Extrinsic polypeptides of spinach photosystem I

Senescence-dependent degradation of Lhcb3 is mediated by a thylakoid membrane-bound protease

A novel proteolytic activity integrally associated with barley thylakoid membranes has been discovered and characterized. This enzymatic activity mediates senescence-dependent degradation of Lhcb3, one of the apoproteins of the major light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein complex of photosystem II. Once senescence of barley leaves is initiated by detachment and dark incubation, the degradation of Lhcb3 can proceed and be followed in vitro in an experimental system composed of thylakoids isolated from senescing leaves incubated in darkness in suitable medium at 25 degrees C. The protease involved is present in its active form and Lhcb3 is susceptible for proteolytic attack already in fresh leaves, although Lhcb3 degradation does not take place unless undefined extrinsic membrane proteins protecting Lhcb3 are removed in a senescence-dependent manner. It is thus concluded that senescence-dependent Lhcb3 degradation is regulated at the substrate availability level. The protease involved is ATP stimulated, has an optimum activity at pH 7.8, and requires 3 mM added Mg2+ (replicable by micromolar doses of Zn2+) for its proper activity. Studies using typical inhibitors of various classes of proteases indicate that the enzyme is a metalloprotease with disulfide linkage essential for its activity. Micromolar doses of Zn2+ were demonstrated to restore the activity of Lhcb3-degrading enzymes abolished by an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid pretreatment of the thylakoids and it is inferred that the protease involved is a zinc-binding metalloprotease. Mg2+ was shown to be able to partially replace zinc as the bound ion.

A chloroplast DegP2 protease performs the primary cleavage of the photodamaged D1 protein in plant photosystem II

Although light is the ultimate substrate in photosynthesis, it can also be harmful and lead to oxidative damage of the photosynthetic apparatus. The main target for light stress is the central oxygen-evolving photosystem II (PSII) and its D1 reaction centre protein. Degradation of the damaged D1 protein and its rapid replacement by a de novo synthesized copy represent the important repair mechanism of PSII crucial for plant survival under light stress conditions. Here we report the isolation of a single-copy nuclear gene from Arabidopsis thaliana, encoding a protease that performs GTP-dependent primary cleavage of the photodamaged D1 protein and hence catalysing the key step in the repair cycle in plants. This protease, designated DegP2, is a homologue of the prokaryotic Deg/Htr family of serine endopeptidases and is associated with the stromal side of the non-appressed region of the thylakoid membranes. Increased expression of DegP2 under high salt, desiccation and light stress conditions was measured at the protein level.

Function and organization of Photosystem I polypeptides

Photosystem I functions as a plastocyanin:ferredoxin oxidoreductase in the thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts and cyanobacteria. The PS I complex contains the photosynthetic pigments, the reaction center P700, and five electron transfer centers (A0, A1, FX, FA, and FB) that are bound to the PsaA, PsaB, and PsaC proteins. In addition, PS I complex contains at least eight other polypeptides that are accessory in their functions. Recent use of cyanobacterial molecular genetics has revealed functions of the accessory subunits of PS I. Site-directed mutagenesis is now being used to explore structure-function relations in PS I. The overall architecture of PSI complex has been revealed by X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, and biochemical methods. The information obtained by different techniques can be used to propose a model for the organization of PS I. Spectroscopic and molecular genetic techniques have deciphered interaction of PS I proteins with the soluble electron transfer partners. This review focuses on the recent structural, biochemical and molecular genetic studies that decipher topology and functions of PS I proteins, and their interactions with soluble electron carriers.