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The carboxyl-terminal processing of precursor D1 protein of the photosystem II reaction center

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Abstract

The D1 protein, a key subunit of photosystem II reaction center, is synthesized as a precursor form with a carboxyl-terminal extension, in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms with some exceptions. This part of the protein is removed by the action of an endopeptidase, and the proteolytic processing is indispensable for the manifestation of oxygen-evolving activity in photosynthesis. The carboxyl-terminus of mature D1 protein, which appears upon the cleavage, has recently been demonstrated to be a ligand for a manganese atom in the Mn4Ca-cluster, which is responsible for the water oxidation chemistry in photosystem II, based on the isotope-edited Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the X-ray crystallography. On the other hand, the structure of a peptidase involved in the cleavage of precursor D1 protein has been resolved at a higher resolution, and the enzyme–substrate interactions have extensively been analyzed both in vivo and in vitro. The present article briefly summarizes the history of research and the present state of our knowledge on the carboxyl-terminal processing of precursor D1 protein in the photosystem II reaction center.

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Abbreviations

CP43:

Chlorophyll a containing protein with apparent molecular mass of 43 kDa

CP47:

Chlorophyll a containing protein with apparent molecular mass of 47 kDa

CtpA:

Carboxyl-terminal peptidase

D1:

D1 protein

D2:

D2 protein

FTIR:

Fourier transform infrared

Mn4Ca-cluster:

Catalytic center of water oxidation in PS II

pD1:

Precursor D1 protein

PS II:

Photosystem II

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Drs A. Murakami and S. Iida (Kobe University) and Dr T. Tomo (Kyoto University) for their help in compiling the data for Table 1, Dr J. -R. Shen (Okayama University) for his discussion and help in preparing Fig. 4, the structure of PS II, Dr N. Inagaki (NIAS) for his discussion, Dr B. A. Diner (E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.) for his permission to use the structure of CtpA (Liao et al. 2000), and Dr W. A. Cramer (Purdue University) for critical reading of the manuscript and invaluable help in improving the language.

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Satoh, K., Yamamoto, Y. The carboxyl-terminal processing of precursor D1 protein of the photosystem II reaction center. Photosynth Res 94, 203–215 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-007-9191-z

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