Have Two Photosystems Linked in Series

The electron acceptors on the reducing side of photosystem II resemble those of purple bacterial reaction centers. The acceptor that removes an electron from P680 is a molecule of pheophytin a. The second and third acceptors are plastoquinones (see fig. 15.10). As in bacterial reaction centers, electrons move one at a time from the first quinone to the second. When the second quinone becomes doubly reduced, it picks up protons from the stromal side of the thylakoid membrane and dissociates from the reaction center. 

The chain of carriers between the two photosystems includes the cytochrome b6f complex and a copper protein, plastocyanin. Like the mitochondrial and bacterial cytochrome be i complexes, the cytochrome b(J complex contains a cytochrome with two b-type hemes (cytochrome b6), an iron-sulfur protein, and a c-type cytochrome (cytochrome /). As electrons move through the complex from reduced plastoquinone to cytochrome/, plastoquinone probably executes a Q cycle similar to the cycle we presented for UQ in mitochondria and photosynthetic bacteria (see figs. 14.11 and 15.13). The cytochrome bbf complex provides electrons to plastocyanin, which transfers them to P700 in the reaction center of photosystem I. The electron carriers between P700 and NADP+ and between H20 and P680 are 

The Z scheme. [(Mn)4 = a complex of four Mn atoms bound to the reaction center of photosystem II Yz = tyrosine side chain Phe a = pheophytin a QA and Qb = two molecules of plastoquinone Cyt b/f= cytochrome hf,f complex PC = plastocyanin Chi a = chlorophyll a Q = phylloquinone (vitamin K,) Fe-Sx, Fe-SA, and Fe-SB = iron-sulfur centers in the reaction center of photosystem I FD = ferredoxin FP = flavoprotein (ferredoxin-NADP oxidoreductase).] The sequence of electron transfer through Fe-SA and Fe-SB is not yet clear. 

These observations could be explained by the Z scheme if the absorption spectra of the antennas associated with photosystems I and II are different. Because the two photosystems must operate in series, light is used most efficiently when the flux of electrons through photosystem II is equal to that through photosystem I. If light of a particular wavelength excites one photosystem more frequently than the other, some of the light is wasted. 

If the reaction centers of photosystem I and photosystem II are segregated into separate regions of the thylakoid membrane, how can electrons move from photosystem I to photosystem II Evidently the plastoquinone that is reduced in photosystem II can diffuse rapidly in the membrane, just as ubiquinone does in the mitochondrial inner membrane. Plastoquinone thus carries electrons from photosystem II to the cytochrome b6f complex. Plastocyanin acts similarly as a mobile electron carrier from the cytochrome b f complex to the reaction center of photosystem I, just as cytochrome c carries electrons from the mitochondrial cytochrome bct complex to cytochrome oxidase and as a c-type cytochrome provides electrons to the reaction centers of purple bacteria (see fig. 15.13). 

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