Isolation and spectroscopic characterization of a plantlike photosystem II reaction center from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. 6803.

A chlorophyll-protein complex has been isolated from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 that closely resembles higher plant photosystem II reaction centers in spectral properties. The Synechocystis complex has a pigment content of 5-7 chlorophyll a molecules:1 Cyt b559:2 pheophytins; an optical absorption redmost transition at approximately 675 nm; and a nonconservative circular dichroism red signal, with extrema at 682 (+) and 652 (-) nm. Upon illumination, the Synechocystis D1/D2/Cyt b559 complex accumulates reduced pheophytin. LDS-PAGE and/or immunoblotting showed the D1, D2, and Cyt b559 proteins, aggregated and degraded forms of D1 and possibly D2, and traces of ATP synthase and the CP47 photosystem II chlorophyll protein. The availability of such a Synechocystis preparation opens the way for employing site-directed mutagenesis in studying primary reactions of oxygenic photosynthesis.