Structural Changes of the Spinach Photosystem II Reaction Center After Inactivation by Heat Treatment

The structural changes in the electron donor side of the PSII reaction center have been monitored since heat treatment ($45^{\circ}C$ for 5 min) of thylakoids is known to decrease the oxygen evolving activity. In heat-treated spinach chloroplast thylakoids, the inhibitory effect of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) on the electron transport activity of the PSII reaction center from diphenyl carbazide to dichlorophenolindophenol became reduced approximately 3.8 times and [$^{14}C$]-labeled DCMU binding on the D1 polypeptide decreased to 25~30% that of intact thylakoid membranes, implying that the conformational changes of the DCMU binding pocket, residing on the D1 polypeptide, occur by heat treatment. The accessibility of trypsin to the $NH_2$-terminus of the cytochrome b-559 ${\alpha}$-subunit, assayed with Western blot using an antibody generated against the synthetic peptide (Arg-68 to Arg-80) of the COOH-terminal domain, was also increased, indicating that heat-treatment caused changes in the structural environments near the stromal side of the cytochrome b-559 ${\alpha}$-subunit, allowing trypsin more easily to cleave the $NH_2$-terminal domain. Therefore, the structural changes in the electron donor side of the PSII reaction center complexes could be one of the reasons why the oxygen evolving activity of the heat-treated thylakoid membranes decreased.