The size of the light-harvesting antenna of higher plant photosystem II is regulated by illumination intensity through transcription of antenna protein genes.

In arabidopsis plants, with an increase in illumination intensity during growth the extent of reduction of the plastoquinone pool in the photosynthetic electron transport chain increased, whereas the effective quantum yield of photosynthesis decreased. After 5 days of growth under high illumination intensity, these parameters in high light returned to values observed in "shade-adapted" plants in low light. During the same period, the size of the antenna decreased, correlating with a decrease in the amounts of proteins of peripheral pigment-protein complexes. It was found that the decrease in the amounts of these proteins occurred due to suppression of transcription of their genes.

[Comparative analysis of the exogenous ammonium influence on soybean tissue and Chlamydomonas cells].

In this work we studied the influence of exogenous ammonium on the total protein and chlorophyll contents, on the number of ribosomes and on the expression of ribosomal genes encoding the small subunit 18S rRNA and rpS6 protein in unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and in callus tissue of Glycine max. Comparative analysis of two sets of data showed that although the lack of ammonium resulted in reduction of the number of ribosomes in alga and plant cells, this effect was not caused by decreasing of the expression level of the ribosomal genes. Possible mechanisms of the ammonium regulatory role in the ribosome biogenesis are discussed.

[The current concepts of functional role of carotenoids in the eukaryotic chloroplasts].

Current state of knowledge of functional role of carotenoids in algal and higher plant chloroplasts is reviewed. Basic functions of carotenoids are shown to be light-protective, light-absorbing, and structural, as well as participating in photochemical processes of photosystems I and II. Such xanthophylls as neoxanthin, fucoxanthin, peridinin and alloxanthin, which have allenic or acetylenic bond, mostly function as light-absorbers. They transmit absorbed energy to chlorophyll b. Other xanthophylls occupying certain strictly specified loci in light-absorbing chlorophyll-a/b-protein complexes of photosystems have either structural function (lutein) or light-protective function (zeaxanthin, antheraxanthin, violaxanthin). Carotenoids of xanthophyll cycles preserve chlorophylls and lipids of photosynthetic membranes from photodestruction at overlighting in the presence of oxygen. In eukaryotic chloroplasts, three types of xanthophyll cycles were found: violaxanthin, lutein-5,6-epoxide, and diadinoxanthin. The similarities and dissimilarities between epoxidation and de-epoxidation reactions of these cycles are discussed in detail in the present work. The pattern of occurrence of xanthophyll cycles among higher plants and freshwater and marine algae is outlined.

[Effect of choline chloride on photosynthetic oxygen release and variable and delayed fluorescence of chlorophyll in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells]. / Fotosinteticheskoe vydelenie kisloroda, peremennaia i zamedlennaia fluorestsentsiia khlorofilla kletok Chlamydomonas reinhardtii pri deistvii kholinkhlorida.

The influence of the growth retardant chlorocholine chloride on the rate of photosynthetic oxygen evolution and the induction of chlorophyll fluorescence in unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas was studied depending on concentration and the time of cell growth. It was shown that low concentrations chlorocholine chloride (0.02 g/l) affected insignificantly the photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence. The growth of the culture in the presence of higher chlorocholine chloride concentrations (0.2 and 2 g/l) led to a significant reduction in the rate of oxygen production, and photoinduced changes in chlorophyll fluorescence yield. Young cells were more sensitive to chlorocholine chloride than old cells.

[Choline chloride effect on chloroplast ultrastructure and cell growth in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii]. / Ul'trastruktura khloroplastov i rost kletok Chlamydomonas reinhardtii pri deistvii kholinkhlorida.

The influence of growth retardant choline chloride (0.02, 0.2 and 2 g/l) on cell size and division as well as chlorophyll accumulation and chloroplast ultrastructure of unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas was studied. It was shown that at any concentration used (0.02, 0.2, and 2 g/l) choline chloride decreased the rate of cell division. The content of chlorophyll and carotenoid per cell decreased and the sizes of cells increased at all concentrations of choline chloride. On the basis of electron microscopy data, the conclusion was made that an increase in the concentration of choline chloride intensified destruction processes in membranes of chloroplasts and other cell organelles.

Changes in the carotenoid composition of chloroplast membranes from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii double mutants with alterations of various sites in photosystem II.

The variable fluorescence and polypeptide and carotenoid compositions of the chlorophyll b-deficient mutant C-48 of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and its double mutants without chlorophyll b and with inactive photosystem II were compared with those of the wild-type algal cells. Studying variable fluorescence demonstrated the alterations at the donor side (AC-121), the acceptor side (AC-234) or immediately in the photosystem II reaction centre (AC-184, AC-864). Gel electrophoresis showed that the absence of chlorophyll b in all mutants was due to the lack of 26, 28 and 31 kDa polypeptides in the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complex II (LHC II). As a result of the second mutation, the chlorophyll a-protein complex of photosystem II did not form in chloroplast membranes. The disassembly of this complex in the mutants AC-121, AC-234 and AC-864 was related to the deficiency of both polypeptides of the reaction centre (30 and 32 kDa) and polypeptides of the water-oxidizing system (18, 23 and 34 kDa). Besides the loss of these polypeptides, the contents of polypeptides with molecular masses of 47 and 51 kDa decreased in the double mutant AC-184. Substantial changes were revealed in the carotenoid composition of the double mutants. We observed the considerable accumulation of carotenes that accompanied alterations in the donor (mutant AC-121) or acceptor (mutant AC-234) sides of PS II. In the first case, beta-carotene predominantly accumulated (87%); in the second case, it was alpha-carotene (52%). Alterations in the PS II reaction centre (mutants AC-184, AC-864) caused accumulation of xanthophylls, mainly lutein (38-41%). We suppose that alterations in different parts of the PS II chloroplast membrane lead to substantial changes in the carotenoid composition.

[Chlorophyll-protein complexes from green algae and higher plants. Identification of chlorophyll-containing bands in gel, using Chlamydomonas reinhardii mutants]. / Khlorofill-belkovye kompleksy zelenykh vodoroslei i vysshikh rastenii. Identifikatsiia khlorofillsoderzhashchikh polos v gele s ispol'zovaniem mutantov Chlamydomonas reinhardii.

Three types of mutants (pigment, non-photosynthesizing and pigment non-photosynthesizing ones) were used to identify the chlorophyll-containing bands in gel slices. The pigment mutants with an impaired light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complex possess photochemically active reaction centers of photosystems and are capable of phototrophic growth. Using these mutants, the heterogeneity of the chlorophyll-containing bands, LH2 and LH3, in gel slices and the dependence of LH2 on chlorophyll a-protein and that of LH3 on chlorophyll b-protein in the light-harvesting complex were established. The non-photosynthesizing mutants with an inactive photosystem I (or II) are devoid of antennae forms of chlorophyll a and are not capable of phototrophic growth. Using these mutants, it was demonstrated that in gel slices the chlorophyll-containing band, CPI, corresponds to the chlorophyll a-protein complex of photosystem I, while CPII to the chlorophyll a-protein complex of photosystem II. It was also found that the presence of the chlorophyll-containing band, LH0 (CPIa) in gel slices correlates with the preservation of the light-harvesting complex and is independent of photosystem I. The spectral properties of chlorophyll complexes in gel slices are not identical to those of native chlorophyll. It was assumed that chloroplasts contain at least 4 types of chlorophyll proteins that are controlled by independent genes.