title: Analysis of the psbU gene encoding the 12-kDa extrinsic protein of photosystem II and studies on its role by deletion mutagenesis in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.
abstract: The gene encoding the 12-kDa extrinsic protein of photosystem II from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was cloned based on N-terminal sequence of the mature protein. This gene, named psbU, encodes a polypeptide of 131 residues, the first 36 residues of which were absent in the mature protein and thus served as a transit peptide required for its transport into the thylakoid lumen. A psbU gene deletion mutant grew photoautotrophically in normal BG11 medium at almost the same rate as that of the wild type strain. This mutant, however, grew apparently slower than the wild type did upon depletion of Ca2+ or Cl- from the growth medium. Photosystem II oxygen evolution decreased to 81% in the mutant as compared with that in the wild type, and the thermoluminescence B- and Q-bands shifted to higher temperatures accompanied by an increase in the Q-band intensity. These results indicate that the 12-kDa protein is not essential for oxygen evolution but may play a role in optimizing the ion (Ca2+ and Cl-) environment and maintaining a functional structure of the cyanobacterial oxygen-evolving complex. In addition, a double deletion mutant lacking cytochrome c-550 and the 12-kDa protein grew photoautotrophically with a phenotype identical to that of the single deletion mutant of cytochrome c-550. This supports our previous biochemical results that the 12-kDa protein cannot bind to photosystem II in the absence of cytochrome c-550 (Shen, J.-R., and Inoue, Y. (1993) Biochemistry 32, 1825-1832).
authors.affiliation: Solar Energy Research Group and Photosynthesis Research Laboratory, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako, Saitama 351-01, Japan. shen@postman.riken.go.jp
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ikeuchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D000458:Cyanobacteria; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D045332:Photosystem II Protein Complex; D000461:Rhodophyta; D017384:Sequence Deletion
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D045332:Photosystem II Protein Complex; C107126:PsbU protein, Synechocystis; D010100:Oxygen