Photosynthesis of Prochlorothrix hollandica under Sulfide-Rich Anoxic Conditions

The photosynthetic activity and photosystem II fluorescence of Prochlorothrix hollandica were studied under anoxic, sulfide-rich conditions. Oxygenic photosynthetic activity with water as the electron donor was highly resistant to inhibition by sulfide. Cells still retained 50% of their oxygenic photosynthetic activity at >1 mM sulfide. In the presence of DCMU [N-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N(prm1)-dimethylurea], an inhibitor of photosystem II activity, P. hollandica cells exhibited a low but significant anoxygenic photosynthetic activity when sulfide was present. This activity increased with higher sulfide concentrations and reached maximal rates at concentrations exceeding 1 mM sulfide. The effects of hydroxylamine on both oxygen evolution and fluorescence induction kinetics were similar to those observed for sulfide. It was concluded that the oxidizing site of photosystem II was the site of sulfide action leading to reduced or even fully inhibited electron donation to photosystem II. These observations bear similarity to the situation in some cyanobacteria in which both hydroxylamine and sulfide inhibit electron donation from H(inf2)O to P(inf680). The high resistance of photosystem II to sulfide is related to the hydrophobic nature of the manganese-stabilizing protein in P. hollandica (T. S. Mor, A. F. Post, and I. Ohad, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1141:206-212, 1993). The observed sulfide tolerance of P. hollandica may confer a competitive advantage in its natural environment, where it forms a dominant fraction of phytoplankton in waters in which sulfide presence is a recurring phenomenon.