Effects of ammonia on the structure of the oxygen-evolving complex in photosystem II as revealed by light-induced FTIR difference spectroscopy

NH(3) is a structural analogue of substrate H(2)O and an inhibitor to the water oxidation reaction in photosystem II. To test whether or not NH(3) is able to replace substrate water molecules on the oxygen-evolving complex in photosystem II, we studied the effects of NH(3) on the high-frequency region (3750-3550 cm(-1)) of the S(2)Q(A)(-)/S(1)Q(A) FTIR difference spectra (pH 7.5 at 250 K), where OH stretch modes of weak hydrogen-bonded active water molecules occur. Our results showed that NH(3) did not replace the active water molecule on the oxygen-evolving complex that gave rise to the S(1) mode at ~3586 cm(-1) and the S(2) mode at ~3613 cm(-1) in the S(2)Q(A)(-)/S(1)Q(A) FTIR difference spectrum of PSII. In addition, our mid-frequency FTIR results showed a clear difference between pH 6.5 and 7.5 on the concentration dependence of the NH(4)Cl-induced upshift of the S(2) state carboxylate mode at 1365 cm(-1) in the S(2)Q(A)(-)/S(1)Q(A) spectra of NH(4)Cl-treated PSII samples. Our results provided strong evidence that NH(3) induced this upshift in the spectra of NH(4)Cl-treated PSII samples at 250 K. Moreover, our low-frequency FTIR results showed that the Mn-O-Mn cluster vibrational mode at 606 cm(-1) in the S(2)Q(A)(-)/S(1)Q(A) spectrum of the NaCl control PSII sample was diminished in those samples treated with NH(4)Cl. Our results suggest that NH(3) induced a significant alteration on the core structure of the Mn(4)CaO(5) cluster in PSII. The implication of our findings on the structure of the NH(3)-binding site on the OEC in PSII will be discussed.