Effect of α- and β-cyclodextrins on the photochemical activity of thylakoid membranes and photosystem II particles from barley (Hordeum vulgare): oxygen evolution and whole chain electron transport

Abstract

The effect of α- and β-cyclodextrin (CD) concentration (0–16 mM) on oxygen evolution in photosystem II (PSII) and whole chain electron transport (H2O to photosystem I (PSI)) was studied in isolated thylakoid membranes and PSII particles from barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). The CDs are cyclic oligosaccharides containing, for example, six (α-CD) or seven (β-CD) α-D-glucose residues linked by α-1,4 glycosidic bonds. These compounds alter the lipid composition of the thylakoids and most likely also the structure of their membrane proteins. We show for the first time that in the thylakoid membranes, but not in the isolated PSII particles, the relationship between oxygen evolution in PSII and the CD concentration is represented by a S-shaped (sigmoidal) curve displaying a sharp inflexion point or transition. We found, in addition, that the CDs inhibit the whole chain electron transport from H2O to methyl viologen, that is, PSI, measured as oxygen uptake, according to a nonlinear dependence that is also sigmoidal. Moreover, another interesting observation is that in the thylakoid membranes the electron transport from H2O to PSI is quite well inhibited at low CD concentrations (<4–6 mM), whereas the oxygen evolution in PSII is only substantially enhanced at CD concentrations greater than 8–10 mM. To explain this, we suggest that the mechanisms underlying the inhibition of electron transfer from H2O to PSI become operative before those giving origin to the enhancement of oxygen evolution in PSII.Key words: cyclodextrins, electron transfer, nonlinearity, oxygen evolution, photosystem, thylakoid membrane.