Abstract
Recruitment of H2O as the final donor of electrons for light-governed reactions in photosynthesis has been an utmost breakthrough, bursting the evolution of life and leading to the accumulation of O2 molecules in the atmosphere. O2 molecule has a great potential to accept electrons from the components of the photosynthetic electron transfer chain (PETC) (so-called the Mehler reaction). Here we overview the Mehler reaction mechanisms, specifying the changes in the structure of the PETC of oxygenic phototrophs that probably had occurred as the result of evolutionary pressure to minimize the electron flow to O2. These changes are warranted by the fact that the efficient electron flow to O2 would decrease the quantum yield of photosynthesis. Moreover, the reduction of O2 leads to the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), namely, the superoxide anion radical and hydrogen peroxide, which cause oxidative stress to plant cells if they are accumulated at a significant amount. From another side, hydrogen peroxide acts as a signaling molecule. We particularly zoom in into the role of photosystem I (PSI) and the plastoquinone (PQ) pool in the Mehler reaction.
Introduction
Mehler reaction is the major source of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as O2∙– and H2O2, in chloroplasts. During the Mehler reaction, O2 molecules serve as an alternative electron acceptor from the photosynthetic electron transfer chain (PETC), being a safety valve to release surplus electrons and thus alleviating the PETC over-reduction. This reaction also contributes to building up of ΔpH across the thylakoid membrane and produces a signaling messenger, H2O2, which is capable of initiating various signaling pathways (). However, an efficient electron flow to O2 would decrease the photosynthetic quantum yield. Moreover, ROS, if not neutralized efficiently, lead to oxidative damage. Thus, the PETC evolution could have been guided toward minimizing and/or taking strong control over the Mehler reaction.
Most of the PETC components were proposed as sites of O2∙– photoproduction, the first step of the Mehler reaction. Among them, there are water-soluble and water-exposed components (Figure 1, open circles) and the components situated in hydrophobic zones (Figure 1, closed circles). The former produce O2∙– in water bulk phases, e.g., stroma, while the latter produce O2∙–, which can be detected outside the membrane when diffused there or can be detected within the thylakoid membranes (). The value of Em (O2/O2∙–) in water is −160 mV, while in hydrophobic zones of proteins and membranes it is more negative, approximately −550 mV (Wardman, 1990). Only few components in PETC possess enough negative Em for O2 reduction within a thylakoid membrane. Numerous experiments unambiguously demonstrated that photosystem I (PSI) is the major site of O2∙– photoproduction (). O2∙– generation by other components was shown under the disturbed PETC function. The second step of the Mehler reaction is H2O2 production via O2∙– dismutation in stroma as catalyzed by superoxide dismutase. Apart from O2∙– dismutation, another mechanism was shown to operate in the thylakoid membranes (). It involves O2∙– reduction by the plastoquinone (PQ) pool, namely, by plastoquinol (PQH2) (). Thus, the Mehler reaction proceeds at a variety of sites, still leading to O2∙– and subsequent H2O2 production.
FIGURE 1
The evolution of various photosynthetic complexes has been a subject of several recent reviews (
Photosystem I
All secondary electron acceptor cofactors of PSI were proposed as the sites of O2 photoreduction. The terminal FeS clusters FA/FB are inevitably oxidized by O2 in the absence of ferredoxin (Fd). The role of intermediate cofactor FeS cluster FX was claimed in Takahashi and Asada (1988) based on experiments showing that the primary H2O2 photoproduction site was a PsaA/PsaB heterodimer, which harbors FX. However, the PsaA/PsaB heterodimer also binds two phylloquinone (PhQ) molecules at the A1 sites and they could also contribute to H2O2 photoproduction. For the first time, the role of PhQs was proposed by Kruk with coauthors (
From an evolutionary point of view, the terminal cofactor FB can be one of the sites where the Mehler reaction should have been taken under control. This cofactor possesses negative Em, allowing for the efficient reduction of both Fd and O2. However, Fd is a mobile protein, diffusing to and out of PSI and leaving FB– transiently open to O2. If FB– is oxidized by O2 efficiently, it would be insufficient in a steady-state reduction of Fd. However, the electron lives mostly on FA, not FB, because of a positive shift of Em (FA/FA–) relative to (FB/FB–) (Figure 1A;
The PsaC protein carrying FA and FB is homologous to mobile ferredoxins in anoxigenic phototrophs (
Binding of the ancestral Fd to the ancestral homodimeric RC resulted in RC asymmetry through locating the FA cluster closer to one of the quinones (PhQB), bringing about a negative shift in Em (PhQB/PhQB∙–) (Rutherford et al., 2012). The difference in Em between PhQA and PhQB is up to 170 mV (Ptushenko et al., 2008). Rutherford with coauthors presented an elegant hypothesis explaining the benefit of this asymmetry as it eliminates 3P700 (and hence 1O2) formation under the conditions of the Fd pool over-reduction (Rutherford et al., 2012). In line with this hypothesis, PhQ∙– oxidation by O2 sustains a forward ET and contributes to both alleviating PETC over-reduction and preventing charge recombination (
Ferredoxin and FNR
In bacterial type Fd, two 4Fe-4S clusters are partially exposed to solvent and accessible for O2 attacks (
A long-lasting controversy on the role of Fd in the Mehler reaction was solved nearly a decade ago. In the absence of NADP+, which is the major electron sink for Fd, O2 inevitably oxidizes the reduced Fd (Fd–). In the presence of NADP+, simultaneously with its photoreduction, the electron flow to O2 was shown to be significant in high light; however, the contribution of Fd was almost negligible relative to that of the membrane-bound PETC components (
The Fd affinity to its redox partners, i.e., PSI acceptor side, was also raised to ensure the competition with O2 for electrons. However, this is not entirely the case of FNR. Although a semiquinone form of FAD prosthetic group in FNR can react with O2 (
Plastoquinone Pool
O2∙– photoproduction by PQ∙– in the PQ pool was demonstrated (
While anoxygenic phototrophs use menaquinone (MQ) and ubiquinone (UQ), the oxygenic ones recruited PQ, a representative of a “more recent” group of quinones (Schoepp-Cothenet et al., 2009). MQ was probably the first quinone in ancient photosynthetic membranes. The rationale for replacing MQ with PQ is clear: the Em values of (Q/Q∙–) and (Q/QH2) are ∼100 mV (
A possible rationale for choosing PQ instead of UQ in the PETC of oxygenic phototrophs is still vague. Firstly, the O2∙– generation by free UQ∙– in the mitochondria was discovered as early as in 80-s (Turrens et al., 1985). This reaction has long been considered as an important source of O2∙– in animal cells. On the contrary, PQ∙– in photosynthetic cells has little impact on O2∙– production, as stated above. Secondly, PQH2 is more efficient as an antioxidant than UQH2 (
Replacing MQ with PQ as a mobile pool in the thylakoid membrane inevitably affected all of the complexes interacting with quinone. All cofactors in photosystem II (PSII) and cytochrome b6/f complexes have 110–150 mV more positive Em values than in their MQ-based analogs (Schoepp-Cothenet et al., 2009;
Cytochrome b6/f Complex
The cytochrome b6/f complex is also considered to be an O2 photoreduction site (Taylor et al., 2018). The high Em values of the b6f complex cofactors are a consequence of MQ replacement with PQ (
In several studies, PQ∙– at the quinol-oxidizing (Qo) site of the complex is considered as the electron donor to O2. However, the concerted oxidation of PQH2 diminishes the PQ∙– lifetime. If semiquinone is produced, it is either quickly oxidized by bL heme or reduced by it, if the heme is pre-reduced. The dimer organization of the b6/f complex was proposed to lower the chances of O2∙– generation at the Qo site (Rutherford et al., 2012). In the bc1 complex, a spin–spin complex state between the semiquinone and the Rieske cluster was shown to suppress O2∙– generation (
The appearance of semiquinone at the quinone-reducing site (Qr) of the bc1 complex from purple bacteria was shown (
Photosystem II
Three major tasks could have been solved during the evolution of PSII: (i) the existence of highly oxidizing P680+, (ii) dealing with charge recombination leading to 1O2 production, and (iii) stabilization of QB– waiting for the second electron (Rutherford et al., 2012). O2∙– production in PSII was shown many times (Pospíšil, 2012). Pheophytin (Pheo), QA, QB, and cytochrome b559 were suggested as the sites of O2 reduction to O2∙–, based presumably on the experiments with PSII complexes with disrupted function, e.g., after modifications of the water-oxidizing complex.
Although Pheo– possesses Em, −610 mV (Rappaport et al., 2002), negative enough to reduce O2 even in hydrophobic media (Figure 1C), its lifetime is rather short (300 ps) such that it prevents the electron leakage to O2. This reaction with QA– (
The role of a very low potential form of cytochrome b559 (Em is −150 to −200 mV) in O2 reduction was also proposed (
Discussion
In this review, we briefly summarize some features of the modern PETC, which have evolved at the background of the Mehler reaction. The main site of O2∙– generation is PSI. Several experiments revealed that PhQ could be the major contributor to this process (
The stromal production of O2∙–via Fd greatly increases if the NADP+ recovering in the Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle is retarded, e.g., due to closed stomata. In the stroma, H2O2 is produced from O2∙– under catalysis by superoxide dismutase. O2 reduction by PhQ∙– can account for O2∙– appearance within the thylakoid membrane (
Thus, in chloroplasts, H2O2 is produced via two distinct reactions in two distinct chloroplast compartments. We believe that this observation may be important for the understanding of H2O2-mediated signal transduction. The stromal H2O2, which might be considered as a messenger of NADP+/NADPH status, can oxidize thioredoxins (
Statements
Author contributions
MK and MB-M designed the concept of the article. All authors contributed to the writing of the first draft and manuscript revision, and approved the submitted version. MK incorporated all inputs from the coauthors, reviewers, and editor.
Funding
This work was funded by the Russian Science Foundation, project 17-14-01371 and by The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, State Scientific Program, theme no. AAAA-A17-117030110135-1.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
photosystems, evolution, plastoquinone, phylloquinone, oxygen, reactive oxygen species
Citation
Kozuleva MA, Ivanov BN, Vetoshkina DV and Borisova-Mubarakshina MM (2020) Minimizing an Electron Flow to Molecular Oxygen in Photosynthetic Electron Transfer Chain: An Evolutionary View. Front. Plant Sci. 11:211. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00211
Received
30 September 2019
Accepted
11 February 2020
Published
13 March 2020
Volume
11 - 2020
Edited by
Chikahiro Miyake, Kobe University, Japan
Reviewed by
Yoshitaka Nishiyama, Saitama University, Japan; Christine Helen Foyer, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
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© 2020 Kozuleva, Ivanov, Vetoshkina and Borisova-Mubarakshina.
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*Correspondence: Marina A. Kozuleva, kozuleva@gmail.comMaria M. Borisova-Mubarakshina, mubarakshinamm@gmail.com
This article was submitted to Plant Physiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Plant Science
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