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Stimulation of oxygen evolution in photosystem II by copper(II) ions
Kvetoslava Burda1, Jerzy Kruk, Kazimierz Strzalka
1The Henryk Niewodniczañski Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kraków, Poland.
Abstract:
We have found that copper(II) ions at about equimolar Cu2+/photosystem II (PS II) reaction center proportions stimulate oxygen evolution nearly twofold. This high affinity Cu-binding site is different from the binding sites of Mn and Ca ions. The analysis of the Cu2+ content in PS II preparations isolated from wild-type tobacco and a tobacco mutant deficient in light-harvesting complex suggests that Cu2+ may be a native component of PS II and may take part in the oxygen evolution process. At higher concentrations, Cu2+ ions inhibit oxygen evolution and quench fluorescence.
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