An acid pH in the lumen of chloroplast thylakoids is necessary in order to derive the required amount of CO2 to account for the observed rates of carbon fixation. We point out that the endosymbiotic derivation of the chloroplast from a cyanobacterium would have resulted in the lumen of the thylakoid having an acid pH. The thylakoids of cyanobacteria are continuous with the plasma membrane, resulting in the lumen of the thylakoid being open to the outside of the cell. Endosymbiosis resulted in the cyanobacterium being taken up into a food vacuole of a protozoan. The vacuole would have had an acid pH, probably around pH 5, so the endosymbiotic bacterium would have been surrounded by an environment with an acidic pH. The lumen of the thylakoids would have been at an acid pH since they were open to the exterior of the cell, and to the contents of the vacuole. and R. E. Lee, P. Kugrens.
The photosynthetic election transport activities in beet spinách thylakoids were studied using ruthenium chloride as an electron acceptor, Like potassium ferricyanide, RUCI3 supported the non-cyclic electron flow with net evolution of oxygen. The rate of oxygen evolution was at its maximum with 0.5 mM RUCI3 at pH of 8.0 and the election flow coupled to translocation of protons into the thylakoid vesicles. Ruthenium chloride-supported oxygen evolution was inhibited by specific photosynthetic electron tiansport inhibitors like diuron, dibromothymoquinone, potassium cyanide, and mercuric chloride Unlike ferricyanide, the RuCl3-supported oxygen evolution was totally inliibited by potassium cyanide and mercuric chloride at both pH 8.0 and 6.5. Since potassium cyanide and mercuric chloride mostly interrupt the electron flow at plastocyanin level, RUCI3 probably accepts electrons mostly from photosystem 1 or its near vicinity. Besides electron acceptance, RUCI3 suppresses the photophosphoiylation activity in a manner similar to energy transfer inhibitors.
In the mutant CC-1047 of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, LDS-PAGE showed that the chlorophyll-protein complex I (CPI) is almost absent. The mutant could not grow in a culture medium without organic carbon source while the wild type (WT) C. reinhardtii grew quickly. When an organic carbon source was added into the culture medium, the mutant grew almost as well as WT. The rate of photosystem 1 (PS1) electron transport (DCPIP→MV) and the rate of whole chain electron transport (H2O→MV) of chloroplasts of the CC-1047 mutant were both lower than those of WT. The photophosphorylation activity, photosynthetic O2 evolution rate, and rate of NADP+ photoreduction of CC-1047 were also much lower than the activities of WT. There were some differences in ATPase activity between the mutant and WT. Two different activation ways were used to activate the latent ATPase using methanol and dithiothreitol (DTT) as activation substrate. More methanol and DTT were required for the mutant than WT to obtain the maximum activity. Thus the photosynthetic apparatus could not operate normally when CPI was absent because of the abnormal PS1 electron transport. Meanwhile, the other adjacent complexes of the thylakoid membrane, for example, ATP synthase complex, were slightly affected. and Qing-Xiu Tang, Zhang-Lin Ni, Jia-Mian Wei.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of calcium channel blockers on tertbutyl hydroperoxide (TBH) induced liver injury using isolated perfused rat hepatocytes. Rat hepatocytes were immobilized in agarose threads and perfused with Williams E medium. Hepatocyte injury was induced by the addition of tertbutyl hydroperoxide (1 mM) to the perfusion medium 30 min after the addition of either verapamil or diltiazim. Hepatocyte injury was observed by monitoring the functional and metabolic competence of hepatocytes or by ultrastructural morphological examination of hepatocytes. Verapamil (0.5 mM) reduced lactate dehydrogenase leakage in TBH-injured hepatocytes as compared to the controls (154± 11 % vs. 247± 30 %). Lipid peroxides production was reduced after verapamil pretreatment as compared to the controls and oxygen consumption was increased by pretreatment of hepatocytes with verapamil. Verapamil pretreatment increased the protein synthesis activity at both levels of granular endoplasmic reticulum and free polysomes in cytoplasm and decreased ATPase activity. Diltiazem was qualitatively effective as verapamil. It is concluded that in hepatocyte oxidative injury, calcium channel blockers exhibited hepatoprotective properties. The hepatoprotective effect of calcium channel blockers was accompanied by a decrease in ATPase activity, which may implicate a normalization of Ca2+i after TBH intoxication., H. Farghali, E. Kmoníčková, H. Lotková, J. Martínek., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Glycine betaine (GB) is an effective compatible solute that improves the tolerance in plants to various stresses. We investigated the effects of 2 mM GB applied to the roots of a tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) cultivar on enhancing photosynthesis under low-temperature (LT) stress (5/5 °C, 12/12 h, 300 µmol m-2 s-1) and in the subsequent recovery (25/18 °C) from the stress. The net photosynthetic rate, intrinsic efficiency measured as the ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence, and actual efficiency of the photochemistry of photosystem 2 as well as the ATPase activity in the thylakoid membrane decreased, and a distinct K step in the fluorescence transient O-J-I-P appeared under cold stress. Exogenous GB alleviated the decrease in all these parameters. The LT-stress induced the accumulation of 33-66 kDa polypeptides and decreased the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in the thylakoid membrane. In plants subjected to LT-stress, GB protected these polypeptides from damage and enhanced the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids. An increase in non-radiative energy dissipation (NPQ) may be involved in the improvement of the function of the thylakoid membrane by GB since exogenous GB protected violaxanthin de-epoxidase and enhanced NPQ. and C. Wang ... [et al.].