The effects of Triton X-100 and n-octyl beta-D-glucopyranoside on energy transfer in photosynthetic membranes.

The effects of the non-ionic detergents Triton X-100 and n-octyl beta-D-glucopyranoside on energy transfer between pigment-protein complexes of Pisum sativum thylakoids were investigated. This was done by monitoring the 77K fluorescence-emission characteristics of stacked and unstacked thylakoids exposed to a range of detergent concentrations. At sub-critical micellar concentrations, the detergents had little effect, whereas above these concentrations they caused increases of up to 20-fold in short-wavelength fluorescence intensity and a shift in its maximum wavelength from 685 to 680 nm. Fluorescence-emission intensities at 695 and 735 nm were relatively unaffected by detergent treatments, although Triton X-100 caused a wavelength shift in the emission peak from 735 to 728 nm. The results are discussed in terms of reversible dissociation of pigment-protein complexes induced by mild detergent solubilization and the consequent cessation of inter-complex energy transfer.