Determining the Activation Energy of Photoassembly of the Oxygen‐evolving Complex Using an Alternative Redox Mediator
Authors: Napier Ethan Garrett , Smythers Amanda L. , Garmany Armin , Board James , Kolling Derrick Richard James 
Published: April 2020

The oxygen‐evolving complex (OEC) is a well‐researched Mn4CaO5 cluster with a cubane‐like structure that is responsible for oxidizing water to fuel photosynthetic electron transfer. It is a cofactor of photosystem II (PSII), which catalyzes light‐induced charge separation and oxidation of the OEC. PSII is comprised of pigment molecules and cofactors that transport electrons to a mobile plastoquinone that is located at the QB site. These reducing equivalents can eventually be used to reduce CO2 into simple sugars. In nature, the OEC is constantly degraded as a result of PSII photodamage and must be reassembled through a light‐dependent process after the affected PSII is repaired. OEC assembly occurs in the presence of light in vivo, but if conducted in situ is significantly enhanced by including a dark incubation after the first light dependent step. This dark‐dependent step is the rate‐limiting step of OEC assembly. Determining the activation energy will provide insight into the mechanism of OEC formation and provide clues on how artificial systems could be engineered.

To conduct these studies, subcellular thylakoid membranes were isolated and enriched in PSII and the Mn4CaO5 cluster was removed via an alkaline incubation to generate apo‐PSII. The apo‐PSII enriched membranes were then used to measure the efficiency of OEC assembly in situ at temperatures ranging from 5 – 45 °C using Clark type oximetry. However, when OEC assembly occurs in apo‐PSII‐enriched membranes the rate‐determining step is electron shuttling from the QB site to the terminal electron acceptor {K3[Fe(CN)6]} via the native plastoquinones, thus preventing an accurate determination of the activation energy. This issue was remedied by supplementing with an alternative redox mediator know as phenyl‐p‐benzoquinone (PPBQ), which has been shown to increase the rate of electron shuttling from the QB site to a terminal electron acceptor. OEC photoassembly was successful in the presence of PPBQ and the oxygen production at varying temperatures was used to produce an Arrhenius plot to calculate the activation energy of OEC assembly.

Currently, the activation energies have been determined for photoassembled PSII‐enriched membranes in the presence of PPBQ (18 kJ/mol) and native plastoquinones (49 kJ/mol). From these results, we speculate that OEC photoassembly in apo‐PSII membranes with PPBQ allows us to measure the true rate‐limiting step.

Support or Funding Information

E.N. was supported by a fellowship from the SURE Program funded through the WV Research Challenge Fund, and administered by the WV HEPC, Division of Science and Research, Award Number DSR.17.09. E.N. had additional support from the WV NASA Space Grant Consortium’s NASA WVSG Undergraduate Fellowship Program and from the DOW Undergraduate Research Fellowship.D.K. and A.S. were supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement No. OIA‐1458952. Amanda Smythers was also funded by the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Grant #NNX15AK74A and Training Grant #NNX15AI01H.J.B. had additional support from the WV NASA Space Grant Consortium’s NASA WVSG Undergraduate Fellowship Program and from the DOW Undergraduate Research Fellowship.