Sulfite-induced lipid peroxidation in chloroplasts as determined by ethane production.

Ethane formation, as a measure of lipid peroxidation, was studied in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) chloroplasts exposed to sulfite. Ethane formation required sulfite and light, and occurred with concomitant oxidation of sulfite to sulfate. In the dark, both ethane formation and sulfite oxidation were inhibited. Ethane formation was stimulated by ferric or ferrous ions and inhibited by ethylenediamine tetraacetate. The photosynthetic electron transport modulators, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) and phenazine methosulfate, inhibited both sulfite oxidation and ethane formation. Methyl viologen greatly stimulated ethane formation, but had little effect on sulfite oxidation. Methyl viologen, in the absence of sulfite, caused only a small amount of ethane formation in comparison to that produced with sulfite alone. Sulfite oxidation and ethane formation were effectively inhibited by the radical scavengers, 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonic acid and ascorbate. Ethanol, a hydroxyl radical scavenger, inhibited ethane formation only to a small degree; formate, which converts hydroxyl radical to superoxide radical, caused a small stimulation in both sulfite oxidation and ethane formation. Superoxide dismutase inhibited ethane formation by 50% when added at a concentration equivalent to that of the endogenous activity. Singlet oxygen did not appear to play a role in ethane formation, inasmuch as the singlet oxygen scavengers, sodium azide and 1,4-diazobicyclo-[2,2,2]-octane, were not inhibitory. These data are consistent with the view that O(2) is reduced by the photosynthetic electron transport system to superoxide anion, which in turn initiates the free radical oxidation of sulfite, and the free radicals produced during sulfite oxidation were responsible for the peroxidation of membrane lipids, resulting in the formation of ethane.