The Stoichiometries of Supramolecular Complexes in Thylakoid Membranes From Spinach Chloroplasts

Abstract

The concentrations of photosystem II (PS II), photosystem I (PS I) and cytochrome b/f complexes on a chlorophyll basis have been determined for chloroplasts of spinach grown under three irradiances in a glasshouse. Assaying PS II by atrazine binding gave concentrations that exceeded the estimates from flash-induced O₂ or H⁺ yield by a factor of 1.21 ± 0.04 (23). Since part of this factor (1.14) is expected to arise from missed turnovers in excited reaction centres, it is concluded that both methods are valid to determine [PS II] in gently isolated chloroplasts. The agreement between the methods also suggests that atrazine does not bind to additional sites of quenchers such as 'Q₄₀₀', contrary to the suggestion of R. J. Dennenberg and P. A. Jursinic [Biochim. Biophys. Acta 808 (1985), 192-200].

Whilst [PS I] was independent of growth irradiances, [PS II] and [cyt f ] increased with irradiance, as did the latent ATPase activity, a measure of the concentration of coupling factor 1. If [PS I] is taken as constant at 1.65 mmol (mol Chl)^-1, the mean stoichiometries of PS II : cyt b/f complex : PS I obtained at the minimum and maximum irradiances were 1.2 : 0.7 : 1 and 1.6 : 1.0 : 1 respectively, PS II being determined by atrazine binding.