Chemical modification of spinach ferredoxin with diethylpyrocarbonate: evidence for the essential nature of the histidyl residue

pH-induced conformational changes in spinach ferredoxin: steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence studies

Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence techniques were used to monitor pH-induced conformational changes in spinach ferredoxin. An increase was seen in the wave-length maximum of tryptophan-73 (Trp-73) emission, from 325 nm below pH 6.0 to 342 nm above pH 7.0, indicating significantly diminished hydrophobicity, at pH 7.0, in the environment of the indole ring. Raising the solution pH from 6.0 to 7.6 also decreased the binding of the detergent Brij-96, showing that the ferredoxin molecule as a whole became more hydrophilic at higher pH. Nonionic (acrylamide) and ionic (I- and Cs+) quenchers were used to probe the tryptophan environment. Trp-73 is partially shielded from I-, presumably by negatively charged residues, as predicted from the amino acid sequence and three-dimensional structure of plant-type ferredoxins. Ionic strength and pH effects on tryptophan fluorescence lifetimes follow a pattern common to single-tryptophan proteins: the emission decays can be fit to a biexponential model in which the lifetime of the excited state increases with increasing pH. The indication of a pH-induced conformational change in the range pH 6.0 to 7.6 is discussed with reference to the physiological association of ferredoxin with ferredoxin:NADP+ oxidoreductase and the rise in chloroplast stromal pH in the light.

Characterization of a covalently linked complex involving ferredoxin and ferredoxin: NADP reductase

Ferredoxin and the flavoprotein, ferredoxin: NADP reductase, have been covalently linked by incubation in the presence of a water soluble carbodiimide. The cross-linking reaction yields an adduct having a 1:1 stoichiometry. The adduct has depressed levels of diaphorase and NADPH oxidase activity and is inactive in reduction of cytochrome c using NADPH as an electron donor. Thus, although similar to an adduct described by Zanetti and coworkers [J Biol Chem 259: 6153-6157 (1984)] in its stoichiometry, the adduct described herein has significantly different enzymatic properties. It is suggested that this may be a reflection of differences in the interaction between the two proteins resulting from differences in experimental conditions in which the two adducts were prepared.

Interaction of ferredoxin with ferredoxin:NADP reductase: effects of chemical modification of ferredoxin

Chemical modification studies have been conducted on spinach ferredoxin to determine the nature of the groups on ferredoxin involved in its interaction with its reaction partners. Modification of a limited number (three or four) carboxyl groups or of the single histidine residue resulted in a decreased ability of ferredoxin to participate in NADP photoreduction but not in cytochrome c photoreduction, suggesting that these groups may be involved in interaction with ferredoxin:NADP reductase but are not involved in interaction with the reducing side of Photosystem I. In contrast, modification of amino groups or the single arginine residue on ferredoxin had little effect on the ability of ferredoxin to participate in NADP photoreduction, suggesting these groups are not involved in the interaction of ferredoxin with either ferredoxin:NADP reductase or the reducing side of Photosystem I. Attempts to modify tyrosine residues on ferredoxin resulted in destruction of the iron-sulfur center of the protein.

Chemical modification of carboxyl groups on spinach ferredoxin alters its ability to interact with ferredoxin:NADP reductase

Treatment of spinach ferredoxin with glycine ethyl ester in the presence of a water soluble carbodiimide resulted in the modification of 3-4 carboxyl groups and decreased the ability of ferredoxin to participate in NADP photoreduction by chloroplast membranes by about 80%. The ability of the modified ferredoxin to receive electrons from the reducing side of Photosystem I was relatively unaffected. These findings suggest that the modified ferredoxin is unable to interact with ferredoxin:NADP reductase. This has been verified by demonstration that the modified ferredoxin fails to produce difference spectra typical of a ferredoxin-ferredoxin:NADP reductase complex when added to ferredoxin:NADP reductase.