Role of o(2) and mitochondrial respiration in a photosynthetic stimulation of oat protoplast acidification of a surrounding medium.

Some photosynthetically stimulated acidification of the medium by oat (Avena sativa L. cv Garry) leaf protoplasts required respiration. The requisite respiration (a) had a low apparent affinity for O(2), (b) was blocked by cyanide plus salicylhydroxamic acid, (c) characterized protoplasts and mitochondria isolated from protoplasts, (d) could be induced in leaf segments, and (e) appeared to result from an inhibition of mitochondrial respiration that included the cytochrome pathway.Carbon monoxide and cyanide prevented acidification of weakly photosynthesizing suspensions. Salicylhydroxamic acid had no effect on acidification, indicating a specific dependence upon cyanide-sensitive respiration. Photosynthesis stimulated acidification through stable products, and exogenously supplied O(2) stimulated acidification. The acidification response to O(2) was additive to the response to photosynthesis at subsaturating levels of light, indicating a common mode of action. Oligomycin prevented stimulation of acidification by low levels of photosynthetic activity; this stimulation appeared to be due to O(2)-induced increases in mitochondrial energy production. Oligomycin only partially inhibited stimulation of acidification by higher levels of light; this stimulation appeared to be partially dependent upon photophosphorylation. Therefore, oligomycin-sensitive acidification of the medium appeared to reflect changes in mitochondrial energy production in photosynthesizing protoplasts.