Bicarbonate Activation of Monomeric Photosystem II-PsbS/Psb27 Complex

In thylakoid membranes, Photosystem II monomers from the stromal lamellae contain the subunits PsbS and Psb27 (PSIIm-S/27), while Photosystem II monomers from granal regions (PSIIm) lack these subunits. Here, we have isolated and characterised these two types of Photosystem II complexes. The PSIIm-S/27 showed enhanced fluorescence, the near-absence of oxygen evolution, as well as limited and slow electron transfer from QA to QB compared to the near-normal activities in the granal PSIIm. However, when bicarbonate was added to the PSIIm-S/27, water splitting and QA to QB electron transfer rates were comparable to those in granal PSIIm. The findings suggest that the binding of PsbS and/or Psb27 inhibits forward electron transfer and lowers the binding affinity for the bicarbonate. This can be rationalized in terms of the recently discovered photoprotection role played by bicarbonate binding via the redox tuning of the QA/QA?- couple, which controls the charge recombination route, and this limits chlorophyll triplet mediated 1O2 formation (Brinkert K et al. (2016) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 113(43):12144-12149). These findings suggest that PSIIm-S/27 is an intermediate in the assembly of PSII in which PsbS and/or Psb27 restrict PSII activity while in transit, by using a bicarbonate-mediated switch and protective mechanism.

Thylakoid grana stacking revealed by multiplex genome editing of LHCII encoding genes

Land plant chloroplasts differ from algal ones for their thylakoid membranes being organized in grana: piles of vesicles paired by their stromal surface, forming domains including Photosystem (PS) II and its antenna while excluding PS I and ATPase to stroma membranes, connecting grana stacks. The molecular basis of grana stacking remain unclear. We obtained genotypes lacking the trimeric antenna complex (Lhcb1-2-3), the monomeric Lhcb4-5-6, or both. Full deletion caused loss of grana, while either monomers or trimers support 50% stacking. The expression of Lhcb5 alone restored stacking at 50%, while Lhcb2 alone produced huge grana which broke down upon light exposure. Cyclic electron transport was maintained in the lack of stacking, while excitation energy balance between photosystems and the repair efficiency of damaged Photosystem II were affected. We conclude that grana evolved for need of regulating energy balance between photosystems under terrestrial canopy involving rapid changes in photon spectral distribution.

Structure of Dunaliella Photosystem II reveals conformational flexibility of stacked and unstacked supercomplexes

Photosystem II (PSII) generates an oxidant whose redox potential is high enough to enable water oxidation, a substrate so abundant that it assures a practically unlimited electron source for life on earth. Our knowledge on the mechanism of water photooxidation was greatly advanced by high-resolution structures of prokaryotic PSII. Here we show high-resolution structures of eukaryotic PSII from the green algae Dunaliella salina at two distinct conformations. The conformers are also present in stacked PSII, exhibiting flexibility that is relevant to the grana formation in chloroplasts of the green lineage. CP29, one of PSII associated light harvesting antennae, plays a major role in distinguishing the two conformations of the supercomplex. We also show that the stacked PSII dimer, a form suggested to support the organization of thylakoid membranes, can appear in many different orientations providing a flexible stacking mechanism for the arrangement of grana stacks in thylakoids. Our findings provide a structural basis for the heterogenous nature of the eukaryotic PSII on multiple levels.

Coalescence and directed anisotropic growth of starch granule initials in subdomains of Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplasts

Living cells orchestrate enzyme activities to produce myriads of biopolymers but cell-biological understanding of such processes is scarce. Starch, a plant biopolymer forming discrete, semi-crystalline granules within plastids, plays a central role in glucose storage, which is fundamental to life. Combining complementary imaging techniques and Arabidopsis genetics we reveal that, in chloroplasts, multiple starch granules initiate in stromal pockets between thylakoid membranes. These initials coalesce, then grow anisotropically to form lenticular granules. The major starch polymer, amylopectin, is synthesized at the granule surface, while the minor amylose component is deposited internally. The non-enzymatic domain of STARCH SYNTHASE 4, which controls the protein’s localization, is required for anisotropic growth. These results present us with a conceptual framework for understanding the biosynthesis of this key nutrient.

Assembly Apparatus of Light-Harvesting Complexes; Identification of Alb3.1-cpSRP-LHCP Complexes in the Green Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

The unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, contains many light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) associating chlorophylls a/b and carotenoids; the major light-harvesting complexes, LHCIIs (types I, II, III, and IV), and minor light-harvesting complexes, CP26 and CP29, for photosystem II, as well as nine light-harvesting complexes, LHCIs (LHCA1-9), for photosystem I. A pale green mutant BF4 exhibited impaired accumulation of LHCs due to deficiency in Alb3.1 gene which encodes the insertase involved in insertion, folding and assembly of LHC proteins in the thylakoid membranes. To elucidate the molecular mechanism by which ALB3.1 assists LHC assembly, we complemented BF4 to express ALB3.1 fused with no, single, or triple HA tag at its C-terminus (cAlb3.1, cAlb3.1-HA, or cAlb3.1-3HA). The resulting complemented strains accumulated most LHC proteins comparable to wild-type levels. The affinity purification of Alb3.1-HA and Alb3.1-3HA preparations showed that ALB3.1 interacts with cpSRP43 and cpSRP54 proteins of chloroplast signal recognition particle cpSRP and several LHC proteins; two major LHCII proteins (types I and III), two minor LHCII proteins (CP26 and CP29), and eight LHCI proteins (LHCA1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9). Pulse-chase labeling experiments revealed that the newly synthesized major LHCII proteins were transiently bound to the Alb3.1 complex. We propose that Alb3.1 interacts with cpSRP43 and cpSRP54 to form an assembly apparatus for most LHCs in the thylakoid membranes. Interestingly, PSI proteins were also detected in the Alb3.1 preparations, suggesting that the integration of LHCIs to a PSI core complex to form a PSI-LHCI subcomplex occurs before assembled LHCIs dissociate from the Alb3.1-cpSRP complex.

Uncoupling effect of lipid peroxidation in spinach thylakoids exposed to peroxyl radicals generated by 2,2′-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride

In this study, we characterized how lipid peroxidation alters the functionality of spinach thylakoids exposed to peroxyl radicals generated by the azo compound 2,2-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH). Incubation of thylakoids in presence of different concentrations (0 to 200 mM) of AAPH inhibited the formation of ΔpH (IC50 ≈ 1.5 mM) estimated by the quenching of 9-aminoacridine fluorescence (Q9-AA). The Q9-AA inhibition was correlated (R2=0.98) to the extent of lipid peroxidation determined by the accumulation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Much higher AAPH concentrations were required to inhibit the maximum (Fv/Fm) and effective (ΔF/Fm’) photochemical efficiencies of photosystem II (IC50 ≈ 120 mM and 50 mM respectively), indicating that moderate lipid peroxidation caused the uncoupling of spinach thylakoids. This was confirmed by the 62 % stimulation of the O2 uptake rates measured without the artificial uncoupler NH4Cl when the AAPH concentrations increased from 0 to at 20 mM, reaching similar values to the rates measured in presence of NH4Cl. Above 20 mM AAPH, the O2 uptake rates measured with and without NH4Cl declined similarly to the decrease of ΔF/Fm’. These results suggest that the increased H+-leakiness of thylakoid membranes could be one of the primary effects of oxidative stress.