The extrinsic PsbO protein modulates the oxidation/reduction rate of the exogenous Mn cation at the high-affinity Mn-binding site of Mn-depleted PSII membranes.

The oxidation of exogenous Mn(II) cations at the high-affinity (HA) Mn-binding site in Mn-depleted photosystem II (PSII) membranes with or without the presence of the extrinsic PsbO polypeptide was studied by EPR. The six-lines EPR spectrum of Mn(II) cation disappears in the absence of the PsbO protein in membranes under illumination, but there was no effect when PSII preparations bound the PsbO protein. Our study demonstrates that such effect is determined by significant influence of the PsbO protein on the ratio between the rates of Mn oxidation and reduction at the HA site when the membranes are illuminated.

Production of reactive oxygen species in decoupled, Ca(2+)-depleted PSII and their use in assigning a function to chloride on both sides of PSII.

Extraction of Ca(2+) from the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II (PSII) in the absence of a chelator inhibits O2 evolution without significant inhibition of the light-dependent reduction of the exogenous electron acceptor, 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP) on the reducing side of PSII. The phenomenon is known as "the decoupling effect" (Semin et al. Photosynth Res 98:235-249, 2008).

Decoupling of the processes of molecular oxygen synthesis and electron transport in Ca2+-depleted PSII membranes.

Extraction of Ca(2+) from the O(2)-evolving complex (OEC) of photosystem II (PSII) membranes with 2 M NaCl in the light (PSII(-Ca/NaCl)) results in 90% inhibition of the O(2)-evolution reaction. However, electron transfer from the donor to acceptor side of PSII, measured as the reduction of the exogenous acceptor 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCIP) under continuous light, is inhibited by only 30%. Thus, calcium extraction from the OEC inhibits the synthesis of molecular O(2) but not the oxidation of a substrate we term X, the source of electrons for DCIP reduction.

Iron-blocking the high-affinity Mn-binding site in photosystem II facilitates identification of the type of hydrogen bond participating in proton-coupled electron transport via YZ.

Incubation of Mn-depleted PSII membranes [PSII(-Mn)] with Fe(II) is accompanied by the blocking of Y(Z)(*) at the high-affinity Mn-binding site to exogenous electron donors [Semin et al. (2002) Biochemistry 41, 5854-5864] and a shift of the pK(app) of the hydrogen bond partner for Y(Z) (base B) from 7.1 to 6.

Permeability of lipid membranes to dioxygen.

It is commonly supposed that dioxygen (O(2)) transport through biomembranes is ensured by the high permeability of a lipid bilayer in which O(2) diffusion mobility is close to that in water. However, the fact that microviscosity of lipid membranes is higher than that of water by two to three orders of magnitude speaks against this concept. Therefore, in this work we investigated the influence of surface lipid monolayers on oxygen diffusion flow directed from air to aqueous phase.

Accumulation of ferrous iron in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Influence of CO2 and anaerobic induction of the reversible hydrogenase.

The green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, can photoproduce molecular H(2) via ferredoxin and the reversible [Fe]hydrogenase enzyme under anaerobic conditions. Recently, a novel approach for sustained H(2) gas photoproduction was discovered in cell cultures subjected to S-deprived conditions (A. Melis, L.