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Bacteriochlorophyll Interaction with Singlet Oxygen in Membranes of Purple Photosynthetic Bacteria: Does the Protective Function of Carotenoids Exist?

  • BIOCHEMISTRY, BIOPHYSICS, AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
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Abstract

The direct action of singlet oxygen on the bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) of light-harvesting complexes in the membranes of four species of purple non-sulfur and sulfur photosynthesizing bacteria with and without carotenoids was studied. It was found that BChl in carotenoidless samples is generally more resistant to the action of singlet oxygen compared to the control. It is assumed that carotenoids are not required to protect BChl of bacterial light-harvesting complexes from singlet oxygen, and in the classic work by Griffith et al. [1] the apoptosis process in carotenoidless mutant cells, which involves the destruction of complexes, the appearance of monomeric BChl, and the generation of singlet oxygen caused by BChl, followed by BChl oxidation, was mistakenly attributed to the protective function of carotenoids.

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Funding

This study was supported in part by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project nos. 18-04-00684-a, 18-34-00416-mol_a, and 17-04-00929-a). The results presented in Fig. 3 were obtained under the State Assignment no. AAAA-A17-117030110140-5.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Basic Biological Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290, Pushchino, Moscow oblast, Russia

    Z. K. Makhneva, A. A. Ashikhmin, M. A. Bolshakov & A. A. Moskalenko

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  1. Z. K. Makhneva
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  2. A. A. Ashikhmin
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  3. M. A. Bolshakov
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  4. A. A. Moskalenko
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to A. A. Ashikhmin or A. A. Moskalenko.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Translated by M. Batrukova

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Makhneva, Z.K., Ashikhmin, A.A., Bolshakov, M.A. et al. Bacteriochlorophyll Interaction with Singlet Oxygen in Membranes of Purple Photosynthetic Bacteria: Does the Protective Function of Carotenoids Exist?. Dokl Biochem Biophys 486, 216–219 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1607672919030141

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1607672919030141

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