Reverse electron flow in chloroplasts

Abstract

Energy dependent reverse electron flow reactions in isolated thylakoids provide a unique tool to study, in the dark, the coupling between the ATP synthase, proton transport and the electron transfer system. Appropriate experimental conditions have been established to follow experimentally the following reactions: 1. ATP driven proton uptake into the inner-thylakoid space, which requires preactivation of the ATP synthase. 2. ATP driven reverse electron transport, which involves proton transport as an intermediate, and results in the reduction of QA by an externally added electron donor. 3. ATP driven luminescence, which requires the presence of an oxidized partner on the water side of photosystem II, and involves electron transport from QB to QA. 4. ΔpH driven reverse electron flow, which does not require the participation of the ATP synthase, and uses reduced intermediates between the two photosystems as electron donors for the reduction of QA. 5. ΔpH driven luminescence which again uses reduced intermdiates between the two photosystems as electron donors for QA reduction, and requires the presence of an oxidized partner on the water side of photosystem II. Several of these reactions have been shown to occur in intact chloroplasts and may provide an important regulatory mechanism in vivo.