The Mn(4)Ca cluster of the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) of photosynthesis catalyzes the light-driven splitting of water into molecular oxygen, protons, and electrons. The OEC is buried within photosystem II (PSII), a multisubunit integral membrane protein complex, and water must find its way to the Mn(4)Ca cluster by moving through protein. Molecular dynamics simulations were used to determine the energetic barriers for water permeation though PSII extrinsic proteins. Potentials of mean force (PMFs) for water were derived by using the technique of multiple steered molecular dynamics (MSMD). Calculation of free energy profiles for water permeation allowed us to characterize previously identified water channels, and discover new pathways for water movement toward the Mn(4)Ca cluster. Our results identify the main constriction sites in these pathways which may serve as selectivity filters that restrict both the access of solutes detrimental to the water oxidation reaction and loss of Ca(2+) and Cl(-) from the active site.

Photosystem II (PSII) of photosynthesis catalyzes one of the most challenging reactions in nature, the light driven oxidation of water and release of molecular oxygen. PSII couples the sequential four step oxidation of water and two step reduction of plastoquinone to single photon photochemistry with charge accumulation centers on both its electron donor and acceptor sides. Photon capture, excitation energy transfer, and trapping occur on a much faster time scale than the subsequent electron transfer and charge accumulation steps. A balance between excitation of PSII and the use of the absorbed energy to drive electron transport is essential. If the absorption of light energy increases and/or the sink capacity for photosynthetically derived electrons decreases, potentially deleterious side reactions may occur, including the production of reactive oxygen species. In response, a myriad of fast (second to minutes timescale) and reversible photoprotective mechanisms are observed to regulate PSII excitation when the environment changes more quickly than can be acclimated to by gene expression. This review compares the diverse photoprotective mechanisms that are used to dissipate (quench) PSII excitation within the antenna systems of higher land plants, green algae, diatoms, and cyanobacteria. The molecular bases of how PSII excitation pressure is sensed by the antenna system and how the antenna then reconfigures itself from a light harvesting to an energy dissipative mode are discussed.

The heart of oxygenic photosynthesis is photosystem II (PSII), a multisubunit protein complex that uses solar energy to drive the splitting of water and production of molecular oxygen. The effectiveness of the photochemical reaction center of PSII depends on the efficient transfer of excitation energy from the surrounding antenna chlorophylls. A kinetic model for PSII, based on the x-ray crystal structure coordinates of 37 antenna and reaction center pigment molecules, allows us to map the major energy transfer routes from the antenna chlorophylls to the reaction center chromophores. The model shows that energy transfer to the reaction center is slow compared with the rate of primary electron transport and depends on a few bridging chlorophyll molecules. This unexpected energetic isolation of the reaction center in PSII is similar to that found in the bacterial photosystem, conflicts with the established view of the photophysics of PSII, and may be a functional requirement for primary photochemistry in photosynthesis. In addition, the model predicts a value for the intrinsic photochemical rate constant that is 4 times that found in bacterial reaction centers.A s the site of water splitting and oxygen production, photosystem II (PSII) is essential for oxygenic photosynthesis. This multisubunit protein complex consists of at least 17 polypeptides and catalyzes the oxidation of water and the reduction of plastoquinone (1). The PSII holocomplex of higher plants and green algae contains 200-300 chlorophyll (Chl) molecules and various carotenoids that are noncovalently bound to a variety of PSII polypeptides (2). The minimal functionally active PSII complex contains the reaction center (RC) polypeptides (D1, D2, cytochrome b 559 ), the Chla core antenna polypeptides (CP43 and CP47), and the polypeptides of the oxygen-evolving complex. The total number of Chls in this PSII core complex is less than 40 per RC (3). Light energy absorbed by any PSII Chl generates an excited state, which is ultimately transferred to the primary electron donor in photosystem II, the RC photoactive pigment P680. Within the excited-state lifetime, primary charge separation [formation of P680 ϩ and pheophytin Ϫ (Pheo Ϫ )] and charge stabilization (reduction of the primary quinone electron acceptor, Q A , by Pheo Ϫ ) occur with greater than 90% efficiency.The kinetics of excited-state decay in PSII are highly dependent on the redox state of the RC (4). Accordingly, these kinetics contain valuable information about rates and mechanisms of excited-state energy transfer, primary charge separation, and stabilization reactions in the RC complex. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to measure directly these rates by using timeresolved spectroscopic techniques because of the complications of excited-state transfer processes that precede the electron transfer steps. In addition, transient absorption measurements in the Q y band of Chl are complicated by spectral congestion and also by competing absorption, bleaching, and stimulated emission. Although t...

Chloride binding in photosystem II (PSII) is essential for photosynthetic water oxidation. However, the functional roles of chloride and possible binding sites, during oxygen evolution, remain controversial. This paper examines the functions of chloride based on its binding site revealed in the X-ray crystal structure of PSII at 1.9 Å resolution. We find that chloride depletion induces formation of a salt-bridge between D2-K317 and D1-D61 that could suppress proton transfer to the lumen.

The light state transition regulates the distribution of absorbed excitation energy between the two photosystems (PSs) of photosynthesis under varying environmental conditions and/or metabolic demands. In cyanobacteria, there is evidence for the redistribution of energy absorbed by both chlorophyll (Chl) and by phycobilin pigments, and proposed mechanisms differ in the relative involvement of the two pigment types. We assayed changes in the distribution of excitation energy with 77K fluorescence emission spectroscopy determined for excitation of Chl and phycobilin pigments, in both wild-type and state transition-impaired mutant strains of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Action spectra for the redistribution of both Chl and phycobilin pigments were very similar in both wild-type cyanobacteria. Both state transitionimpaired mutants showed no redistribution of phycobilin-absorbed excitation energy, but retained changes in Chl-absorbed excitation. Action spectra for the Chl-absorbed changes in excitation in the two mutants were similar to each other and to those observed in the two wild types. Our data show that the redistribution of excitation energy absorbed by Chl is independent of the redistribution of excitation energy absorbed by phycobilin pigments and that both changes are triggered by the same environmental light conditions. We present a model for the state transition in cyanobacteria based on the x-ray structures of PSII, PSI, and allophycocyanin consistent with these results.The effective absorption of sunlight by antenna pigments is the critical first step in photosynthesis. All oxygenic photosynthetic organisms share a common core antenna pigment complement of about 40 chlorophyll (Chl) a in PSII and about 100 Chl a in PSI (Rö gner et al., 1990). Photosynthetic organisms do not, however, limit their photon capturing ability to this level, but rather use some form of additional peripheral antenna pigments to increase the effective "absorption cross section" of one or both PSs. Higher plants and algae have evolved diverse mechanisms to increase their ability to absorb sunlight. In cyanobacteria, the soluble phycobiliproteins are organized into phycobilisomes (PBSs), which are primarily associated excitonically with PSII in a manner analogous to the family of intrinsic thylakoid membrane Chl a/b-containing light-harvesting complex polypeptides (LHCII), which serve the same function in higher plants (Glazer, 1984; Zilinskas and Greenwald, 1986).Both cyanobacteria and higher plants can regulate the efficiency of excitation energy transfer to the two PSs. The light state transition appears designed to adjust the relative activities of PSII and PSI in response to a dynamic environment or to changing metabolic demands (Yu et al., 1993). The mechanism in higher plants involves a reversible association of LHCII with PSII and PSI triggered by the redox state of intersystem electron transport carriers and driven by the reversible phosphorylation of LHCII (for review, see Allen, 1992; Woll...

Lichens, a symbiotic relationship between a fungus (mycobiont) and a photosynthetic green algae or cyanobacteria (photobiont), belong to an elite group of survivalist organisms termed resurrection species. When lichens are desiccated, they are photosynthetically inactive, but upon rehydration they can perform photosynthesis within seconds. Desiccation is correlated with both a loss of variable chlorophyll a fluorescence and a decrease in overall fluorescence yield. The fluorescence quenching likely reflects photoprotection mechanisms that may be based on desiccation-induced changes in lichen structure that limit light exposure to the photobiont (sunshade effect) and/or active quenching of excitation energy absorbed by the photosynthetic apparatus. To separate and quantify these possible mechanisms, we have investigated the origins of fluorescence quenching in desiccated lichens with steady-state, low temperature, and time-resolved chlorophyll fluorescence spectroscopy. We found the most dramatic target of quenching to be photosystem II (PSII), which produces negligible levels of fluorescence in desiccated lichens. We show that fluorescence decay in desiccated lichens was dominated by a short lifetime, long-wavelength component energetically coupled to PSII. Remaining fluorescence was primarily from PSI and although diminished in amplitude, PSI decay kinetics were unaffected by desiccation. The long-wavelength-quenching species was responsible for most (about 80%) of the fluorescence quenching observed in desiccated lichens; the rest of the quenching was attributed to the sunshade effect induced by structural changes in the lichen thallus.

Chlorophyll fluorescence decay kinetics in photosynthesis are dependent on processes of excitation energy transfer, charge separation, and electron transfer in photosystem II (PSII). The interpretation of fluorescence decay kinetics and their accurate simulation by an appropriate kinetic model is highly dependent upon assumptions made concerning the homogeneity and activity of PSII preparations. While relatively simple kinetic models assuming sample heterogeneity have been used to model fluorescence decay in oxygen-evolving PSII core complexes, more complex models have been applied to the electron transport impaired but more highly purified D1-D2-cyt b(559) preparations. To gain more insight into the excited-state dynamics of PSII and to characterize the origins of multicomponent fluorescence decay, we modeled the emission kinetics of purified highly active His-tagged PSII core complexes with structure-based kinetic models. The fluorescence decay kinetics of PSII complexes contained a minimum of three exponential decay components at F(0) and four components at F(m). These kinetics were not described well with the single radical pair energy level model, and the introduction of either static disorder or a dynamic relaxation of the radical pair energy level was required to simulate the fluorescence decay adequately. An unreasonably low yield of charge stabilization and wide distribution of energy levels was required for the static disorder model, and we found the assumption of dynamic relaxation of the primary radical pair to be more suitable. Comparison modeling of the fluorescence decay kinetics from PSII core complexes and D1-D2-cyt b(559) reaction centers indicated that the rates of charge separation and relaxation of the radical pair are likely altered in isolated reaction centers.

The CaMn(4) cluster of the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) of photosynthesis catalyzes the light-driven splitting of water into molecular oxygen, protons, and electrons. The OEC is buried within photosystem II (PSII), a multisubunit integral membrane protein complex, and water must find its way to the CaMn(4) cluster by moving through protein. Channels for water entrance, and proton and oxygen exit, have previously been proposed following the analysis of cavities found within X-ray structures of PSII. However, these analyses do not account for the dynamic motion of proteins and cannot track the movement of water within PSII. To study water dynamics in PSII, we performed molecular dynamics simulations and developed a novel approach for the visualization of water diffusion within protein based on a streamline tracing algorithm used in fluid dynamics and diffusion tensor imaging. We identified a system of branching pathways of water diffusion in PSII leading to the OEC that connect to a number of distinct entrance points on the lumenal surface. We observed transient changes in the connections between channels and entrance points that served to moderate both the flow of water near the OEC and the exchange of water inside and outside of the protein. Water flow was significantly altered in simulations lacking the OEC which were characterized by a simpler and wider channel with only two openings, consistent with the creation of an ion channel that allows entry of Mn(2+), Ca(2+), and Cl(-) as required for construction of the CaMn(4) cluster.