Primary electron acceptor complex of photosystem I in spinach chloroplasts

The effect of bentazon (3-isopropyl-1H-2,1,3-benzathiadiazin-(4)3H-one 2,2-dioxide) on various photochemical reactions of isolated spinach (Spinacea oleracea L.) chloroplasts was studied at concentrations 0, 5, 15, 45, and 135 μM. Bentazon at a concentration of 135 μM strongly inhibited uncoupled electron transport from water to ferricyanide or to methylviologen with inhibition percentages greater than 90%. Photosystem II mediated electron transport from water to oxidized diaminodurene, with 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-6-isopropyl-p-benzoquinone (DBMIB) blocking photosystem I, was also strongly inhibited by bentazon at 135 μM but less with lower concentrations of bentazon. Photosystem I mediated transfer of electrons from diaminodurene to methylviologen, with 3,4-dichlorophenyl-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) blocking photosystem II, was not inhibited by bentazon at any concentration examined. Transfer of electrons from catechol to methylviologen in hydroxylamine-treated chloroplasts was inhibited by bentazon, and the inhibition percentages were again concentration dependent. The data indicate that the site of bentazon inhibition of the photosynthetic electron transport is at the reducing side of photosystem II, between the primary electron acceptor Q and plastoquinone.

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Quantitative electron-paramagnetic-resonance measurements of the electron-transfer components of the photosystem-I reaction centre. The reaction-centre chlorophyll (P700), the primary electron acceptor X and bound iron-sulphur centre A

Biochemical Journal ◽

10.1042/bj1700373 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 170 (2) ◽

pp. 373-378 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

P Heathcote ◽

D L Williams-Smith ◽

M C W Evans

Keyword(s):

Free Radical ◽

Electron Transport ◽

Photosystem I ◽

Electron Acceptor ◽

Line Shape ◽

Primary Electron ◽

Reaction Centre ◽

Electron Spins ◽

Average Value ◽

Primary Electron Acceptor

An e.p.r. spectrum of the reduced form of the electron-transport component (X), thought to be the primary electron acceptor of Photosystem I, was obtained. By using line-shape simulations of this component and the free-radical e.p.r. signal I of the oxidized reaction-centre chlorophyll (P700), it was possible to determine the ratio of the number of electron spins to which these signals correspond in Photosystem-I particles under a variety of conditions. On illumination at cryogenic temperatures of Photosystem-I preparations, in which both bound iron-sulphur centres A and B were reduced, the measured ratio of free radical to component X varied between 1.04 and 2.23, with an average value of 1.54 +/- 0.18 where a Gaussian line-shape is assumed for the component-X signal in the simulation. The error in this measurement is estimated to be up to 50%. In a similar way component X and centre A of the bound iron-sulphur protein were quantified, the ratio between these two components varying between 1.26 and 0.61 with an average value of 0.75 +/- 0.06. These results indicate that the quantitative relationship, in terms of net electron spins, between centre A, component X and P700 is of the order to be expected if component X is indeed the primary electron acceptor in Photosystem I and a component of the photosynthetic electron-transport chain.

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