Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1975 Feb;55(2):163–167. doi: 10.1104/pp.55.2.163

The Effects of Digitonin on Photochemical Activities of Isolated Chloroplasts 1

Simon P Robinson a, Joseph T Wiskich a
PMCID: PMC541575  PMID: 16659042

Abstract

The addition of digitonin to chloroplasts stimulated the rate of oxygen evolution followed by a gradual inhibition. The effect of digitonin was dependent on the digitonin to chlorophyll ratio and on temperature and time. The initial stimulation of oxygen evolution appeared to be a result of uncoupling as digitonin did not stimulate oxygen evolution by uncoupled chloroplasts. The stimulatory effect occurred more rapidly at high digitonin to chlorophyll ratios but the extent of stimulation was low and inhibition occurred soon after addition of the detergent. The inhibition of electron flow by digitonin was due to a site of action near photosystem II which resembled the inhibition reported for tris buffer and resulted in photobleaching. However, digitonin inhibition could not be recovered by washing with reducing agents and was only partially recovered by the addition of artificial electron donors to photosystem II. Electron flow mediated by photosystem I was unaffected by the addition of digitonin but was decreased when the chloroplasts were separated by subsequent centrifuging. This suggested that digitonin solubilizes photosystem I components which remain active in the soluble form.

Full text

PDF
163

Selected References

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

  1. Anderson J. M., Boardman N. K. Fractionation of the photochemical systems of photosynthesis. I. Chlorophyll contents and photochemical activities of particles isolated from spinach chloroplasts. Bibl Laeger. 1966 Mar 14;112(3):403–421. doi: 10.1016/0926-6585(66)90244-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. 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]
  3. Arntzen C. J., Dilley R. A., Peters G. A., Shaw E. R. Photochemical activity and structural studies of photosystems derived from chloroplast grana and stroma lamellae. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1972 Jan 21;256(1):85–107. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(72)90165-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bishop D. G. Inhibition of photochemical activity in chloroplasts by the polyene antibiotic, filipin. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1973 Feb;154(2):520–526. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(73)90004-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Boardman N. K. Photochemical properties of a photosystem II subchloroplast fragment. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1972 Dec 14;283(3):469–482. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(72)90263-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bril C., van der Horst D. J., Poort S. R., Thomas J. B. Fractionation of spinach chloroplasts with sodium deoxycholate. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1969 Feb 25;172(2):345–348. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(69)90081-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Draber W., Trebst A., Harth E. On a new inhibitor of photosynthetic electron-transport in isolated chloroplasts. Z Naturforsch B. 1970 Oct;25(10):1157–1159. doi: 10.1515/znb-1970-1018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. GROMET-ELHANAN Z., AVRON M. Photophosphorylation coupled to the reduction of indophenol dyes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1963 Feb 6;10:215–220. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(63)90419-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Grunwald C. Effects of free sterols, steryl ester, and steryl glycoside on membrane permeability. Plant Physiol. 1971 Nov;48(5):653–655. doi: 10.1104/pp.48.5.653. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hauska G., Trebst A., Draber W. Lipophilicity and catalysis of photophosphorylation. II. Quinoid compounds as artificial carriers in cyclic photophosphorylation and photoreductions by photosystem I. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1973 Jun 28;305(3):632–641. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(73)90082-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Izawa S., Gould J. M., Ort D. R., Felker P., Good N. E. Electron transport and photophosphorylation in chloroplasts as a function of the electron acceptor. 3. A dibromothymoquinone-insensitive phosphorylation reaction associated with photosystem II. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1973 Apr 27;305(1):119–128. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(73)90237-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. KEISTER D. L. Indophenol dyes as catalysts and uncouplers of photophosphorylation. J Biol Chem. 1963 Jul;238:2590–2592. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Nelson N., Drechsler Z., Neumann J. Photophosphorylation in digitonin subchloroplast particles. Absence of a light-induced pH shift. J Biol Chem. 1970 Jan 10;245(1):143–151. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Schnaitman C., Erwin V. G., Greenawalt J. W. The submitochondrial localization of monoamine oxidase. An enzymatic marker for the outer membrane of rat liver mitochondria. J Cell Biol. 1967 Mar;32(3):719–735. doi: 10.1083/jcb.32.3.719. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Vernon L. P., Shaw E. R. Photoreduction of 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol by diphenylcarbazide: a photosystem 2 reaction catalyzed by tris-washed chloroplasts and subchloroplast fragments. Plant Physiol. 1969 Nov;44(11):1645–1649. doi: 10.1104/pp.44.11.1645. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Vernon L. P., Shaw E. Photochemical Activities of Spinach Chloroplasts Following Treatment with the Detergent Triton X-100. Plant Physiol. 1965 Nov;40(6):1269–1277. doi: 10.1104/pp.40.6.1269. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wessels J. S., van Alphen-Van Waveren, Voorn G. Isolation and properties of particles containing the reaction center complex of photosystem II from spinach chloroplasts. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1973 Apr 5;292(3):741–752. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(73)90021-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Yamashita T., Butler W. L. Photooxidation by photosystem II of tris-washed chloroplasts. Plant Physiol. 1969 Sep;44(9):1342–1346. doi: 10.1104/pp.44.9.1342. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Yamashita T., Butler W. L. Photoreduction and photophosphorylation with tris-washed chloroplasts. Plant Physiol. 1968 Dec;43(12):1978–1986. doi: 10.1104/pp.43.12.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES