Phosphorylation of Thylakoid Proteins of Oryza sativa: In Vitro Characterization and Effects of Chilling Temperatures.

The phosphorylation of thylakoid proteins of rice (Oryza sativa L.) was studied in vitro using [gamma-(32)P]ATP. Several thylakoid proteins are labeled, including the light-harvesting complex of photosystem II. Protein phosphorylation is sensitive to temperature, pH, and ADP, ATP, and divalent cation concentrations. In the range pH 7 to 8.2, phosphorylation of the light-harvesting polypeptides declines above pH 7.5, whereas labeling of several other thylakoid polypeptides increases. Increasing divalent cation concentration from 3 to 20 millimolar results in a decrease in phosphorylation of the 26 kilodalton light-harvesting complex polypeptide and increased phosphorylation of several other polypeptides. ADP has an inhibitory effect on the phosphorylation of the light-harvesting complex polypeptides. Phosphorylation of the 26 kilodalton light-harvesting polypeptide requires 0.45 millimolar ATP for half-maximal phosphorylation, compared to 0.3 millimolar for the 32 kilodalton phosphoprotein. Low temperature inhibits the phosphorylation of thylakoid proteins in chilling-sensitive rice. However, phosphorylation of histones by thylakoid-bound kinase(s) is independent of temperature in the range of 25 to 5 degrees C, suggesting that the effect of low temperature is on accessibility of the substrate, rather than on the activity of the kinase.

Mapping of the triazine binding site to a highly conserved region of the QB-protein.

A number of herbicide classes, including the s-triazines and ureas (atrazine, diuron) inhibit photosynthetic electron transport via a direct interaction with the QB-protein. This protein, also known as the 32-kDa protein or herbicide binding protein, is believed to bind the plastoquinone QB, which functions as the second stable electron acceptor at the reducing side of Photosystem II. The site of covalent attachment of the photoaffinity herbicide analog azido-[14C]atrazine to the QB-protein of spinach chloroplast thylakoid membranes has been determined. Two amino acid residues are labeled; one residue is methionine-214, the other lies between histidine-215 and arginine-225. Both residues are within a region of the amino acid sequence which is highly conserved between the QB-protein and the L and M reaction center proteins of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata and R. sphaeroides. This region includes the site of a mutation which results in diuron resistance in Chlamydomonas reinhardi (valine-219). However, this region is well removed from point mutations at phenylalanine-255 (which gives rise to atrazine resistance in C. reinhardi) and at serine-264, (which results in extreme atrazine resistance in C. reinhardi and naturally occurring weed biotypes). The patterns of labeling and mutation imply that the quinone and herbicide binding site is formed by at least two protein domains.

H-ATPase Activity from Storage Tissue of Beta vulgaris: III. Modulation of ATPase Activity by Reaction Substrates and Products.

Two distinct membrane fractions containing H(+)-ATPase activity were prepared from red beet. One fraction contained a H(+)-ATPase activity that was inhibited by NO(3) (-) while the other contained a H(+)-ATPase inhibited by vanadate. We have previously proposed that these H(+)-ATPases are associated with tonoplast (NO(3) (-)-sensitive) and plasma membrane (vanadate-sensitive), respectively. Both ATPase were examined to determine to what extent their activity was influenced by variations in the concentration of ATPase substrates and products. The substrate for both ATPase was MgATP(2-), and Mg(2+) concentrations in excess of ATP had only a slight inhibitory effect on either ATPase. Both ATPases were inhibited by free ATP (i.e. ATP concentrations in excess of Mg(2+)) and ADP but not by AMP. The plasma membrane ATPase was more sensitive than the tonoplast ATPase to free ATP and the tonoplast ATPase was more sensitive than the plasma membrane ATPase to ADP.Inhibition of both ATPases by free ATP was complex. Inhibition of the plasma membrane ATPase by ADP was competitive whereas the tonoplast ATPase demonstrated a sigmoidal dependence on MgATP(2-) in the presence of ADP. Inorganic phosphate moderately inhibited both ATPases in a noncompetitive manner.Calcium inhibited the plasma membrane but not the tonoplast ATPase, apparently by a direct interaction with the ATPase rather than by disrupting the MgATP(2-) complex.The sensitivity of both ATPases to ADP suggests that under conditions of restricted energy supply H(+)-ATPase activity may be reduced by increases in ADP levels rather than by decreases in ATP levels per se. The sensitivity of both ATPases to ADP and free ATP suggests that modulation of cytoplasmic Mg(2+) could modulate ATPase activity at both the tonoplast and plasma membrane.