlet excitation among Chl a molecules. The time constant of excitation equilibration is 135 ps in oligomer, 520 ps in trimer and 540 ps in monomer. These results imply that LHC Ⅱ in oligomer form is inherently able to quench Chl a excitation, a mechanism which may be related to the photoprotection of PS Ⅱ via changing the degree of LHC Ⅱ aggregation in Bryopsis corticulans.     

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.     

Mutagenesis of Ser24 of Cytochrome b559 α Subunit Affects PSII Acitivies in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

In order to study the functions of cytochrome b559 (Cyt b559) in photosystem two (PSII) activity, mutant S24F of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was constructed using site directed mutagenesis, in which Serine24 (Ser24) locating downstream of Histidine23 (His23) in α subunit of Cyt b559 was replaced by Phenylalanine (Phe). Physiological and biochemical analysis showed that mutant S24F could be grown photoautotrophically or photoheterotrophically. However, their growth rate was slower either on HSM or TAP medium than that of the control; Analysis of PSII activity revealed that its oxygen evolution was about 71% of wild type (WT); The Photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) of S24F was reduced 0.23 compared with WT; S24F was more sensitive to strong light irradiance than the wild type; Furthermore, SDS-PAGE and Western-blotting analysis indicated that the expression levels of α subunit of Cyt b559, LHCII and PsbO of S24F were a little less than those of the wild type. Overall, these data suggests that Ser24 plays a significant role in making Cyt b559 structure maintain PSII complex activity of oxygen evolution although it is not directly bound to heme group.     

Fluorescence Determination of Artemisinin Using Hemoglobin as Catalyst and Pyronine B as Substrate

0 IntroductionMaalnadria siusb atr ompajicosr .he aAltrthe pmrisoibnlienmi (n qtihneghtraoopsiucs,QHS,Fig.1) is a sesquiterpene endoperoxide isola-ted fromArtemisia annuaL., an ancient Chineseherbal medicine usedfor treatment of fever and ma-laria.Studies of the structure and activity relation-ship have shownthat endoperoxide groupis essentialfor anti malarial activity of QHS and absence of thismoiety lead to completely loss in activity of thedrug. Many techniques have been developed to de…     

Studies on reduced extent method for inhibited thermokinetics of enzyme-catalyzed reaction

The thermokinetic reduced extent equations of reversible inhibitions for Michaiels-Menten enzymatic reaction were deduced, and then the criteria for distinguishing inhibition type was given and the methods for calculating kinetic parameters,K _M,K _i andv _m were suggested. This theory was applied to inverstigate the inhibited thermokinetics of laccase-catalyzed oxidation ofo-dihydroxybenzene bym-dihydroxybenzene. The experimental results show the inhibition belongs to reversible competitive type,K _M=6.224×10⁻³ mol·L⁻¹,K _i=2.363×10⁻² mol·L⁻¹. Xiong Ya: born Sep. 1961, Ph. D. graduate student. Curent research interest is in biothermochemistry research Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Flow-injection microcolumn on-line preconcentration for the determination of chromium (VI)

A rapid and sensitive on-line preconcentration method for spectrophotometric determination of chromium (VI) in nature water is described. Preconcentration and determination are based on (i) the quantitative and fast adsorption of chromium (VI) on the high surface area nanometer-size TiO₂ (anatase) powders, which prepared by a sol-gel method from hydrolysis of TiCl₄ and (ii) the quantitative and reproducible elution of Cr (VI) by 2.0 mol·L⁻¹ HCl. A mini-column system for preconcentration is developed, Cr(VI) on the mini-column is eluted and merged with a stream water and DPCB (1,5-diphenylcarbazide) as the chromogenic reagent. The proposed system permits throughputs of 6 sample h⁻¹ (0.001 μg·mL⁻¹ Cr(VI)) or 20 sample h⁻¹ (0.1 μg·mL⁻¹ Cr(VI)). The preconcentration factor is 55. The detection limit is 0.8 ng · mL⁻¹ Cr(VI). The reproducibility is satisfactory with a relative standard deviation of less than 3.35% (0.01 μg·mL⁻¹ Cr(VI),n=5). Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Ma Wanhong: born in 1961, Ph. D. Graduate student, Associate professor     

Third-order optical nonlinearities for lanthanum (III) complexes with 1, 10-phenanthroline components

The nonlinear refractive indexesn ₂ for the ethanol solutions of 1, 10-phenanthroline (2.0 × 10⁻³ mol · L⁻¹), [bis(l, 10-phenanthroline) lanthanum (III)] nitrate (1.0 × 10⁻³ mol · L⁻¹), and [nitrato-fluoracil-bis (1, 10_{-phenanthroline}) lanthanum (III) ] nitrate (1.0 × 10⁻³ mol · L⁻¹) are first measured, the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibilities χ(³) and 〈γ〉 are calculated, and the mechanisms of the third-order optical nonlinearities enhanced by lanthanum (III) are discussed preliminarily.     

Sanitary Sewage Treatment with Jet Inner-loop Bioreactor

0　IntroductionThejetloopreactorhasthecharacteristicsofbothjetandloopflow .Ononehand ,theairsuckedinisdispersedintosmallgasbubblesbecauseoftheshearingforcecausedbythehighvelocityjet,producinganincreasedinterfacialcontactbe tweengasandliquid ,thusthemasstransferefficiencyisin creased .Ontheotherhand ,aregularloopflowisformedbecauseofmutualimpetusofbothjetandair lift,thusdramaticallyim provestheperformancesofmixture ,diffusion ,masstransferandheattransferofthematerial.Withoutmechanicdriving ,the…     

An acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, 3-benzidino-5-methyl-6-phenylpyridazine, blocking outward potassium currents in acutely isolated rat hippocampal pyramidal neurons

3-benzidino-5-methyl-6-phenylpyridazine (BMP) inhibited electric eel acetylcholinesterase (AChE), with IC50 being 0.58 μmol·L-1. As an AChE inhibitor, the effects of BMP on delayed rectifier potassium current (IK(DR)) and transient outward potassium current (IK(A)) in acutely isolated rat hippocampal pyramidal neurons were studied using the whole cell patch-clamp technique. BMP (0.1―50 μmol·L-1) inhibited IK(DR) and IK(A) in a concentration-dependent and voltage-independent manner. The IC50 value for the bl...     

Spectrofluorimetric determination of magnesium (II) with 7-(8-Hydroxy-3, 6-disulfonaphthylazo)-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid

A new fluorescent reagent, 7-(8-hydroxy-3, 6-disulfonaphthylazo)-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid (HDNHQ) for the determination of magnesium has been developed. It reacted with magnesium to form a 1∶1 fluorescent complex withλ _ex/λ _em immediately at room temperature in ammonia-ammonium chloride buffer (pH 10.7). A linear relationship was obtained in the magnesium concentration range of 0–160 ng·mL⁻¹ with the detection limit of 0.04 ng·mL⁻¹. The proposed method was simple, rapid and sensitive. It has been successfully applied to the determination of trace magnesium in blood serum with recoveries of 103.75% and 98.16%, respectively. Foundation item: Supported by the Zi-Qiang Foundation of Wuhan University Biography: Zhang Xian (1975-), female, Ph. D candidant, research direction: organic reagent synthesis and analysis.     

Observation of internal tides and near-inertial motions in the upper 450 m layer of the northern South China Sea

Mooring ADCP current observations from August to November are used to study the barotropic tides, baroclinic tides and near-inertial motions in the upper 450 m layer of the northern South China Sea. The barotropic and baroclinic tides at the mooring station are all dominated by M2, K1, O1, P1, with the barotropic amplitudes being 7.8 cm·s^-1, 7.0 cm·s^-1, 5.4 cm·s^-1 and 3.5 cm·s^-1 respectively. The amplitudes of M2, K1, O1, P1 internal tides vary greatly, which are 12--15 cm·s^-1 in the thermocline, and then decrease with increasing depth. The amplitude of the barootropic near-inertial motions is less than 1 cm·s^-1, contributing little to the barotropic currents. However, that of the baroclinic nearinertial motions can be as large as 5 cm·s^-1. The inclination of tidal ellipse tends to increase with increasing depth, implying upward propagation of energy, while that of the near-inertial ellipse tends to decrease with increasing depth, implying downward propagation of energy.     

The contribution of root respiration to soil CO2 efflux in Puccinellia tenuiflora dominated community in a semi-arid meadow steppe

Rising atmospheric CO2 and temperature are altering ecosystem carbon cycling. Grasslands play an important role in regional climate change and global carbon cycle. Below-ground processes play a key role in the grassland carbon cycle because they regulate …