The Effects of Bicarbonate Depletion and Formate Incubation on the Kinetics of Oxidation-Reduction Reactions of the Photosystem II Quinone Acceptor Complex

Chloroplast thylakoid membranes depleted of bicarbonate exhibit a slowed oxidation of the primary quinone acceptor (Qᴀ) by the secondary quinone acceptor (Qв) of photosystem II. The kinetics of these slowed reactions have been followed by using short xenon flashes of light both to excite photosystem II and to probe the redox state of Qᴀ. Thylakoids incubated with formate but not depleted of bicarbonate showed the same pattern of slowed reaction kinetics of the quinone acceptors as seen in bicarbonate-depleted| thylakoids. This led us to conclude that there was a simple competition between bicarbonate and formate at this site; however, steady-state electron transfer measured with an oxygen electrode showed that although the bicarbonate- depleted thylakoids were indeed inhibited, rates in the formate-incubated thylakoids were only slightly slowed. We suggest that the inhibition seen at the quinone acceptor site of photosystem II depends in a subtle way upon the rate of exchange of bicarbonate and formate at this site.