Energy transfer between Chlorophyll C and Chlorophyll A

Spectral properties of solutions containing mixtures of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll c are investigated. The yield of excitation energy migration from chlorophyll c to chlorophyll a is obtained ranging from 23 to 48% dependent on the used dye concentrations. The back transfer from chlorophyll a to chlorophyll c is negligible. The shape of the polarization excitation spectrum of chlorophyll c in the Soret band region is less composed than that of chlorophyll a. Depolarization of chlorophyll a fluorescence by chlorophyll c is in agreement with the conclusion drawn from fluorescence quenching that excitation energy migrates from chlorophyll c to chlorophyll a.     

Chlorophyll metabolism

Since the 1970s, researchers have proposed several regulatory pathways governing chlorophyll metabolism, but only recently have the underlying molecular mechanisms been elucidated. The recent data indicate that such regulatory systems are more complex than originally anticipated. For instance, the pathways involve a series of protein-protein interactions, including complex formation, the dual localization of enzymes within chloroplasts, and a novel protein degradation mechanism that is triggered by pigments. Furthermore, several lines of evidence suggest that chlorophyll metabolism might not only significantly impact the assembly of photosynthetic machineries but also influence processes such as programmed cell death, the 'stay-green' phenomenon, and chloroplast-nucleus communication.     

植物叶绿素的降解

文章介绍近几年来植物叶绿素降解途径以及与其相关几种酶的研究进展。     

Conversion of Chlorophyll b to Chlorophyll a and the Assembly of Chlorophyll with Apoproteins by Isolated Chloroplasts

The photosynthetic apparatus is reorganized during acclimation to various light environments. During adaptation of plants grown under a low-light to high-light environment, the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complexes decompose concomitantly with an increase in the core complex of photosystem II. To study the mechanisms for reorganization of photosystems, the assembly of chlorophyll with apoproteins was investigated using isolated chloroplasts. When [14C]chlorophyllide b was incubated with chloroplasts in the presence of phytyl pyrophosphate, it was esterified and some of the [14C]chlorophyll b was converted to [14C]chlorophyll a via 7-hydroxymethyl chlorophyll. [14C]Chlorophyll a and b were incorporated into chlorophyll-protein complexes. Light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complexes of PSII had a lower [14C]chlorophyll a to [14C]chlorophyll b ratio than P700-chlorophyll a-protein complexes, indicating the specific binding of chlorophyll to apoproteins in our systems. 7-Hydroxymethyl chlorophyll, an intermediate molecule from chlorophyll b to chlorophyll a, did not become assembled with any apoproteins. These results indicate that chlorophyll b is released from light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complexes of photosystem II and converted to chlorophyll a via 7-hydroxymethyl chlorophyll in the lipid bilayer and is then used for the formation of core complexes of photosystems. These mechanisms provide the fast, fine regulation of the photosynthetic apparatus during construction of photosystems.     

Chlorophyll Formation in the Dark I. Chlorophyll in Pine Seedlings

In black pine (Pinus nigra) chlorophyll was first detected two days after planting of the soaked seeds. There was a slight change in the chlorophyll content between two and five days, then a faster chlorophyll synthesis started. The maximum chlorophyll content was found after 15 days of germination. Thereafter the content showed a gradual decrease. The chlorophyll a/b ratio decreased from 10 at two days to 3 after five days. Protochlorophyllide did not accumulate after 6 days of germination.     

油菜叶绿素b减少突变体Cr3529叶绿素生物合成的研究

利用吸收光谱和荧光光谱法测定了油菜叶绿素b减少突变体Cr3529子叶叶绿素生物合成途径中几种主要前体物质的含量.结果显示:突变体子叶中叶绿素生物合成第一个限速步骤的前体物质δ-氨基乙酰丙酸(ALA)含量与野生型油菜大致相同,饲喂ALA后的突变体及野生型油菜子叶中ALA含量均显著增加,但二者无显著差异;胆色素原含量在突变体中也未降低,而尿卟啉原Ⅲ含量仅为野生型的一半,粪卟啉原Ⅲ、原卟啉Ⅸ、镁原卟啉Ⅸ和原植基叶绿素的含量都明显低于野生型.结果证明,Cr3529突变体中叶绿素生物合成受阻于由胆色素原形成尿卟啉原Ⅲ的步骤,其叶绿素合成缺陷的机制和前体物质的累积与其它叶绿素b减少突变体明显不同.     

Chlorophyll Composition in an Isolated Chlorophyll a-Protein Complex of Photosystem I

A P700-chlorophyll a-protein complex, solubilized by the detergent Triton X-100, has been isolated by hydroxyl apatite column chromatography. The chlorophyll composition was determined by thin-layer chromatography and spectrofluorimetric analysis. This photosystem I reaction centre complex, prepared at pH 7, contained pheophytin a and P700 in a ratio of 2/1, high enough to account for a composition similar to that in the reaction centre of photosynthetic bacteria. Prepared at pH 9, the same ratio was 0.2/1, which excludes pheophytin a from having the same function as that of bacterio-pheophytin in the photosynthetic bacteria.     

Migration of Electronic Energy from Chlorophyll b to Chlorophyll a in Solutions

Absorption, emission, and fluorescence excitation spectra of pure solutions of chlorophyll a (Chl a) and chlorophyll b (Chl b) in diethyl ether and of equimolecular mixed solutions of the two pigments, were determined at room temperature as functions of concentration (in the range from 5 × 10^-6 M to 4 × 10^-3 M) and of wavelength of the exciting light (in the regions 380-465 and 550-650 nm). The efficiency of energy transfer from Chl b to Chl a, derived from these data, was found to depend on the wavelength of exciting light. Furthermore, the transfer efficiency calculated from sensitization of Chl a fluorescence by Chl b was substantially smaller than that calculated from quenching of Chl b fluorescence by Chl a. Both these effects are tentatively explained as evidence of superposition of a “fast” energy transfer (taking place before the Boltzmann distribution of vibrational energy had been reached) upon the “delayed” transfer, which takes place after vibrational equilibration. The first-named mechanism is made possible by overlapping of the absorption bands of the two pigments; the second, by overlapping of the emission band of Chl b and the absorption band of Chl a. The first mechanism can lead to repeated transfer of excitation energy between pigment molecules, the second only to a one-time transfer from the donor to the acceptor. Both mechanisms could be of the same, second-order type, with the transfer rate proportional to r^-6. An alternative is for the fast mechanism to be of the first order, with the transfer rate proportional to r^-3, but spectroscopic evidence seems to make this alternative less probable.     

植物叶绿素的降解

简要介绍了植物叶绿素降解及其机制的研究进展。     

Chlorophyll fluorescence--a practical guide

Chlorophyll fluorescence analysis has become one of the most powerful and widely used techniques available to plant physiologists and ecophysiologists. This review aims to provide an introduction for the novice into the methodology and applications of chlorophyll fluorescence. After a brief introduction into the theoretical background of the technique, the methodology and some of the technical pitfalls that can be encountered are explained. A selection of examples is then used to illustrate the types of information that fluorescence can provide.     

Chlorophyll monolayers in chloroplasts

1. The data on the fine structure of the chloroplasts and the chlorophyll analyses, in two algal flagellates, Euglena gracilis and Poteriochromonas stipitata, are consistent with the assumption that the chlorophyll molecules are arranged in monomolecular layers at the interfaces between the lipid (dense) and the aqueous protein complex layers. 2. The cross-sectional area available to each chlorophyll molecule in the chloroplasts of Euglena and Poteriochromonas was found to be 222 x 10^–16 cm². and 246 x 10^–16 cm². By comparison, the cross-sectional area of the hydrophilic head of the chlorophyll molecule is approximately 240 x 10^–16 cm². 3. The model of the molecular network depicted in Text-fig. 1 is purely speculative. It predicts a lower limit for the number ratio of chlorophyll to other pigment molecules of about 1:1 and a weight ratio of 2:1. A loose packed structure such as that shown in Text-fig. 1 predicts a weight ratio of 4:1 to 6:1. These values bracket the large majority of experimental values found for this ratio. The relative constancy of the number of chlorophyll molecules per chloroplast and the volume of the chloroplast indicated by the data in Table III suggest that chloroplasts probably possess a similar structural arrangement in a variety of photosynthetic microorganisms and plants.