Light-harvesting Pigment-Proteins of Photosystem I in Maize

Rapid isolation of photosystem I chlorophyll-binding proteins by anion exchange perfusion chromatography

With the new method of anion exchange perfusion chromatography we have devised an extremely rapid technique to subfractionate spinach Photosystem I into its chlorophyll a containing core complex and various components of the Photosystem I light-harvesting antenna (LHC I). The isolation time for the LHC I subcomplexes following solubilisation of native Photosystem I was reduced from 50 h using traditional density centrifugation procedures down to only 10-25 min by perfusion chromatography. Within this very short period of isolation, LHC I has been obtained as subfractions highly enriched in Lhca2+3 (LHC I-680) and Lhca1+4 (LHC I-730). Moreover, other highly enriched subfractions of LHC I such as Lhca2, Lhca3 and Lhca1+2+4 were obtained where the later two populations have not previously been obtained in a soluble form and without the use of SDS. These various subfractions of the LHC I antenna have been characterised by absorption spectroscopy, 77 K fluorescence-spectroscopy and SDS-PAGE demonstrating their identities, functional intactness and purity. Furthermore, the analyses located a chlorophyll b pool to preferentially transfer its excitation energy to the low energy F735 chromophore, and located specifically the origin of the 730 nm fluorescence to the Lhca4 component. It was also revealed that Lhca2 and Lhca3 have identical light-harvesting properties. The isolated Photosystem I core complex showed high electron transport capacity (1535 μmoles O2 mg Chl(-1) h(-1)) and low fluorescence yield (0.4%) demonstrating its high functional integrity. The very rapid isolation procedure based upon perfusion chromatography should in a significant way facilitate the subfractionation of Photosystem I proteins and thereby allow more accurate functional and structural studies of individual components.

Assembly of the chlorophyll-protein complexes

The biogenesis of photosynthetic complexes in plants and algae is a multi-step process that involves intricate coordination of steps in two intracellular compartments, the chloroplast and the cytoplasm. The process initiates with the transcription and translation of the various polypeptide subunits. The nuclear-encoded Chl-binding proteins are translated on cytoplasmic ribosomes as precursors that have a transit (leader) sequence at their amino-terminus. The precursors are post-translationally imported into the chloroplasts, proteolytically processed into their mature forms, inserted into the thylationally imported into the chloroplasts, proteolytically processed into their mature forms, inserted into the thylakoid membrane, and bound to their co-factors (and pigments) and with other subunits to form an active complex. The order and mechanisms by which these events occur, are currently being discovered. Electrostatic interactions, the 'positive inside rule', interhelix interactions, interactions with lipids and chaperone proteins affect the insertion and stabilization of the Chl-proteins in the thylakoids. This review describes the events occurring during the integration and organization of the Chl-proteins.

Characterization of a cDNA encoding the 20-kDa photosystem I light-harvesting polypeptide of Chlamydomonas rinhardtii

A cDNA encoding the precursor to a major 20-kDa thylakoid polypeptide of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (P22), previously localized to the photosystem I light-harvesting complex (LHCI), was characterized. N-terminal sequencing of P22 identified the precursor cleavage site. Genomic Southern blots and polymerase chain reaction analyses show that the gene for P22 (Lhca1*1) is single-copy and contains at least one intron. Northern-blot analyses show that Lhca1*1 mRNA is highly regulated in light-dark synchronized cells. The primary sequence and predicted topology of P22 has features characteristic of light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins from higher plants. Sequence comparisons indicate that P22 has significantly greater identity with the Type-I LHCI protein of tomato, compared to other LHC proteins. This result suggests that the divergence of LHCI proteins into the classes found in higher plants may have occurred early in evolution, prior to the separation of green algae and land plants.

Temperature dependence and polarization of fluorescence from Photosystem I in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

To determine the fluorescence properties of cyanobacterial Photosystem I (PS I) in relatively intact systems, fluorescence emission from 20 to 295 K and polarization at 77 K have been measured from phycobilisomes-less thylakoids of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and a mutant strain lacking Photosystem II (PS II). At 295 K, the fluorescence maxima are 686 nm in the wild type from PS I and PS II and at 688 nm from PS I in the mutant. This emission is characteristic of bulk antenna chlorophylls (Chls). The 690-nm fluorescence component of PS I is temperature independent. For wild-type and mutant, 725-nm fluorescence increases by a factor of at least 40 from 295 to 20 K. We model this temperature dependence assuming a small number of Chls within PS I, emitting at 725 nm, with an energy level below that of the reaction center, P700. Their excitation transfer rate to P700 decreases with decreasing temperature increasing the yield of 725-nm fluorescence.Fluorescence excitation spectra of polarized emission from low-energy Chls were measured at 77 and 295 K on the mutant lacking PS II. At excitation wavelengths longer than 715 nm, 760-nm emission is highly polarized indicating either direct excitation of the emitting Chls with no participation in excitation transfer or total alignment of the chromophores. Fluorescence at 760 nm is unpolarized for excitation wavelengths shorter than 690 nm, inferring excitation transfer between Chls before 760-nm fluorescence occurs.Our measurements illustrate that: 1) a single group of low-energy Chls (F725) of the core-like PS I complex in cyanobacteria shows a strongly temperature-dependent fluorescence and, when directly excited, nearly complete fluorescence polarization, 2) these properties are not the result of detergent-induced artifacts as we are examining intact PS I within the thylakoid membrane of S. 6803, and 3) the activation energy for excitation transfer from F725 Chls to P700 is less than that of F735 Chls in green plants; F725 Chls may act as a sink to locate excitations near P700 in PS I.

The composition and organization of photosystem I

Photosystem I, extensively studied in the past decade, was shown to be homologous in all photosynthetic organisms of the higher plants type. Its core complex was found to be highly conserved through evolution from cyanobacteria to higher plants. The genes coding for the subunits of CCI were isolated and the resulting sequences provided information about secondary structural elements. These suggested secondary structures enabled the prediction of the topology of these subunits in the photosynthetic membrane. Structural studies using both electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography, on isolated particles as well as on the complexes in the photosynthetic membrane, led to a better understanding of the overall structure of CCI. Recently two forms of three dimensional crystals of CCI were obtained. These crystals contain all the original components of CCI (both protein and pigments); these components have not been altered by crystallization. It is expected that a detailed crystallographic analysis of these crystals, together with biochemical, spectroscopical and molecular biology studies, will eventually lead to the elucidation of the high resolution structure of the photosystem I core complex and to the understanding of the exact role and mode of action of this complex in the photosynthetic membrane.

Nucleotide sequence and chromosomal location of Cab11 and Cab12, the genes for the fourth polypeptide of the photosystem I light-harvesting antenna (LHCI)

Tryptic peptide sequences from the 22 kDa polypeptide of tomato LHCI were used to construct a probe for gene cloning. The two genes cloned, cab11 and cab12, encode proteins of 251 and 250 residues that are 88% identical in overall amino acid sequence and 93% identical in the deduced mature protein. Each gene is present in a single copy per haploid genome; cab11 on chromosome 3 and cab12 on chromosome 6, and each has 2 introns located in similar positions to introns in other members of the Chl a/b-binding (CAB) protein gene family. Comparison of the amino acid sequences of LHCI, LHCII, CP29 and CP24 polypeptides confirms that all CABs share two regions of very high similarity which include the first and third transmembrane helices and the stroma-exposed sequences preceding them. However, near the N-terminus and between the conserved regions, the LHCI polypeptides have sequence motifs which appear to be PSI-specific.

Expression of plant genes in transfected mammalian cells: accumulation of recombinant preLHCIIb proteins within cytoplasmic inclusion bodies

Transfection of the monkey COS-7 cells with an expression vector bearing the Lemma gibba LHCIIb AB30 or AB19 genes led to the synthesis of the LHCIIb polypeptide precursors (preLHCIIb). This was inferred mainly from Western blot analysis which has revealed the appearance of a single immunoprecipitation band following the use of three different preparations of anti-LHCIIb antibodies. Synthesis of the precursor polypeptides, not the mature processed LHCIIb protein, was evident from the molecular weight of the newly synthesized protein, inferred from its position in the gel. Expression of the AB30 and AB19 genes was also evident from the appearance of specific transcripts only in transfected cells. Immunofluorescence observations revealed the appearance of distinct fluorescent spots in about 1-2% of the transfected cells. The same was observed following immunogold staining and electron microscopy studies, which revealed a specific association of gold particles with amorphous structures only in transfected cells. The preLHCIIb synthesized by transfected COS-7 cells was insoluble in a variety of detergents and could be solubilized only by 8 M urea or 0.1 N NaOH. These properties are characteristic of proteins accumulating within inclusion bodies of prokaryotes.

Anomalous electron transport activity in a Photosystem I-deficient maize mutant

Photosynthesis mutations were induced in maize lines bearing the transposable DNA element system, Mutator. Two Photosystem I mutants (hcf101 and hcf104) which were isolated are described here. Maize plants homozygous for the hcf104 mutation are seedling lethal and exhibit a high in vivo chlorophyll fluorescence yield. They lack ∼60% of CP1, P700 and PSI-specific electron transport activity relative to normal sibling plants. The comparable depletion of these three measures of PS I content conforms to the pattern reported for many other PS I-deficient mutants. Maize plants homozygous for hcf101 are seedling lethal and also exhibit high in vivo chlorophyll fluorescence yield. They lack 80-90% of CP1 and P700 but sustain steady state levels of PS I-specific electron transport activity at 70% of normal. Previous reports of similar apparent PS I hyperactivity are discussed and an explanation for the elevated steady state level of PS I electron transport activity in hcf101 is proposed.