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The S2 state of the oxygen-evolving Mn-cluster of Photosystem II (PS II) is known to have different forms that exhibit the g =2 multiline and g = 4.1 EPR signals. These two spin forms are interconvertible at > 200 K and the relative amplitudes of the two signals are dependent on the species of cryoprotectant and alcohol contained in the medium. Also, it was recently found that the mutiline form can be converted to the g = 4.1 form by absorption of near-infrared light by the Mn-cluster itself at around 150 K [Boussac et al. (1996) Biochemistry 35: 6984–6989]. We have used light-induced Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) difference spectroscopy to study the structural difference in these two S2 forms. FTIR difference spectra for S2/S1 as well as for S2QA -/S1QA measured at cryogenic temperatures using PS II membranes in the presence of various cryoprotectants, and monohydric alcohols did not show any specific differences except for intensities of amide I bands, which were larger when ethylene glycol or glycerol was present in addition to sucrose. This result was interpreted due to more flexible movement of the protein backbones upon S2 formation with a higher cryoprotectant content. Light-induced difference spectra measured at 150 K using either blue light without near-infrared light or red plus near-infrared light also did not show any detectable difference. In addition, a different spectrum upon near-infrared illumination at 150 K of the PS II sample in which the S2 state had been photogenerated at 200 K exhibited no meaningful signals. These results indicate that the two S2 forms that give rise to the multiline and g = 4.1 signals have only minor differences, if any, in the structures of amino-acid ligands and polypeptide backbones. This conclusion suggests that conversion between the two spin states is caused by a spin-state transition in the Mn(III) ion rather than valence swapping within the Mn-cluster that would considerably affect the vibrations of ligands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carboxyl terminus of the CP43 subunit of photosystem II (PSII) in the thermophilic cyanobacterium, Synechococcus elongatus, was genetically tagged with six consecutive histidine residues to create a metal binding site on the PSII supramolecular complex. The histidine-tagging enabled rapid isolation of an intact cyanobacterial PSII core complex from dodecyl maltoside-solubilized thylakoids by a simple one-step Ni2+-affinity column chromatography. The isolated core complex was in a dimeric form with a molecular mass of about 580 kDa, consisting of five major intrinsic membrane proteins (CP47, CP43, D1, D2 and cytochrome b-559), three extrinsic proteins (33 kDa, 12 kDa, and cytochrome c-550), and a few low molecular mass membrane proteins, and evolved oxygen at a rate as high as 3,400 μmol (mg Chl)−1 h−1 at 45°C with ferricyanide as an electron acceptor. The core complex emitted thermoluminescence B2−, B1− and Q-bands arising from S2QB−, S3QB− and S2QB− charge recombinations at respective emission temperatures of 45, 38 and 20°C, all of which were higher by about 15°C as compared with those in mesophilic spinach BBY membranes. These results indicated that the isolated core complex well retained the intact properties of thermoluminescence of thermophilic cyanobacterial cells, the deeper stabilization of PSII charge pairs. The isolated complex was extremely stable in terms of both protein composition and function, exhibiting no release of extrinsic proteins, no proteolytic degradation in any of its subunits, accompanied by only a slight (less than 10%) loss in oxygen evolution, after dark-incubation at 20°C for 8 d. These properties of the thermophilic PSII core complex are highly useful for various types of studies on PSII. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A His-tagged PSII core complex was purified from recombinant Chlamydomonas reinhardtii D2-H thylakoids by single-step Ni2+-affinity column chromatography and its properties were partially characterized in terms of their PSII functions and chemical compositions. The PSII core complex that has a His-tag extension at the C-terminus of the D2 protein evolved oxygen at a high rate of 2,400 μmol (mg Chl)−1h−1 at the optimum pH of 6.5 with ferricyanide and 2,6-dichlorobenzoquinone as electron acceptors in the presence of Ca2+ as an essential cofactor, and approximately 90% of the activity was blocked by 10 μM DCMU. The core complex exhibited the thermoluminescence Q-band but not the B-band regardless of the presence or absence of DCMU, although both bands were observed in the His-tagged thylakoids. The core complex was free from PSI and contained one YD, Tyr 160 of the D2 protein, four Mn atoms, two cytochrome b-559, about 46 Chl a molecules, and probably one QA, the primary acceptor quinone of PSII. It was inferred from these results that His-tagging at the C-terminus of the D2 protein does not affect the functional and structural integrity of the PSII core complex, and that the ‘His-tag strategy’ is highly useful for biochemical, physicochemical, and structural studies of Chlamydomonas PSII. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]