Chlorophyll Synthesis in Dark-Grown Pine Primary Needles1

The pigment content of dark-grown primary needles of Pinus jeffreyi L. and Pinus sylvestris L. was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The state of protochlorophyllide a and of chlorophylls during dark growth were analyzed by in situ 77 K fluorescence spectroscopy. Both measurements unambiguously demonstrated that pine primary needles are able to synthesize chlorophyll in the dark. Norflurazon strongly inhibited both carotenoid and chlorophyll synthesis. Needles of plants treated with this inhibitor had low chlorophyll content, contained only traces of xanthophylls, and accumulated carotenoid precursors. The first form of chlorophyll detected in young pine needles grown in darkness had an emission maximum at 678 nm. Chlorophyll-protein complexes with in situ spectroscopic properties similar to those of fully green needles (685, 695, and 735 nm) later accumulated in untreated plants, whereas in norflurazon-treated plants the photosystem I emission at 735 nm was completely lacking. To better characterize the light-dependent chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway in pine needles, the 77 K fluorescence properties of in situ protochlorophyllide a spectral forms were studied. Photoactive and nonphotoactive protochlorophyllide a forms with emission properties similar to those reported for dark-grown angiosperms were found, but excitation spectra were substantially red shifted. Because of their lower chlorophyll content, norflurazon-treated plants were used to study the protochlorophyllide a photoreduction process triggered by one light flash. The first stable chlorophyllide photoproduct was a chlorophyllide a form emitting at 688 nm as in angiosperms. Further chlorophyllide a shifts usually observed in angiosperms were not detected. The rapid regeneration of photoactive protochlorophyllide a from nonphotoactive protochlorophyllide after one flash was demonstrated.

Nonphotochemical Reduction of the Plastoquinone Pool in Sunflower Leaves Originates from Chlororespiration1

We investigated the relationship between nonphotochemical plastoquinone reduction and chlororespiration in leaves of growth-chamber-grown sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Following a short induction period, leaves of previously illuminated sunflower showed a substantially increased level of minimal fluorescence following a light-to-dark transition. This increase in minimal fluorescence was reversed by far-red illumination, inhibited by rotenone or photooxidative methyl viologen treatment, and stimulated by fumigation with CO. Using flash-induced electrochromic absorption-change measurements, we observed that the capacity of sunflower to reduce plastoquinone in the dark influenced the activation state of the chloroplast ATP synthase, although chlororespiratory transmembrane electrochemical potential formation alone does not fully explain our observations. We have added several important new observations to the work of others, forming, to our knowledge, the first strong experimental evidence that chlororespiratory, nonphotochemical plastoquinone reduction and plastoquinol oxidation occur in the chloroplasts of higher plants. We have introduced procedures for monitoring and manipulating chlorores-piratory activity in leaves that will be important in subsequent work aimed at defining the pathway and function of this dark electron flux in higher plant chloroplasts.

Photosystem II Cyclic Heterogeneity and Photoactivation in the Diazotrophic, Unicellular Cyanobacterium Cyanothece Species ATCC 511421

The unicellular, diazotrophic cyanobacterium Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142 demonstrated important modifications to photosystem II (PSII) centers when grown under light/dark N2-fixing conditions. The properties of PSII were studied throughout the diurnal cycle using O2-flash-yield and pulse-amplitude-modulated fluorescence techniques. Nonphotochemical quenching (qN) of PSII increased during N2 fixation and persisted after treatments known to induce transitions to state 1. The qN was high in cells grown in the dark, and then disappeared progressively during the first 4 h of light growth. The photoactivation probability, ε, demonstrated interesting oscillations, with peaks near 3 h of darkness and 4 and 10 h of light. Experiments and calculations of the S-state distribution indicated that PSII displays a high level of heterogeneity, especially as the cells prepare for N2 fixation. We conclude that the oxidizing side of PSII is strongly affected during the period before and after the peak of nitrogenase activity; changes include a lowered capacity for O2 evolution, altered dark stability of PSII centers, and substantial changes in qN.

Fourier Transform Infrared Microspectroscopy Detects Changes in Protein Secondary Structure Associated with Desiccation Tolerance in Developing Maize Embryos1

Isolated immature maize (Zea mays L.) embryos have been shown to acquire tolerance to rapid drying between 22 and 25 d after pollination (DAP) and to slow drying from 18 DAP onward. To investigate adaptations in protein profile in association with the acquisition of desiccation tolerance in isolated, immature maize embryos, we applied in situ Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy. In fresh, viable, 20- and 25-DAP embryo axes, the shapes of the different amide-I bands were identical, and this was maintained after flash drying. On rapid drying, the 20-DAP axes had a reduced relative proportion of α-helical protein structure and lost viability. Rapidly dried 25-DAP embryos germinated (74%) and had a protein profile similar to the fresh control axes. On slow drying, the α-helical contribution in both the 20- and 25-DAP embryo axes increased compared with that in the fresh control axes, and survival of desiccation was high. The protein profile in dry, mature axes resembled that after slow drying of the immature axes. Rapid drying resulted in an almost complete loss of membrane integrity in the 20-DAP embryo axes and much less so in the 25-DAP axes. After slow drying, low plasma membrane permeability ensued in both the 20- and 25-DAP axes. We conclude that slow drying of excised, immature embryos leads to an increased proportion of α-helical protein structures in their axes, which coincides with additional tolerance of desiccation stress.

Photosystem I Is an Early Target of Photoinhibition in Barley Illuminated at Chilling Temperatures1

Light-induced damage to photosystem I (PSI) was studied during low-light illumination of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) at chilling temperatures. A 4-h illumination period induced a significant inactivation of PSI electron transport activity. Flash-induced P700 absorption decay measurements revealed progressive damage to (a) the iron-sulfur clusters FA and FB, (b) the iron-sulfur clusters FA, FB, and FX, and (c) the phylloquinone A1 and the chlorophyll A0 or P700 of the PSI electron acceptor chain. Light-induced PSI damage was also evidenced by partial degradation of the PSI-A and PSI-B proteins and was correlated with the appearance of smaller proteins. Aggravated photodamage was observed upon illumination of barley leaves infiltrated with KCN, which inhibits Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase. This indicates that the photodamage of PSI in barley observed during low-light illumination at chilling temperatures arises because the defense against active oxygen species by active oxygen-scavenging enzymes is insufficient at these specific conditions. The data obtained demonstrate that photoinhibition of PSI at chilling temperatures is an important phenomenon in a cold-tolerant plant species.

Conformational dependence of electron transfer across de novo designed metalloproteins.

Flash photolysis and pulse radiolysis measurements demonstrate a conformational dependence of electron transfer rates across a 16-mer helical bundle (three-helix metalloprotein) modified with a capping CoIII(bipyridine)3 electron acceptor at the N terminus and a 1-ethyl-1'-ethyl-4,4'- bipyridinium donor at the C terminus. For the CoIII(peptide)3-1-ethyl-1'-ethyl-4,4'-bipyridinium maquettes, the observed transfer is a first order, intramolecular process, independent of peptide concentration or laser pulse energy. In the presence of 6 M urea, the random coil bundle (approximately 0% helicity) has an observed electron transfer rate constant of kobs = 900 +/- 100 s-1. In the presence of 25% trifluoroethanol (TFE), the helicity of the peptide is 80% and the kobs increases to 2000 +/- 200 s-1. Moreover, the increase in the rate constant in TFE is consistent with the observed decrease in donor-acceptor distance in this solvent. Such bifunctional systems provide a class of molecules for testing the effects of conformation on electron transfer in proteins and peptides.

Kinetics of photo-induced electron transfer from high-potential iron-sulfur protein to the photosynthetic reaction center of the purple phototroph Rhodoferax fermentans.

The kinetics of photo-induced electrontransfer from high-potential iron-sulfur protein (HiPIP) to the photosynthetic reaction center (RC) of the purple phototroph Rhodoferarfermentans were studied. The rapid photooxidation of heme c-556 belonging to RC is followed, in the presence of HiPIP, by a slower reduction having a second-order rate constant of 4.8 x 10(7) M(-1) x s(-1). The limiting value of kobs at high HiPIP concentration is 95 s(-1). The amplitude of this slow process decreases with increasing HiPIP concentration. The amplitude of a faster phase, observed at 556 and 425 nm and involving heme c-556 reduction, increases proportionately. The rate constant of this fast phase, determined at 425 and 556 nm, is approximately 3 x 10(5) s(-1). This value is not dependent on HiPIP concentration, indicating that it is related to a first-order process. These observations are interpreted as evidence for the formation of a HiPIP-RC complex prior to the excitation flash, having a dissociation constant of -2.5 microM. The fast phase is absent at high ionic strength, indicating that the complex involves mainly electrostatic interactions. The ionic strength dependence of kobs for the slow phase yields a second-order rate constant at infinite ionic strength of 5.4 x 10(6) M(-1) x s(-1) and an electrostatic interaction energy of -2.1 kcal/mol (1 cal = 4.184 J). We conclude that Rhodoferar fermentans HiPIP is a very effective electron donor to the photosynthetic RC.

Protonatable residues at the cytoplasmic end of transmembrane helix-2 in the signal transducer HtrI control photochemistry and function of sensory rhodopsin I.

Neutral residue replacements were made of 21 acidic and basic residues within the N-terminal half of the Halobacterium salinarium signal transducer HtrI [the halobacterial transducer for sensory rhodopsin I (SRI)] by site-specific mutagenesis. The replacements are all within the region of HtrI that we previously concluded from deletion analysis to contain sites of interaction with the phototaxis receptor SRI. Immunoblotting shows plasmid expression of the htrI-sopI operon containing the mutations produces SRI and mutant HtrI in cells at near wild-type levels. Six of the HtrI mutations perturb photochemical kinetics of SRI and one reverses the phototaxis response. Substitution with neutral amino acids of Asp-86, Glu-87, and Glu-108 accelerate, and of Arg-70, Arg-84, and Arg-99 retard, the SRI photocycle. Opposite effects on photocycle rate cancel in double mutants containing one replaced acidic and one replaced basic residue. Laser flash spectroscopy shows the kinetic perturbations are due to alteration of the rate of reprotonation of the retinylidene Schiff base. All of these mutations permit normal attractant and repellent signaling. On the other hand, the substitution of Glu-56 with the isosteric glutamine converts the normally attractant effect of orange light to a repellent signal in vivo at neutral pH (inverted signaling). Low pH corrects the inversion due to Glu-56 -> Gln and the apparent pK of the inversion is increased when arginine is substituted at position 56. The results indicate that the cytoplasmic end of transmembrane helix-2 and the initial part of the cytoplasmic domain contain interaction sites with SRI. To explain these and previous results, we propose a model in which (i) the HtrI region identified here forms part of an electrostatic bonding network that extends through the SRI protein and includes its photoactive site; (ii) alteration of this network by photoisomerization-induced Schiff base deprotonation and reprotonation shifts HtrI between attractant and repellent conformations; and (iii) HtrI mutations and extracellular pH alter the equilibrium ratios of these conformations.

Reaction of the Escherichia coli quinol oxidase cytochrome bo3 with dioxygen: the role of a bound ubiquinone molecule.

We have studied the kinetics of the oxygen reaction of the fully reduced quinol oxidase, cytochrome bo3, using flow-flash and stopped flow techniques. This enzyme belongs to the heme-copper oxidase family but lacks the CuA center of the cytochrome c oxidases. Depending on the isolation procedure, the kinetics are found to be either nearly monophasic and very different from those of cytochrome c oxidase or multiphasic and quite similar to cytochrome c oxidase. The multiphasic kinetics in cytochrome c oxidase can largely be attributed to the presence Of CuA as the donor of a fourth electron, which rereduces the originally oxidized low-spin heme and completes the reduction of O2 to water. Monophasic kinetics would thus be expected, a priori, for cytochrome bo3 since it lacks the CuA center, and in this case we show that the oxygen reaction is incomplete and ends with the ferryl intermediate. Multiphasic kinetics thus suggest the presence of an extra electron donor (analogous to CuA). We observe such kinetics exclusively with cytochrome bo3 that contains a single equivalent of bound ubiquinone-8, whereas we find no bound ubiquinone in an enzyme exhibiting monophasic kinetics. Reconstitution with ubiquinone-8 converts the reaction kinetics from monophasic to multiphasic. We conclude that a single bound ubiquinone molecule in cytochrome bo3 is capable of fast rereduction of heme b and that the reaction with O2 is quite similar in quinol and cytochrome c oxidases.

How photons start vision.

Recent studies have elucidated how the absorption of a photon in a rod or cone cell leads to the generation of the amplified neural signal that is transmitted to higher-order visual neurons. Photoexcited visual pigment activates the GTP-binding protein transducin, which in turn stimulates cGMP phosphodiesterase. This enzyme hydrolyzes cGMP, allowing cGMP-gated cationic channels in the surface membrane to close, hyperpolarize the cell, and modulate transmitter release at the synaptic terminal. The kinetics of reactions in the cGMP cascade limit the temporal resolution of the visual system as a whole, while statistical fluctuations in the reactions limit the reliability of detection of dim light. Much interest now focuses on the processes that terminate the light response and dynamically regulate amplification in the cascade, causing the single photon response to be reproducible and allowing the cell to adapt in background light. A light-induced fall in the internal free Ca2+ concentration coordinates negative feedback control of amplification. The fall in Ca2+ stimulates resynthesis of cGMP, antagonizes rhodopsin's catalytic activity, and increases the affinity of the light-regulated cationic channel for cGMP. We are using physiological methods to study the molecular mechanisms that terminate the flash response and mediate adaptation. One approach is to observe transduction in truncated, dialyzed photoreceptor cells whose internal Ca2+ and nucleotide concentrations are under experimental control and to which exogenous proteins can be added. Another approach is to observe transduction in transgenic mouse rods in which specific proteins within the cascade are altered or deleted.