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Generally, net O-2 consumption becomes dominant when photosynthesis is suppressed at night in green organisms. Here, Bag et al. show that Scots pine and Norway spruce needles display strong O-2 consumption when extremely low temperatures coincide with high solar irradiation during early spring. Green organisms evolve oxygen (O-2) via photosynthesis and consume it by respiration. Generally, net O-2 consumption only becomes dominant when photosynthesis is suppressed at night. Here, we show that green thylakoid membranes of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L) and Norway spruce (Picea abies) needles display strong O-2 consumption even in the presence of light when extremely low temperatures coincide with high solar irradiation during early spring (ES). By employing different electron transport chain inhibitors, we show that this unusual light-induced O-2 consumption occurs around photosystem (PS) I and correlates with higher abundance of flavodiiron (Flv) A protein in ES thylakoids. With P700 absorption changes, we demonstrate that electron scavenging from the acceptor-side of PSI via O-2 photoreduction is a major alternative pathway in ES. This photoprotection mechanism in vascular plants indicates that conifers have developed an adaptative evolution trajectory for growing in harsh environments.

Cyanobacteria, algae and plants oxidize water to the O2 we breathe, and consume CO2 during the synthesis of biomass. Although these vital processes are functionally and structurally well separated in photosynthetic organisms, there is a long-debated role for CO2/HCO3− in water oxidation. Using membrane-inlet mass spectrometry we demonstrate that HCO3− acts as a mobile proton acceptor that helps to transport the protons produced inside of photosystem II by water-oxidation out into the chloroplast's lumen, resulting in a light-driven production of O2 and CO2. Depletion of HCO3− from the media leads, in the absence of added buffers, to a reversible down-regulation of O2 production by about 20%. These findings add a previously unidentified component to the regulatory network of oxygenic photosynthesis, and conclude the more than 50-y-long quest for the function of CO2/ HCO3− in photosynthetic water oxidation., Included in thesis in manuscript form.

Over 40 years ago, Joliot et al. (Photochem Photobiol 10:309-329, 1969) designed and employed an elegant and highly sensitive electrochemical technique capable of measuring O2 evolved by photosystem II (PSII) in response to trains of single turn-over light flashes. The measurement and analysis of flash-induced oxygen evolution patterns (FIOPs) has since proven to be a powerful method for probing the turnover efficiency of PSII. Stemler et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 71(12):4679-4683, 1974), in Govindjee's lab, were the first to study the effect of "bicarbonate" on FIOPs by adding the competitive inhibitor acetate. Here, we extend this earlier work by performing FIOPs experiments at various, strictly controlled inorganic carbon (Ci) levels without addition of any inhibitors. For this, we placed a Joliot-type bare platinum electrode inside a N2-filled glove-box (containing 10-20 ppm CO2) and reduced the Ci concentration simply by washing the samples in Ci-depleted media. FIOPs of spinach thylakoids were recorded either at 20-times reduced levels of Ci or at ambient Ci conditions (390 ppm CO2). Numerical analysis of the FIOPs within an extended Kok model reveals that under Ci-depleted conditions the miss probability is discernibly larger (by 2-3 %) than at ambient conditions, and that the addition of 5 mM HCO3 (-) to the Ci-depleted thylakoids largely restores the original miss parameter. Since a "mild" Ci-depletion procedure was employed, we discuss our data with respect to a possible function of free or weakly bound HCO3 (-) at the water-splitting side of PSII., Special Issues on Photosynthesis Education Honoring Govindjee

PsbO protein is an important constituent of the water–oxidizing complex, located on the lumenal side of photosystem II. We report here the efficient expression of the spinach PsbO in E. coli where the solubility depends entirely on the formation of the disulfide bond. The PsbO protein purified from a pET32 system that includes thioredoxin fusion is properly folded and functionally active. Urea unfolding experiments imply that the reduction of the single disulfide bridge decreases stability of the protein. Analysis of inter-residue contact density through the PsbO molecule shows that Cys51 is located in a cluster with high contact density. Reduction of the Cys28–Cys51 bond is proposed to perturb the packing interactions in this cluster and destabilize the protein as a whole. Taken together, our results give evidence that PsbO exists in solution as a compact highly ordered structure, provided that the disulfide bridge is not reduced.

Water oxidation in photosystem II (PSII) is still insufficiently understood and is assumed to involve HCO3-. A Chlamydomonas mutant lacking a carbonic anhydrase associated with the PSII donor side shows impaired O2 evolution in the absence of HCO3-. The O2 evolution for saturating, continuous illumination (RO2) was slower than in the wild type, but was elevated by HCO3- and increased further by Cah3. The RO2 limitation in the absence of Cah3/HCO3- was amplified by H2O/D2O exchange, but relieved by an amphiphilic proton carrier, suggesting a role of Cah3/HCO3- in proton translocation. Chlorophyll fluorescence indicates a Cah3/HCO3- effect at the donor side of PSII. Time-resolved delayed fluorescence and O2-release measurements suggest specific effects on proton-release steps but not on electron transfer. We propose that Cah3 promotes proton removal from the Mn complex by locally providing HCO3-, which may function as proton carrier. Without Cah3, proton removal could become rate limiting during O2 formation and thus, limit water oxidation under high light. Our results underlie the general importance of proton release at the donor side of PSII during water oxidation.

The hypothesis presented here for proton transfer away from the water oxidation complex of Photosystem II (PSII) is supported by biochemical experiments on the isolated PsbO protein in solution, theoretical analyses of better understood proton transfer systems like bacteriorhodopsin and cytochrome oxidase, and the recently published 3D structure of PS II (Pdb entry 1S5L). We propose that a cluster of conserved glutamic and aspartic acid residues in the PsbO protein acts as a buffering network providing efficient acceptors of protons derived from substrate water molecules. The charge delocalization of the cluster ensures readiness to promptly accept the protons liberated from substrate water. Therefore protons generated at the catalytic centre of PSII need not be released into the thylakoid lumen as generally thought. The cluster is the beginning of a localized, fast proton transfer conduit on the lumenal side of the thylakoid membrane. Proton-dependent conformational changes of PsbO may play a role in the regulation of both supply of substrate water to the water oxidizing complex and the resultant proton transfer.

The photosystem-II-associated 33-kDa extrinsic manganese-stabilizing protein is found in all oxygen-evolving organisms. In this paper, we show that this protein undergoes pH-induced conformational changes in the physiological pH range. At a neutral pH of 7.2, the hydrophobic amino acid residues that are most likely located inside the barrel are "closed" and the protein binds neither Mn2+ nor Ca2+ ions. When the protein is transferred to a solution with a slightly acidic pH of 5.7, hydrophobic amino acid residues become exposed to the surrounding medium, enabling them to bind the fluorescent probe 8,1-ANS. At this pH-induced open state, Mn2+ and Ca2+ bind to the manganese-stabilizing protein. The pH values used in this study, 7.2 and 5.7, are typical of the pH found in the thylakoid lumen in the dark and light, respectively. A model is presented in which the manganese-stabilizing protein undergoes a pH-dependent conformational change that in turn influences its capacity to bind calcium and manganese. In this model, the proton-dependent conformational changes of the tertiary structure of the manganese-stabilizing protein are of functional relevance for the regulation of substrate (water) delivery to and product (proton) release from the water-oxidizing complex by forming a proton-sensing proton-transport pathway.

Pea thylakoids with high carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity (average rates of 5000 µmol H+ (mg Chl)–1 h–1 at pH 7.0) were prepared. Western blot analysis using antibodies raised against the soluble stromal beta-CA from spinach clearly showed that this activity is not a result of contamination of the thylakoids with the stromal CA but is derived from a thylakoid membrane-associated CA. Increase of the CA activity after partial membrane disintegration by detergent treatment, freezing or sonication implies the location of the CA in the thylakoid interior. Salt treatment of thylakoids demonstrated that while one part of the initial enzyme activity is easily soluble, the rest of it appears to be tightly associated with the membrane. CA activity being measured as HCO3 – dehydration (dehydrase activity) in Photosystem II particles (BBY) was variable and usually low. The highest and most reproducible activities (approximately 2000 µmol H+ (mg Chl)–1 h–1) were observed in the presence of detergents (Triton X-100 or n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside) in low concentrations. The dehydrase CA activity of BBY particles was more sensitive to the lipophilic CA inhibitor, ethoxyzolamide, than to the hydrophilic CA inhibitor, acetazolamide. CA activity was detected in PS II core complexes with average rate of 13,000 µmol H+ (mg Chl)–1 h–1 which was comparable to CA activity in BBY particles normalized on a PS II reaction center basis.