Phosphorylation of photosynthetic antenna protein CP29 and photosystem II structure changes in monocotyledonous plants under environmental stresses.

Kinetic studies of protein dephosphorylation in thylakoid membranes showed that the minor light-harvesting antenna protein CP29 could be phosphorylated in barley (C3) and maize (C4) seedlings, but not in spinach under water [Liu, W. J., et al. (2009) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1787, 1238-1245], salt, or cold stress [Pursiheimo, S., et al. (2003) Plant Cell Environ. 26, 1995-2003], suggesting that phosphorylation of CP29 is a general phenomenon in monocots, but not in dicots under environmental stresses. Abscisic acid (ABA), reactive oxygen species (ROS), salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), ethylene (ET), NO, and the scavenger of H(2)O(2) had weak effects on CP29 phosphorylation. However, three protein kinase inhibitors, U0126, W7, and K252a (for mitogen-activated protein kinase, Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinase, and Ser/Thr protein kinases, respectively), decrease the level of CP29 phosphorylation in barley apparently under environmental stresses. Therefore, these three protein kinases are involved in CP29 phosphorylation. We also found that most CP29 phosphorylation was accompanied by its lateral migration from granum membranes to stroma-exposed thylakoid regions, and the instability of PSII supercomplexes and LHCII trimers under environmental stresses.