Interactions of photosystem II with bicarbonate, formate and acetate

In this study, we probe the effects of bicarbonate (hydrogencarbonate), BC, removal from photosystem II in spinach thylakoids by measuring flash-induced oxygen evolution patterns (FIOPs) with a Joliot-type electrode. For this we compared three commonly employed methods: (1) washing in BC-free medium, (2) formate addition, and (3) acetate addition. Washing of the samples with buffers depleted of BC and CO₂ by bubbling with argon (Method 1) under our conditions leads to an increase in the double hit parameter of the first flash (β₁), while the miss parameter and the overall activity remain unchanged. In contrast, addition of 40–50 mM formate or acetate results in a significant increase in the miss parameter and to an ∼50% (formate) and ∼10% (acetate) inhibition of the overall oxygen evolution activity, but not to an increased β₁ parameter. All described effects could be reversed by washing with formate/acetate free buffer and/or addition of 2–10 mM bicarbonate. The redox potential of the water-oxidizing complex (WOC) in samples treated by Method 1 is compared to samples containing 2 mM bicarbonate in two ways: (1) The lifetimes of the S₀, S₂, and S₃ states were measured, and no differences were found between the two sample types. (2) The S₁, S₀, S₋₁, and S₋₂ states were probed by incubation with small concentrations of NH₂OH. These experiments displayed a subtle, yet highly reproducible difference in the apparent S_i/S_−i state distribution which is shown to arise from the interaction of BC with PSII in the already reduced states of the WOC. These data are discussed in detail by also taking into account the CO₂ concentrations present in the buffers after argon bubbling and during the measurements. These values were measured by membrane-inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS).