Specific release of a 9-kDa extrinsic polypeptide of photosystem I from spinach chloroplasts by salt washing

The newly reported 9-kDa polypeptide in photosystem I [(1991) FEBS Lett. 280, 332-334] is an extrinsic component located on the lumenal side of the thylakoid membrane. This subunit can be solubilized with high salt buffer and does not bind any cofactors. The photosystem I electron transfer chain remains intact and functional in the absence of this component as characterized by the photoreduction of NADP+.