Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1993 May;102(1):181–190. doi: 10.1104/pp.102.1.181

Dynamics of Photosystem Stoichiometry Adjustment by Light Quality in Chloroplasts.

J H Kim 1, R E Glick 1, A Melis 1
PMCID: PMC158761  PMID: 12231808

Abstract

Long-term imbalance in light absorption and electron transport by photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII) in chloroplasts brings about changes in the composition, structure, and function of thylakoid membranes. The response entails adjustment in the photosystem ratio, which is optimized to help the plant retain a high quantum efficiency of photosynthesis (W.S. Chow, A. Melis, J.M. Anderson [1990] Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 87: 7502-7506). The dynamics of photosystem ratio adjustment were investigated upon the transfer of pea {Pisum sativum} plants from a predominantly PSI-light to a predominantly PSII-light environment and vice versa. The concentration of functional components (primary electron accepting plastoquinone of PSII [QA], P700) and that of constituent proteins were monitored during acclimation by A difference spectrophotometry and immunoblot analysis, respectively. Fully reversible changes in photosystem ratio occurred with a half-time of about 20 h. They involved closely coordinated changes in the concentration of the QA, reaction center protein D1, D2, and the 9-kD apoprotein of the cytochrome b559 for PSII. Similarly, closely coordinated changes in the relative concentration of P700 and reaction center proteins of PSI were observed. The level of chlorophyll b and that of the light-harvesting complex II changed in accordance with the concentration of PSII in the acclimating thylakoids. Overall, adjustments in the photosystem ratio in response to PSI- or PSII-light conditions appeared to be a well-coordinated reaction in the chloroplast. The response was absent in the chlorophyll b-less chlorina f2 mutant of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and in a phycobilisomeless mutant of Agmenellum quadruplicatum, suggesting that photosystem accessory pigments act as the light-quality perception molecules and that PSI and PSII themselves play a role in the signal transduction pathway.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.4 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Arnon D. I. COPPER ENZYMES IN ISOLATED CHLOROPLASTS. POLYPHENOLOXIDASE IN BETA VULGARIS. Plant Physiol. 1949 Jan;24(1):1–15. doi: 10.1104/pp.24.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arnon D. I., McSwain B. D., Tsujimoto H. Y., Wada K. Photochemical activity and components of membrane preparations from blue-green algae. I. Coexistence of two photosystems in relation to chlorophyll a and removal of phycocyanin. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1974 Aug 23;357(2):231–245. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(74)90063-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Callahan F. E., Ghirardi M. L., Sopory S. K., Mehta A. M., Edelman M., Mattoo A. K. A novel metabolic form of the 32 kDa-D1 protein in the grana-localized reaction center of photosystem II. J Biol Chem. 1990 Sep 15;265(26):15357–15360. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chow W. S., Melis A., Anderson J. M. Adjustments of photosystem stoichiometry in chloroplasts improve the quantum efficiency of photosynthesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Oct;87(19):7502–7506. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.19.7502. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cunningham F. X., Dennenberg R. J., Jursinic P. A., Gantt E. Growth under Red Light Enhances Photosystem II Relative to Photosystem I and Phycobilisomes in the Red Alga Porphyridium cruentum. Plant Physiol. 1990 Jul;93(3):888–895. doi: 10.1104/pp.93.3.888. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Deng X. W., Tonkyn J. C., Peter G. F., Thornber J. P., Gruissem W. Post-transcriptional control of plastid mRNA accumulation during adaptation of chloroplasts to different light quality environments. Plant Cell. 1989 Jun;1(6):645–654. doi: 10.1105/tpc.1.6.645. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Glick R. E., McCauley S. W., Gruissem W., Melis A. Light quality regulates expression of chloroplast genes and assembly of photosynthetic membrane complexes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Jun;83(12):4287–4291. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.12.4287. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kettunen R., Tyystjärvi E., Aro E. M. D1 protein degradation during photoinhibition of intact leaves. A modification of the D1 protein precedes degradation. FEBS Lett. 1991 Sep 23;290(1-2):153–156. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(91)81247-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kyle D. J., Ohad I., Arntzen C. J. Membrane protein damage and repair: Selective loss of a quinone-protein function in chloroplast membranes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jul;81(13):4070–4074. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.13.4070. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mattoo A. K., Edelman M. Intramembrane translocation and posttranslational palmitoylation of the chloroplast 32-kDa herbicide-binding protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Mar;84(6):1497–1501. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.6.1497. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Melis A., Brown J. S. Stoichiometry of system I and system II reaction centers and of plastoquinone in different photosynthetic membranes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Aug;77(8):4712–4716. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.8.4712. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Myers J., Graham J. R., Wang R. T. Light Harvesting in Anacystis nidulans Studied in Pigment Mutants. Plant Physiol. 1980 Dec;66(6):1144–1149. doi: 10.1104/pp.66.6.1144. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ohad I., Kyle D. J., Arntzen C. J. Membrane protein damage and repair: removal and replacement of inactivated 32-kilodalton polypeptides in chloroplast membranes. J Cell Biol. 1984 Aug;99(2):481–485. doi: 10.1083/jcb.99.2.481. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Smith B. M., Morrissey P. J., Guenther J. E., Nemson J. A., Harrison M. A., Allen J. F., Melis A. Response of the Photosynthetic Apparatus in Dunaliella salina (Green Algae) to Irradiance Stress. Plant Physiol. 1990 Aug;93(4):1433–1440. doi: 10.1104/pp.93.4.1433. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wang R. T., Myers J. On the state 1-state 2 phenomenon in photosynthesis. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1974 Apr 23;347(1):134–140. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(74)90206-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES