Recent advances in the understanding of chlorophyll excited state dynamics in thylakoid membranes and isolated reaction centre complexes

Kinetic and spectral resolution of multiple nonphotochemical quenching components in Arabidopsis leaves

Using novel specially designed instrumentation, fluorescence emission spectra were recorded from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) leaves during the induction period of dark to high-light adaptation in order to follow the spectral changes associated with the formation of nonphotochemical quenching. In addition to an overall decrease of photosystem II fluorescence (quenching) across the entire spectrum, high light induced two specific relative changes in the spectra: (1) a decrease of the main emission band at 682 nm relative to the far-red (750-760 nm) part of the spectrum (Delta F(682)); and (2) an increase at 720 to 730 nm (Delta F(720)) relative to 750 to 760 nm. The kinetics of the two relative spectral changes and their dependence on various mutants revealed that they do not originate from the same process but rather from at least two independent processes. The Delta F(720) change is specifically associated with the rapidly reversible energy-dependent quenching. Comparison of the wild-type Arabidopsis with mutants unable to produce or overexpressing the PsbS subunit of photosystem II showed that PsbS was a necessary component for Delta F(720). The spectral change Delta F(682) is induced both by energy-dependent quenching and by PsbS-independent mechanism(s). A third novel quenching process, independent from both PsbS and zeaxanthin, is activated by a high turnover rate of photosystem II. Its induction and relaxation occur on a time scale of a few minutes. Analysis of the spectral inhomogeneity of nonphotochemical quenching allows extraction of mechanistically valuable information from the fluorescence induction kinetics when registered in a spectrally resolved fashion.

Charge separation, stabilization, and protein relaxation in photosystem II core particles with closed reaction center

The fluorescence kinetics of cyanobacterial photosystem II (PSII) core particles with closed reaction centers (RCs) were studied with picosecond resolution. The data are modeled in terms of electron transfer (ET) and associated protein conformational relaxation processes, resolving four different radical pair (RP) states. The target analyses reveal the importance of protein relaxation steps in the ET chain for the functioning of PSII. We also tested previously published data on cyanobacterial PSII with open RCs using models that involved protein relaxation steps as suggested by our data on closed RCs. The rationale for this reanalysis is that at least one short-lived component could not be described in the previous simpler models. This new analysis supports the involvement of a protein relaxation step for open RCs as well. In this model the rate of ET from reduced pheophytin to the primary quinone Q(A) is determined to be 4.1 ns(-1). The rate of initial charge separation is slowed down substantially from approximately 170 ns(-1) in PSII with open RCs to 56 ns(-1) upon reduction of Q(A). However, the free-energy drop of the first RP is not changed substantially between the two RC redox states. The currently assumed mechanistic model, assuming the same early RP intermediates in both states of RC, is inconsistent with the presented energetics of the RPs. Additionally, a comparison between PSII with closed RCs in isolated cores and in intact cells reveals slightly different relaxation kinetics, with a approximately 3.7 ns component present only in isolated cores.

Toward understanding molecular mechanisms of light harvesting and charge separation in photosystem II

Conversion of light energy in photosynthesis is extremely fast and efficient, and understanding the nature of this complex photophysical process is challenging. This review describes current progress in understanding molecular mechanisms of light harvesting and charge separation in photosystem II (PSII). Breakthroughs in X-ray crystallography have allowed the development and testing of more detailed kinetic models than have previously been possible. However, due to the complexity of the light conversion processes, satisfactory descriptions remain elusive. Recent advances point out the importance of variations in the photochemical properties of PSII in situ in different thylakoid membrane regions as well as the advantages of combining sophisticated time-resolved spectroscopic experiments with atomic level computational modeling which includes the effects of molecular dynamics.

The mystery of oxygen evolution: analysis of structure and function of photosystem II, the water-plastoquinone oxido-reductase

Photosystem II (PS II) of thylakoid membrane of photosynthetic organisms has drawn attention of researchers over the years because it is the only system on Earth that provides us with oxygen that we breathe. In the recent past, structure of PS II has been the focus of research in plant science. The report of X-ray crystallographic structure of PS II complex by the research groups of James Barber and So Iwata in UK is a milestone in the area of research in photosynthesis. It follows the pioneering and elegant work from the laboratories of Horst Witt and W. Saenger in Germany, and J. Shen in Japan. It is time to analyze the historic events during the long journey made by the researchers to arrive at this point. This review makes an attempt to critically review the growth of the advancement of concepts and knowledge on the photosystem in the background of technological development. We conclude the review with perspectives on research and technology that should reveal the complete story of PS II of thylakoid in the future.

The photosystem I trimer of cyanobacteria: molecular organization, excitation dynamics and physiological significance

The photosystem I complex organized in cyanobacterial membranes preferentially in trimeric form participates in electron transport and is also involved in dissipation of excess energy thus protecting the complex against photodamage. A small number of longwave chlorophylls in the core antenna of photosystem I are not located in the close vicinity of P700, but at the periphery, and increase the absorption cross-section substantially. The picosecond fluorescence kinetics of trimers resolved the fastest energy transfer components reflecting the equilibration processes in the core antenna at different redox states of P700. Excitation kinetics in the photosystem I bulk antenna is nearly trap-limited, whereas excitation trapping from longwave chlorophyll pools is diffusion-limited and occurs via the bulk antenna. Charge separation in the photosystem I reaction center is the fastest of all known reaction centers.

Nonphotochemical quenching of excitation energy in photosystem II. A picosecond time-resolved study of the low yield of chlorophyll a fluorescence induced by single-turnover flash in isolated spinach thylakoids

Chlorophyll a fluorescence emission is widely used as a noninvasive measure of a number of parameters related to photosynthetic efficiency in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms. The most important component for the estimation of photochemistry is the relative increase in fluorescence yield between dark-adapted samples which have a maximal capacity for photochemistry and a minimal fluorescence yield (F0) and light-saturated samples where photochemistry is saturated and fluorescence yield is maximal (Fm). However, when photosynthesis is saturated with a short (less than 50 micro(s)) flash of light, which induces only one photochemical turnover of photosystem II, the maximal fluorescence yield is significantly lower (Fsat) than when saturation is achieved with a millisecond duration multiturnover flash (Fm). To investigate the origins of the difference in fluorescence yield between these two conditions, our time-resolved fluorescence apparatus was modified to allow collection of picosecond time-resolved decay kinetics over a short time window immediately following a saturating single-turnover flash (Fsat) as well as after a multiturnover saturating pulse (Fm). Our data were analyzed with a global kinetic model based on an exciton radical pair equilibrium model for photosystem II. The difference between Fm and Fsat was modeled well by changing only the rate constant for quenching of excitation energy in the antenna of photosystem II. An antenna-based origin for the quenching was verified experimentally by the observation that addition of the antenna quencher 5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone to thylakoids under Fm conditions resulted in decay kinetics and modeled kinetic parameters very similar to those observed under Fsat conditions in the absence of added quinone. Our data strongly support the origin of low fluorescence yield at Fsat to be an antenna-based nonphotochemical quenching of excitation energy in photosystem II which has not usually been considered explicitly in calculations of photochemical and nonphotochemical quenching parameters. The implications of our data with respect to kinetic models for the excited-state dynamics of photosystem II and the practical applications of the fluorescence yield parameters Fm and Fsat to calculations of photochemical yield are discussed.

Purification of a Photosystem II reaction center from a thermophilic cyanobacterium using immobilized metal affinity chromatography

Oxygen-evolving PS II particles from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus are partially purified by centrifugation on a sucrose gradient and are bound to a Chelating Sepharose column loaded with Cu(2+) ions. Bound particles are then transformed into PS II RC complexes by two washing steps. First, washing with a phosphate buffer (pH=6.5) containing 0.02% of SB 12 removes the rest of phycobilins and leaves pure PS II core particles on the column. Second, washing with a phosphate buffer (pH=6.2) containing 0.2 M LiClO4 and 0.05% of DM removes CP 47 and CP 43 and leaves bare PS II RC complexes on the column. These are then eluted with a phosphate buffer containing 1% of dodecylmaltoside (DM). The molar ratio of pigments in the eluate changes with the progress of elution but around the middle of the elution period a nearly stable ratio is maintained of Chl a: Pheo a: Car: Cyt b 559 equal to 2.9: 1: 0.9: 0.8. In these fractions the photochemical separation of charges could be demonstrated by accumulation of reduced pheophytin (ΔA of 430-440 nm) and by the flash induced formation of P680(+) (ΔA at 820 nm). The relatively slow relaxation kinetics of the latter signal (t1/2 ≈ 1 ms) may suggest that in a substantial fraction of the RCs QA remains bound to the complex.

Site-directed photosystem II mutants with perturbed oxygen-evolving properties. 1. Instability or inefficient assembly of the manganese cluster in vivo

Several site-directed photosystem II mutants with substitutions at Asp-170 of the D1 polypeptide were characterized by noninvasive methods in vivo. In several mutants, including some that evolve oxygen, a significant fraction of photosystem II reaction centers are shown to lack photooxidizable Mn ions. In this fraction of reaction centers, either the high-affinity site from which Mn ions rapidly reduce the oxidized secondary electron donor, YZ+, is devoid of Mn ions or the Mn ion(s) bound at this site are unable to reduce YZ+. It is concluded that the Mn clusters in these mutants are unstable or are assembled inefficiently in vivo. Mutants were constructed in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The in vivo characterization procedures employed in this study involved measuring changes in the yield of variable chlorophyll a fluorescence following a saturating flash or brief illumination given in the presence of the electron transfer inhibitor 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea, or following each of a series of saturating flashes given in the absence of this inhibitor. These procedures are easily applied to mutants that evolve little or no oxygen, facilitate the characterization of mutants with labile oxygen-evolving complexes, permit photosystem II isolation efforts to be concentrated on mutants having the stablest Mn clusters, and guide systematic spectroscopic studies of isolated photosystem II particles to mutants of particular interest.