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.

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, Mg²⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺-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.