The effects of uncoupler on the rates of cytochrome oxidation and reduction in the photosynthetic bacterium, Chromatium. Evidence for a possible cytochrome switching.

The uncoupler, m-chlorocarbonyl cyanide phenylhydrazone (CCCP) added to anerobic, dark-adapted whole cells of Chromatium vinosum is found to speed the reduction of cytochrome after oxidation by laser or by steady illumination and, subject to unknown factors, to slow the laser-induced oxidation. There is considerable evidence, including spectra and loss of low-temperature oxidizability that this results from a switch of the identity of the cytochrome oxidized from the low-potential cytochrome c-552 to the high-potential cytochrome c555. Redox control and/or control by conformational movements of the cytochromes, either being coupled to energy transduction in the cyclic system, are suggested as mechanisms for the switching. If the switching hypothesis is not accepted, the increased rate of reduction could alternatively be explained by postulating a phosphorylation site in the reduction pathway.