Degradation of antenna chlorophyll-binding protein CP43 during photoinhibition of photosystem II.

When photosystem II (PS II) membranes from spinach were treated with Tris (0.8 M, pH 9.0) and illuminated with white light (5000 microE m-2 s-1) under aerobic conditions at 25 degrees C, not only were the reaction center-forming D1 and D2 proteins degraded but the antenna chlorophyll-binding protein CP43 was also degraded. Three products of the degradation of CP43, with molecular masses of 17.0, 15.5, and 14 kDa, respectively, were identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate/urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting with a specific antibody. Degradation products of another antenna chlorophyll-binding protein of PS II, CP47, were not detected under the same conditions. Concomitant with the damage to the D1 and D2 proteins and CP43, cross-linked products of the D1 protein, CP43, and CP47 were formed. These products were identified as slow-moving smeared bands in the higher molecular weight range of the gel during electrophoresis. Both the degradation and the cross-linking of these proteins were prevented by the addition of electron donors to PS II, a result that suggests that these processes were caused by the donor-side mechanism of photoinhibition. The photoinduced degradation of CP43 and the cross-linking among the D1 protein, CP43, and CP47 were less obvious in the PS II membranes that had been treated with hydroxylamine rather than Tris and in the membranes that had been treated with Tris and reconstituted by addition of an extrinsic 33-kDa protein (OEC33).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)