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The 26- and 14-kDa phosphoproteins associated with spinach chloroplast envelope membranes are distinct membrane-bound pools of the light-harvesting complex of photosystem II and of the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase

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Abstract

Two chloroplast envelope proteins from spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) exhibiting relative molecular masses (Mrs) of 26 and 14 kDa are apparently phosphorylated by a unique Ca2+-dependent serine protein kinase. The activity of this enzyme shows the same sensitivity towards pH, Ca2+, Mg2+, H7 [1-(5-isoquinolinesulphonyl)-2-methylpiperazine] and ATP concentrations (Siegenthaler and Bovet 1993, Planta 190, 231–240). Autoradiographic analyses following two-dimensional-gel electrophoresis (isoelectric focusing and SDS-PAGE) associated with Western blotting experiments indicate that these two phosphoproteins appeared to be pools of the light-harvesting complex of photosystem II (LHCII) and of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco) small subunit, respectively. Immunoprecipitation of envelope-phosphorylated proteins, using immunoglobulins (IgG) directed to the apoprotein of LHCII and to the holoenzyme of Rubisco confirmed that LHCII and the Rubisco small subunit effectively incorporated 32P from (γ-32P)ATP in isolated envelope membranes. We propose that, in agreement with the fact that protein import is driven by ATP, the phosphorylation of LHCII and the Rubisco small subunit could take place after the processing of precursor proteins and could be an obligatory step for their internalization into chloroplasts.

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Abbreviations

2D:

two dimensional

IEF:

isoelectric focusing

IgG:

immunoglobulin G

LHCII:

light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b proteins of PSII

LHCII A:

apoprotein a of LHCII

LHCIIB:

apoprotein b of LHCII

LS:

Rubisco large subunit

Mops:

(3-[N-morpholino]propanesulfonic acid)

Mr :

relative molecular mass

PI:

isoelectric point

Rubisco:

ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase

SS:

Rubisco small subunit

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Physiologie Végétale, Université de Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand 13, CH-2007, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    L. Bovet, M. O. Müller & P. A. Siegenthaler

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  1. L. Bovet
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  2. M. O. Müller
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  3. P. A. Siegenthaler
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Additional information

The authors are grateful to Delphine Herrmann and Xavier Denys for their technical assistance. They also greatly thank Prof. R. J. Ellis and Dr. L. Barnett (Warwick University, UK) and Dr. P. Schürmann (University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland) for providing them with antibodies directed to the pea and spinach Rubisco holoenzymes and Dr. M. Spangfort (Lund University, Sweden) for his gift of the antibody directed to the pea LHCII apoprotein. This study was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. This work was part of a doctoral program carried out by L.B. in the Laboratoire de Physiologie végétale, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

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Bovet, L., Müller, M.O. & Siegenthaler, P.A. The 26- and 14-kDa phosphoproteins associated with spinach chloroplast envelope membranes are distinct membrane-bound pools of the light-harvesting complex of photosystem II and of the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase. Planta 195, 563–569 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00195716

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