title: Nitrogen ligation to manganese in the photosynthetic oxygen-evolving complex: continuous-wave and pulsed EPR studies of photosystem II particles containing 14N or 15N.
abstract: The possibility of nitrogen ligation to the Mn in the oxygen-evolving complex from photosystem II was investigated with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) spectroscopies using 14N- and 15N-labeled preparations. Oxygen-evolving preparations were isolated from a thermophilic cyanobacterium, Synechococcus sp., grown on a medium containing either 14NO3- or 15NO3- as the sole source of nitrogen. the substructure on the "multiline" EPR signal, which arises from Mn in the S2 state of the enzyme, was measured with continuous-wave EPR. No changes were detected in the substructure peak positions upon substitution of 15N for 14N, indicating that this substructure is not due to superhyperfine coupling from nitrogen ligands. To detect potential nitrogen ligands with superhyperfine couplings of lesser magnitude than could be observed with conventional EPR methods, electron spin-echo envelope modulation experiments were also performed on the multiline EPR signal. The Fourier transform of the light-minus-dark time domain ESEEM data shows a peak at 4.8 MHz in 14N samples which is absent upon substitution with 15N. This gives unambiguous evidence for weak hyperfine coupling of nitrogen to the Mn of the oxygen-evolving complex. Possible origins of this nitrogen interaction are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: DeRose
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Yachandra
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Britt
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sauer
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000458:Cyanobacteria; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D008345:Manganese / Q000378:metabolism*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes; D009590:Nitrogen Radioisotopes; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D010788:Photosynthesis; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes; D009590:Nitrogen Radioisotopes; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D008345:Manganese; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen