Identification of ubiquinone as the secondary electron acceptor in the photosynthetic apparatus of Chromatium vinosum

Quantitative proteomics reveals the Sox system's role in sulphur and arsenic metabolism of phototroph Halorhodospira halophila

The metabolic process of purple sulphur bacteria's anoxygenic photosynthesis has been primarily studied in Allochromatium vinosum, a member of the Chromatiaceae family. However, the metabolic processes of purple sulphur bacteria from the Ectothiorhodospiraceae and Halorhodospiraceae families remain unexplored. We have analysed the proteome of Halorhodospira halophila, a member of the Halorhodospiraceae family, which was cultivated with various sulphur compounds. This analysis allowed us to reconstruct the first comprehensive sulphur-oxidative photosynthetic network for this family. Some members of the Ectothiorhodospiraceae family have been shown to use arsenite as a photosynthetic electron donor. Therefore, we analysed the proteome response of Halorhodospira halophila when grown under arsenite and sulphide conditions. Our analyses using ion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry showed that thioarsenates are chemically formed under these conditions. However, they are more extensively generated and converted in the presence of bacteria, suggesting a biological process. Our quantitative proteomics revealed that the SoxAXYZB system, typically dedicated to thiosulphate oxidation, is overproduced under these growth conditions. Additionally, two electron carriers, cytochrome c551/c5 and HiPIP III, are also overproduced. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy suggested that these transporters participate in the reduction of the photosynthetic Reaction Centre. These results support the idea of a chemically and biologically formed thioarsenate being oxidized by the Sox system, with cytochrome c551/c5 and HiPIP III directing electrons towards the Reaction Centre.

Menaquinone as pool quinone in a purple bacterium

Purple bacteria have thus far been considered to operate light-driven cyclic electron transfer chains containing ubiquinone (UQ) as liposoluble electron and proton carrier. We show that in the purple gamma-proteobacterium Halorhodospira halophila, menaquinone-8 (MK-8) is the dominant quinone component and that it operates in the Q(B)-site of the photosynthetic reaction center (RC). The redox potentials of the photooxidized pigment in the RC and of the Rieske center of the bc(1) complex are significantly lower (E(m) = +270 mV and +110 mV, respectively) than those determined in other purple bacteria but resemble those determined for species containing MK as pool quinone. These results demonstrate that the photosynthetic cycle in H. halophila is based on MK and not on UQ. This finding together with the unusual organization of genes coding for the bc(1) complex in H. halophila suggests a specific scenario for the evolutionary transition of bioenergetic chains from the low-potential menaquinones to higher-potential UQ in the proteobacterial phylum, most probably induced by rising levels of dioxygen 2.5 billion years ago. This transition appears to necessarily proceed through bioenergetic ambivalence of the respective organisms, that is, to work both on MK- and on UQ-pools. The establishment of the corresponding low- and high-potential chains was accompanied by duplication and redox optimization of the bc(1) complex or at least of its crucial subunit oxidizing quinols from the pool, the Rieske protein. Evolutionary driving forces rationalizing the empirically observed redox tuning of the chain to the quinone pool are discussed.

Proton transfer from the bulk to the bound ubiquinone Q(B) of the reaction center in chromatophores of Rhodobacter sphaeroides: retarded conveyance by neutral water

The mechanism of proton transfer from the bulk into the membrane protein interior was studied. The light-induced reduction of a bound ubiquinone molecule Q(B) by the photosynthetic reaction center is accompanied by proton trapping. We used kinetic spectroscopy to measure (i) the electron transfer to Q(B) (at 450 nm), (ii) the electrogenic proton delivery from the surface to the Q(B) site (by electrochromic carotenoid response at 524 nm), and (iii) the disappearance of protons from the bulk solution (by pH indicators). The electron transfer to Q(B)(-) and the proton-related electrogenesis proceeded with the same time constant of approximately 100 microseconds (at pH 6.2), whereas the alkalinization in the bulk was distinctly delayed (tau approximately 400 microseconds). We investigated the latter reaction as a function of the pH indicator concentration, the added pH buffers, and the temperature. The results led us to the following conclusions: (i) proton transfer from the surface-located acidic groups into the Q(B) site followed the reduction of Q(B) without measurable delay; (ii) the reprotonation of these surface groups by pH indicators and hydronium ions was impeded, supposedly, because of their slow diffusion in the surface water layer; and (iii) as a result, the protons were slowly donated by neutral water to refill the proton vacancies at the surface. It is conceivable that the same mechanism accounts for the delayed relaxation of the surface pH changes into the bulk observed previously with bacteriorhodopsin membranes and thylakoids. Concerning the coupling between proton pumps in bioenergetic membranes, our results imply a tendency for the transient confinement of protons at the membrane surface.

Flash-induced proton transfer in photosynthetic bacteria

A proton electrochemical potential across the membranes of photosynthetic purple bacteria is established by a light-driven proton pump mechanism: the absorbed light in the reaction center initiates electron transfer which is coupled to the vectorial displacement of protons from the cytoplasm to the periplasm. The stoichiometry and kinetics of proton binding and release can be tracked directly by electric (glass electrodes), spectrophotometric (pH indicator dyes) and conductimetric techniques. The primary step in the formation of the transmembrane chemiosmotic potential is the uptake of two protons by the doubly reduced secondary quinone in the reaction center and the subsequent exchange of hydroquinol for quinone from the membrane quinone-pool. However, the proton binding associated with singly reduced promary and/or secondary quinones of the reaction center is substoichiometric, pH-dependent and its rate is electrostatically enhanced but not diffusion limited. Molecular details of protonation are discussed based on the crystallographic structure of the reaction center of purple bacteriaRb. sphaeroides andRps. viridis, structure-based molecular (electrostatic) calculations and mutagenesis directed at protonatable amino acids supposed to be involved in proton conduction pathways.

In photosynthetic reaction centers, the free energy difference for electron transfer between quinones bound at the primary and secondary quinone-binding sites governs the observed secondary site specificity

The secondary quinone-binding site (QB site) of bacterial reaction centers from Rhodobacter sphaeroides is generally regarded to be highly specific for its native ubiquinone-10 molecule. We demonstrate here that this is a misconception rooted in the kinetic methods used to assay for occupancy of a quinone in the QB site. We show that observance of occupancy of the QB site, revealed by kinetic assay, is sensitive to the free-energy difference for electron transfer between the quinone at the primary quinone-binding site (QA site) and the QB site (-delta G0e-). For many of the compounds previously tested for binding at the QB site, the -delta G0e- between QA and QB is too small to permit detection of the functional quinone in the QB site. With an increased -delta G0e- achieved by replacing the native ubiquinone-10 at the QA site with lower-potential quinones or by testing higher-potential QB candidates, it is shown that the QB site binds and functions with the unsubstituted 1,4-benzoquinone, 1,4-naphthoquinone, and 9,10-phenanthraquinone, as well as with their various substituted forms. Moreover, quinones with the ortho-carbonyl configuration appear to function in a similar manner to quinones with the para-carbonyl configuration.

Demonstration of a collisional interaction of ubiquinol with the ubiquinol-cytochrome c2 oxidoreductase complex in chromatophores from Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Ubiquinone-10 can be extracted from lyophilized chromatophores of Rhodobacter sphaeroides (previously called Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides) without significant losses in other components of the electron-transfer chain or irreversible damages in the membrane structure. The pool of ubiquinone can be restored with exogenous UQ-10 to sizes larger than the ones in unextracted membranes. The decrease in the pool size has marked effects on the kinetics of reduction of cytochrome b-561 induced by a single flash of light and measured in the presence of antimycin. The initial rate of reduction, which in unextracted preparations increases on reduction of the suspension over the Eh range between 170 and 100 mV (pH 7), is also stimulated in partially UQ-depleted membranes, although at more negative Eh's. When the UQ pool is completely extracted the rate of cytochrome (Cyt) b-561 reduction is low and unaffected by the redox potential. In membranes enriched in UQ-10 above the physiological level the titration curve of the rate of Cyt b-561 reduction is displaced to Eh values more positive than in controls. This effect is saturated when the size of the UQ pool is about 2-3 times larger than the native one. The reduction of Cyt b-561 always occurs a short time after the flash is fired; also the duration of this lag is dependent on Eh and on the size of the UQ pool. A decrease or an increase in the pool size causes a displacement of the titration curve of the lag to more negative or to more positive Eh's, respectively. Similarly, the lag becomes Eh independent and markedly longer than in controls when the pool is completely extracted. These results demonstrate that the rate of turnover of the ubiquinol oxidizing site in the b-c1 complex depends on the actual concentration of ubiquinol present in the membrane and that ubiquinol from the pool is oxidized at this site with a collisional mechanism. Kinetic analysis of the data indicates that this reaction obeys a Michaelis-Menten type equation, with a Km of 3-5 ubiquinol molecules per reaction center.

The electronic structure of Fe2+ in reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides. III. EPR measurements of the reduced acceptor complex

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of the reduced quinone-iron acceptor complex in reaction centers were measured in a variety of environments and compared with spectra calculated from a theoretical model. Spectra were obtained at microwave frequencies of 1, 9, and 35 GHz and at temperatures from 1.4 to 30 K. The spectra are characterized by a broad absorption peak centered at g = 1.8 with wings extending from g approximately equal to 5 to g less than 0.8. The peak is split with the low-field component increasing in amplitude with temperature. The theoretical model is based on a spin Hamiltonian, in which the reduced quinone, Q-, interacts magnetically with Fe2+. In this model the ground manifold of the interacting Q-Fe2+ system has two lowest doublets that are separated by approximately 3 K. Both perturbation analyses and exact numerical calculations were used to show how the observed spectrum arises from these two doublets. The following spin Hamiltonian parameters optimized the agreement between simulated and observed spectra: the electronic g tensor gFe, x = 2.16, gFe, y = 2.27, gFez = 2.04, the crystal field parameters D = 7.60 K and E/D = 0.25, and the antiferromagnetic magnetic interaction tensor, Jx = -0.13 K, Jy = -0.58 K, Jz = -0.58 K. The model accounts well for the g value (1.8) of the broad peak, the observed splitting of the peak, the high and low g value wings, and the observed temperature dependence of the shape of the spectra. The structural implications of the value of the magnetic interaction, J, and the influence of the environment on the spin Hamiltonian parameters are discussed. The similarity of spectra and relaxation times observed from the primary and secondary acceptor complexes Q-AFe2+ and Fe2+Q-B leads to the conclusion that the Fe2+ is approximately equidistant from QA and QB.

Cytochrome b50 as a proton carrier in the photosynthetic redox chain of purple bacteria

Recent data on the proton-translocating activity of b cytochromes in chromatophores of purple bacteria and their arrangement in the photosynthetic redox chain are discussed. These data appear to support the concept of the b50 and b-90 cytochrome doublet spanning the membrane. Current schemes of H+ transport by b cytochromes are considered, and the scheme of H+ translocation by cytochrome b50 taking up H+ at the outer side of the membrane and a quinone delivering them from this cytochrome to the inner space of the chromatophore is favored as the most probable in the light of recent findings. This scheme is applicable both to Crofts' linear model of the redox chain and to Mitchell's Q cycle. Kinetic discrepancies between H+ uptake and cytochrome b50 reduction at high ambient redox potentials are interpreted in terms of a special, cytochrome b50-independent, yet Rieske FeS-protein-dependent mode of H+ transport.

An x-ray absorption study of the iron site in bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers

Measurements were made of the extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of the iron site in photosynthetic reaction centers from the bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides. Forms with two quinones, two quinones with added o-phenanthroline, and one quinone were studied. Only the two forms containing two quinones maintained their integrity and were analyzed. The spectra show directly that the added o-phenanthroline does not chelate the iron atom. Further analysis indicates that the iron is octahedrally coordinated by nitrogen and/or oxygen atoms located at various distances, with the average value of about 2.14 A. The analysis suggests that most of the ligands are nitrogens and that three of the nitrogen ligands belong to histidine rings. This interpretation accounts for several unusual features of the EXAFS spectrum. We speculate that the quinones are bound to the histidine rings in some manner. Qualitative features of the absorption edge spectra also are discussed and are related to the Fe-ligand distance.

Inhibition of electron transfer in the cytochrome b-c, segment of the mitochondrial respiratory chain by a synthetic analogue of ubiquinone

A synthetic analogue of ubiquinone, 5-n-undecyl-6-hydroxy-4,7-dioxobenzothiazole, inhibits oxidation of succinate and NADH-linked substrates by rat liver mitochondria. Inhibition occurs both in the presence (state 3) and absence (state 4) of ADP. With isolated succinate-cytochrome c reductase complex from bovine heart mitochondria the quinone analogue inhibits succinate-cytochrome c reductase and ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase activities but does not inhibit succinate-ubiquinone reductase activity. Inhibition of cytochrome c reductase activities is markedly dependent on pH in the range pH 7-8. At pH 7.0 inhibition occurs with an apparent Ki less than or equal to 1 x 10(-8) M, while at pH 8.0 the apparent Ki is more than an order of magnitude greater than this. Spectrophotometric titrations of 5-n-undecyl-6-hydroxy-4,7-dioxobenzothiazole show a visibly detectable pKa at pH 6.5 attributable to ionization of the 6-hydroxy group. These results indicate that this quinone derivative is a highly specific and potent inhibitor of electron transfer in the b-c1 segment of the respiratory chain. Because of the structural analogy, it is likely that the mechanism of inhibition involves disruption of normal ubiquinone function. In addition, this inhibition depends on protonation of the ionizable hydroxy group of the inhibitory analogue or on protonation of a function group in the b-c1 segment.

The photosynthetic electron transfer chain of Chromatium vinosum chromatophores: flash-induced cytochrome b reduction

Reduction of a cytochrome b following excitation by a single, short, near-saturating light flash has been demonstrated in Chromatium vinosum chromatophores. The extent of reduction is increased by addition of antimycin. The cytochrome has an alpha-band maximum at 562 nm in the presence of antimycin. The cytochrome b reduction is most readily observed in the presence of antimycin at high redox potential when cytochrome c-555 is oxidised before excitation. Under these conditions the half-time for reduction is about 20 ms, and the extent is about 0.5 mol of cytochrome b reduced per mol of reaction center oxidised. This extent of reduction is observed on the first flash-excitation from the dark-adapted state, and there was no indication that the reaction center quinone acceptor complex acted as a two-electron accumulating system. With cytochrome c-555 reduced before excitation, the extent of cytochrome b reduction is approximately halved. The factors which result in substoichiometric cytochrome b reduction are not yet understood. Agents which appear to inhibit primary acceptor oxidation by the secondary acceptor (UHDBT, PHDBT, DDAQQ, HOQNO, o-phenanthroline), inhibit reduction of the cytochrome b. DBMIB inhibits cytochrome b reduction but does not appear to inhibit primary acceptor oxidation. These observations confirm that a cytochrome b receives electrons delivered from the primary acceptor complex, and indicate that the photoreduced cytochrome b is reoxidised via an antimycin-sensitive pathway.

Electron acceptors of bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers. II. H+ binding coupled to secondary electron transfer in the quinone acceptor complex

The photoreduction of ubiquinone in the electron acceptor complex (QIQII) of photosynthetic reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides, R26, was studied in a series of short, saturating flashes. The specific involvement of H+ in the reduction was revealed by the pH dependence of the electron transfer events and by net H+ binding during the formation of ubiquinol, which requires two turnovers of the photochemical act. On the first flash QII receives an electron via QI to form a stable ubisemiquinone anion (QII-); the second flash generates QI-. At low pH the two semiquinones rapidly disproportionate with the uptake of 2 H+, to produce QIIH2. This yields out-of-phase binary oscillations for the formation of anionic semiquinone and for H+ uptake. Above pH 6 there is a progressive increase in H+ binding on the first flash and an equivalent decrease in binding on the second flash until, at about pH 9.5, the extent of H+ binding is the same on all flashes. The semiquinone oscillations, however, are undiminished up to pH 9. It is suggested that a non-chromophoric, acid-base group undergoes a pK shift in response to the appearance of the anionic semiquinone and that this group is the site of protonation on the first flash. The acid-base group, which may be in the reaction center protein, appears to be subsequently involved in the protonation events leading to fully reduced ubiquinol. The other proton in the two electron reduction of ubiquinone is always taken up on the second flash and is bound directly to QII-. At pH values above 8.0, it is rate limiting for the disproportionation and the kinetics, which are diffusion controlled, are properly responsive to the prevailing pH. Below pH 8, however, a further step in the reaction mechanism was shown to be rate limiting for both H+ binding electron transfer following the second flash.

Factors controlling the binding of two protons per electron transferred through the ubiquinone and cytochrome b/c2 segment of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides chromatophores

1. On every turnover, 2.0 protons can be bound by the membrane for each single electron moving through the Q-b/c2 oxidoreductase. 2. One proton (H+II) binding reaction is, and one (H+I) is not, sensitive to antimycin. 3. The redox states of electron transfer components other than the proton binding agents can affect both the rate of proton uptake and the apparent pK values on the agents binding the protons. 4. The presence of valinomycin under certain well-defined conditions can strongly influence the value of the measured pK on the H+II binding agent.

The involvement of iron and ubiquinone in electron transfer reactions mediated by reaction centers from photosynthetic bacteria

Reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides strain R-26 were prepared with varying Fe and ubiquinone (Q) contents. The photooxidation of P-870 to P-870+ was found to occur with the same quantum yield in Fe-depleted reaction centers as in control samples. The kinetics of electron transfer from the initial electron acceptor (I) to Q also were unchanged upon Fe removal. We conclude that Fe has no measurable role in the primary photochemical reaction. The extent of secondary reaction from the first quinone acceptor (QA) to the second quinone acceptor (QB) was monitored by the decay kinetics of P-870+ after excitation of reaction centers with single flashes in the absence of electron donors, and by the amount of P-870 photooxidation that occurred on the second flash in the presence of electron donors. In reaction centers with nearly one iron and between 1 and 2 ubiquinones per reaction center, the amount of secondary electron transfer is proportional to the ubiquinone content above one per reaction center. In reaction centers treated with LiClO4 and o-phenanthroline to remove Fe, the amount of secondary reaction is decreased and is proportional to Fe content. Fe seems to be required for the secondary reaction. In reaction centers depleted of Fe by treatment with SDS and EDTA, the correlation between Fe content and secondary activity is not as good as that found using LiClO4. This is probably due in part to a loss of primary photochemical activity in samples treated with SDS; but the correlation is still not perfect after correction for this effect. The nature of the back reaction between P-870+ and Q-B was investigated using stopped flow techniques. Reaction centers in the P-870+ Q-B state decay with a 1-s half-time in both the presence and absence of o-phenanthroline, an inhibitor of electron transfer between Q-B and QB. This indicates that the back reaction between P-870+ and Q-A is direct, rather than proceeding via thermal repopulation of Q-A. The P-870+ Q-B state is calculated to lie at least 100 mV in free energy below the P-870+ Q-A state.

The mechanism of reduction of the ubiquinone pool in photosynthetic bacteria at different redox potentials

(1) A flash number dependency of flash-induced absorbance changes was observed with whole cells of Rhodospirillum rubrum and chromatophores of R. rubrum and Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides wild type and the G1C mutant. The oscillatory behavior was dependent on the redox potential; it was observed under oxidizing conditions only. Absorbance difference spectra measured after each flash in the 275--500 nm wavelength region showed that a molecule of ubiquinone, R, is reduced to the semiquinone (R-) after odd-numbered flashes and reoxidized after even-numbered flashes. The amount of R reduced was approximately one molecule per reaction center. (2) The flash number dependency of the electrochromic shift of the carotenoid spectrum was studied with chromatophores of Rps. sphaeroides wild type and the G1C mutant. At higher values of the ambient redox potential a relatively slow phase with a rise time of 30 ms was observed after even-numbered flashes, in addition to the fast phase (completed within 0.2 ms) occurring after each flash. Evidence was obtained that the slow phase represents the formation of an additional membrane potential during a dark reaction that occurs after flashes with an even number. This reaction is inhibited by antimycin A, whereas the oscillations of the R/R- absorbance changes remain unaffected. At low potentials (E = 100 mV) no oscillations of the carotenoid shift were observed: a fast phase was followed by a slow phase (antimycin-sensitive) with a half-time of 3 ms after each flash. (3) The results are discussed in terms of a model for the cyclic electron flow as described by Prince and Dutton (Prince, R.C. and Dutton, P.L. (1976) Bacterial Photosynthesis Conference, Brussels, Belgium, September 6--9, Abstr. TB4) employing the so-called Q-cycle.

Secondary electron transfer in reaction centers of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides. Out-of-phase periodicity of two for the formation of ubisemiquinone and fully reduced ubiquinone

Electron transfer between purified reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides and exogenous ubiquinone has been studied in the presence of electron donors by measurements of light-induced absorbance changes following a sequence of short actinic light flashes. Each odd flash promotes the formation of a molecule of ubisemiquinone; after each even flash the semiquinone disappears and a molecule of the fully reduced quinone appears. We interpret these results by means of a model where a specialized molecule of ubiquinone is reduced by the primary electron acceptor in a one-electron transfer reaction after each flash, and is reoxidized by a molecule of the ubiquinone pool in a two-electron transfer reaction every two flashes.

Delayed fluorescence from bacteriochlorophyll in Chromatium vinosum chromatophores

Delayed fluorescence from bacteriochlorophyll in Chromatium vinosum chromatophores was studied at room temperature and under intermittent illuminations. The decay of delayed fluorescence was constituted of two components; a fast component decayed with a half time of about 8 ms, a slow one decayed in parallel with the reduction of photooxidized bacteriochlorophyll (P+) with a half time of 100-200 ms. The biphasic decay of delayed fluorescence indicated that a rapid equilibrium was established between the primary electron acceptor and the secondary acceptor. In the presence of o-phenanthroline, the time course of the decay of delayed fluorescence was identical with that of the reduction of P+ in reaction center-rich subchromatophore particles, although they did not necessarily coincide with each other in "intact" chromatophores. The intensity of the slow component was increased and the decay was accelerated at basic pH values. Reagents that dissipate the proton gradient across the chromatophore membranes such as carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) and nigericin accelerated the decay of the slow component. These effects are probably resulting from changes in internal pH of chromatophore vesicles. Reagents that dissipate the membrane potential such as CCCP and valinomycin decreased the intensity.

The effect of dibromothymoquinone on respiratory and photosynthetic electron transport in Rhodopseudomonas capsulata chromatophores

Dibromothymoquinone has been shown to inhibit light-induced cytochrome b reduction, and oxidation of succinate and NADH by chromatophores of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata. The half-inhibitory concentration of light-induced reactions and NADH oxidation is 2.5 muM, but of succinate oxidation is 16 muM. Hexane extraction inhibited oxidation of NADH and succinate equally. The results are interpreted to suggest that ubiquinone is concerned in all three processes described, but that the pools associated with NADH and succinate oxidation are not equally accessible to dibromothymoquinone.

Thermodynamic properties of the reaction center of Rhodopseudomonas viridis. In vivo measurement of the reaction center bacteriochlorophyll-primary acceptor intermediary electron carrier

The thermodynamic properties of redox components associated with the reaction center of Rhodopseudomonas viridis have been characterized with respect to their midpoint potentials and relationship with protons. In particular a midpoint potential for the intermediary electron carrier acting between the reaction center bacteriochlorophyll and the primary acceptor has been determined. The rationale for this measurement was that the light-induced triplet/biradical EPR signal would not be observed if this intermediate was chemically reduced before activation. The midpoint potential of the intermediary at pH 10.8 is about --400 mV (n=1).

Delayed fluorescence from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides following single flashes

Delayed fluorescence from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides chromatophores was studied with the use of short flashes for excitation. Although the delayed fluorescence probably arises from a back-reaction between the oxidized reaction center bacteriochlorophyll complex (P+) and the reduced electron acceptor (X-), the decay of delayed fluorescence after a flash is much faster (tau1/2 approximately 120 mus) than the decay of P+X-. The rapid decay of delayed fluorescence is not due to the uptake of a proton from the solution, nor to a change in membrane potential. It correlates with small optical absorbance changes at 450 and 770 nm which could reflect a change in the state of X-. The intensity of the delayed fluorescence is 11-18-fold greater if the excitation flashes are spaced 2 s apart than it is if they are 30 s apart. The enhancement of delayed fluorescence at high flash repetition rates occurs only at redox potentials which are low enough (less than +240 mV) so that electron donors are available to reduce P+X- to PX- in part of the reaction center population. The enhancement decays between flashes as PX- is reoxidized to PX, as measured by the recovery of photochemical activity. Evidently, the reduction of P+X- to PX- leads to the storage of free energy that can be used on a subsequent flash to promote delayed fluorescence. The reduction of P+X- also is associated with a carotenoid spectral shift which decays as PX- is reoxidized to PX. Although this suggests that the free energy which supports the delayed fluorescence might be stored as a membrane potential, the ionophore gramicidin D only partially inhibits the enhancement of delayed fluorescence. With widely separated flashes, gramicidin has no effect on delayed fluorescence. At redox potentials low enough to keep X fully reduced, delayed fluorescence of the type described above does not occur, but one can detect weak luminescence which probably is due to phosphorescence of a protoporphyrin.

Photochemical activities of reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides at low temperature and in the presence of chaotropic agents

Light-induced absorbance changes were measured at low temperatures in reaction center preparations from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides. Absorbance difference spectra measured at 100 degrees K show that ubiquinone is photoreduced at this temperature, both by continuous light and by a short actinic flash. The reduction occurred with relatively high efficiency. These results give support to the idea that ubiquinone is involved in the primary photochemical reaction in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides. Reduction of ubiquinone was accompanied by a shift of the infrared absorption band of bacteriopheophytin. The rate of decay of the primary photoproducts (P+870 and ubisemiquinone) appeared to be approximately independent of temperature below 180 degrees K and above 270 degrees K; in the region between 180 and 270 degrees K it increased with decreasing temperature. The rate of decay was not affected by 0-phenanthroline. Secondary reactions were inhibited by lowering the temperature. The light-induced absorbance changes were inhibited by chaotropic agents, like thiocyanate and perchlorate. It was concluded that these agents lower the efficiency of the primary photoconversion. The kinetics indicated that the degree of inhibition was not the same for all reaction centers. The absorption spectrum of the photoconverted reaction centers appeared to be somewhat modified by thiocyanate.